A project by Unatego Elementary third-graders has early childhood literacy written all over it.
The 16 students in Kim Gascon’s class developed, authored and illustrated “Don’t Take Us Literally, We Don’t Always Mean What We Say,” a book of idioms displayed in the village’s StoryWalk. The project was done in cooperation with the Unadilla Public Library.
Unadilla’s StoryWalk was introduced in 2019 as Caleb Haney’s Eagle Scout project, funded by a state Department of Health grant for Creating Healthy Schools and Communities. Haney conceptualized and constructed 18 weatherproof StoryWalk boards, each displaying pages of a children’s book and concluding at the 193 Main St. library.
The StoryWalk concept was developed in 2007 by a Vermont librarian at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier. According to kellogghubbard.org, StoryWalk “promotes early literacy, physical activity and family time together in nature.” StoryWalks exist, the site stated, “across the US and worldwide in 13 countries, including Germany, Canada, England, Bermuda, Russia, Malaysia, Pakistan and South Korea.”
Unadilla Library Director Irene Murphy, who is also a teacher’s aide at Unatego Elementary, said the project was months in the making.
“The board started asking if I could have a teacher and the school write a story, so … I sent an email out to the teachers and asked if anybody was interested in making a story that we can put in the StoryWalk,” she said, adding that the process began in October. “Kim Gascon did the challenge and, when I talked to Kim, it took a few weeks to put together. And (the StoryWalk) was down, because we take it down and put it up in the beginning of April, (because of) the winter weather. It’s a story that Mrs. Gascon’s classroom made themselves, and this is the story of how we utilize the StoryWalk from the library, with the school.”
The third-graders’ book, Murphy said, followed a project displaying artwork from Unatego students in pre-K through fifth grade.
“The board wanted to do things with the school … and that was artwork of kids throughout the school,” she said, noting that the board includes six members. “That was up during Memorial Day, then I switched it, so (Mrs. Gascon’s) would be up the whole month of June, and when kids go down for their picnic, they can see it and have it there while school’s still open.”
The book will remain displayed through mid-July, Murphy said.
Gascon said she welcomed the opportunity to dovetail community engagement with English Language Arts curriculum.
“I love these kinds of projects, where the kids can work on something collaboratively, and they were excited to share it with a bigger audience,” she said. “They had a lot of fun, and it was a great way to wrap up our unit on figurative language. It’s understanding the creative way that the English language can be used, and sometimes misinterpreted.
“We worked on it during ELA over the course of two weeks, really taking the list of idioms and working out a story and getting it to a final draft and assigning it out to the kids,” Gascon continued. “The kids did the illustrations, and some of them are phenomenal; they all picked an idiom to illustrate. The kids were able to put together something and have a creative outlet for something they’ve learned, and that’s always a fun way to end a unit.”
The story’s premise, Gascon said, is her telling students about a field trip, but not telling them its destination. She said lines include idioms such as, “Mrs. G said, ‘Zip your lips’ and, ‘We’ve got to hit the books.’”
As an extension of the project, Murphy said, students were given printed copies of the story.
“Cat Johnson is an author (and library board member in Unadilla), and … she ordered them through Barnes & Noble and we paid for books for the students to have,” she said. “It was kind of a thank-you for the kids, and they were excited about it, that they got their own book. We were excited about it; it’s a really cute book and it’s something we wanted to do. I’m hoping another teacher will do it next year and this could be an annual thing.”
“They’re very excited to have their own copies of a real, published book,” Gascon echoed. “And it’s a nice softcover book and it’s a nice, high quality.”
Sources said they’re hopeful the reimagined StoryWalk will foster increased interaction.
“I’ve had people post things (on library social media), and I’ve heard there’s more traffic, because kids are saying, ‘Hey,’ and the parents know it’s out there and kids want to show their parents,” Murphy said.
“I know of a few families that have gone down and read it,” Gascon said. “And we’re going to go down (as a class).”
For more information or for summer children’s programming, find “Unadilla Public Library” on Facebook or visit unadillapubliclibrary.org.