Shadow Oaks Students Make a Literary Splash

Summer brings a wave of new activities for all Spring Branch ISD students, including those taking part in Shadow Oaks Elementary’s first-ever summer reading program, “Make a Splash at the SOE Library.”

More than 108 students showed up to the first Shadow Oaks library event, “Flip Flop Fun” on June 11.

Motivated by research that shows substantial correlation between daily independent reading and success on standardized tests, Shadow Oaks teachers, staff and students embarked on an initiative last fall to place new focus on independent student reading.

As part of this initiative, the “Make a Splash at the SOE Library” program invites Shadow Oaks students to attend fun and exciting reading-related events every Wednesday from 1-3 p.m. for seven weeks of the summer. Upcoming library days are scheduled for three weeks this month, beginning on July 16.

The Shadow Oaks Library will be open for students to check out books during these events. In addition, faculty has partnered with MetroNational and the surrounding community to collect books that will be distributed to students.

“Our faculty and staff have volunteered their time to allow our children to attend a two hour period, participate in a fun literacy experience, and have the opportunity to check out new books,” Shadow Oaks Principal Julie Baggerly said.

The daytime library events include bookmark making, reading by the pool, book character visits, a summer reading picnic, and more.

The Literacy Launch team at Shadow Oaks has created a challenge for students to read 40 books during the summer months. Students who complete the challenge will be awarded prizes in the fall.

Shadow Oaks Library dates are as follows:

June 11^th - Flip Flop Fun

June 18^th - Camping in the Library

June 25^th - Bookmark Bash

July 16^th - Read by the Pool

June 23th - Book Character Visit

July 30^th - Book Talks

August 6^th - Summer Reading Picnic

Communications Intern Kali Venable complied and wrote this story.