Building Strong Readers
Berea Elementary second grade teacher Brooke Chibbaro wants to make sure her students understand the urgency of becoming better and stronger readers. Recently named Elementary Emerging Teacher of the Year, Chibbaro has assumed the role of literacy mentor at her school. “My role is primarily as a coach,” explained Chibbaro. “Any teacher with a child who has a reading problem comes to see me for tips and resources to help them get their student on track.” She added that with only a limited amount of time with students each year, her goal is to ensure that every student is a strong reader by the time they leave her classroom.
Last year, Chibbaro partnered with the Spanish teacher at Carolina High and Academy. The high school students were working on a project-based assignment and wanted their project to include students at Berea Elementary. “They came to our school and made books in Spanish about our students’ lives,” she said. “At the end of the project we had a celebration and the high school students read the books to my students. The interaction was wonderful, and I hope we can do it again this year.”
