Last week I met up with my
Translanguaging Team to check out the resources available to teachers at the famed Glasgow Mitchell Library.
Photo © Wikipedia Commons
We're putting together kits that will join the Mitchell collection for teachers to use, so we wanted to see what sorts of things are already available. I have to admit, I was blown away!
This is a behind-the-scenes function of the library. They keep an enormous storage room where they gather resources via themes. For instance, these are 'topic boxes' on ecology, the environment, politics, etc.
They also have activities built around particular books. I was thrilled to see my friend Vivian French's book used in a packet about vegetables.
They also had kits in bags - here's
The Hungry Caterpillar with the book, a stuffie or puppet, and some games to go with it. You can see there are a ton of these.
They even had a collection of oversized books - how fun!
Our group was fascinated and we asked lots of questions.
The kit we were most interested in was similar to what we hope to do - it was a WWII activity kit in a cute little suitcase with letters and activities. It even had a gas mask in it. That one is apparently checked out
a lot.
To the left of the suitcase is the order form for teachers. They make requests at the beginning of each term and hold onto the kits for three months. Some of the popular kits have several available, while others are singular kits on a first-come-first-serve basis.
What impressed me the most was that this resource exists at all - what a fabulous use of public funds and what an amazing resource for teachers! I never heard of anything like this existing in the US - does anyone know? If not, it was a fantastic idea and one that I hope gains more support and is implemented more often!
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