[CASL-L] Re: [aaslforum] Re: looking for LESSON PLANS for how to COPE with a natural disaster

[IRENE KWIDZINSKI]

Have you seen Joyce Valenza's latest blog?  Awesome.



________________________________
From: Donna Plunkett <plunkett at savcds.org>
To: "aaslforum at ala.org" <aaslforum at ala.org>
Sent: Mon, November 5, 2012 10:08:08 AM
Subject: [aaslforum] Re: looking for LESSON PLANS for how to COPE with a natural 
disaster


Patricia,
I wanted to share a book with you about a tragedy that Pearl Buck wrote about in 
1947 that is still being published today.  The book is The Big Wave. Many people 
do not know about this very special 57 page book about destruction and death.  
Very simply the story shows that through experiencing danger people learn how to 
be brave and really appreciate life. The part on death can be used with any age 
in any situation also. This very quick read about a tragic situation in 
paperback brings comfort to all ages today. I promise that it brings knowledge 
and comfort to those who read it. I personally would be happy to provide some 
copies for your school. Copies of this book would be a way librarians and their 
schools could contribute to what has happened in your area of the country.  I am 
getting a copy for a 20 year old family friend from Savannah who was on the tall 
ship, Bounty, that sank in the storm with 2 people dying.  If you can get a copy 
of this book, please let me know by replying to my email if it would be helpful 
in your situatiion at your school.
Donna Plunkett
 
 
ool, which means that our one school building serves 3 schools: two high schools 
and a middle school. All three schools have an advisory program whereby students 
meet once a day with their advisory teacher to discuss current events, 
tween/teen issues, and anything else that is important to students, e.g. school 
matters, bullying prevention, etc.. Hurricane Sandy will probably be the topic 
of discussion for some time to come.

So we need lesson plans for our advisory teachers to use to teach/help our 
students COPE with living through and dealing with the aftermath of a natural 
disaster. One librarian has already reached out to me and asked me what we in 
Staten Island need. My home weathered the storm well and so did my school and 
school library because I live and work in an area of Staten Island that is on 
higher ground and was not as badly hit as the other parts of the island. We are 
not a neighborhood school however, and therefore our students come from all over 
the island. Although we will learn more in the days ahead what our students are 
dealing with, we are anticipating that many will be dealing with some very tough 
stuff.

Just to give you an example, I took a 5 mile drive to my bank yesterday and it 
took me over an hour to get there because of the lack of power to traffic 
lights. (Turned out it was closed when I got there anyway due to the lack of 
electricity). It is usually a 10 minute trip. I saw for myself those long gas 
lines. I saw people collecting donations in the bank parking lot and I saw utter 
confusion and chaos on the roads. Life has been completely turned upside down, 
and it took me another hour just to get home a very short distance on a very 
small island.

I am appealing to the AASL listserv because I know that our list members come 
from all over the States and have themselves been through natural disasters. 
What did your school communities do to support students through a difficult 
time, particularly a disaster on a massive scale? What lessons were taught in 
class that helped teachers help students cope with their lives being upended?  
If you'd like to see some pictures of what our students are dealing with, you 
can see some here:

https://statenisland.recovers.org/

I am among the fortunate. I have power and safe drinking water, though I did 
lose it for a time, and I can search the Internet myself, but maybe you already 
have some lesson plans you can share. I have already found plenty of material 
about how to help children cope, but structured, actual lessons for advisory are 
what I am looking for.

I will share with the list what is shared with me.

Thanks.

Patricia


____________________________________________
Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS
Librarian
Jerome Parker Campus Library
100 Essex Drive
Staten Island, NY 10314
718-370-6900 x1322
psarles at schools.nyc.gov
http://www.scoop.it/t/help-with-the-common-core-state-standards/
http://paper.li/psarles/1332609247

The new power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands 
of the many. - John Naisbitt, Megatrends

The Internet may be the world's greatest library, but let's face it - all the 
books are scattered on the floor.  - D.C. Denison, Boston Globe

Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. 
- Mitchell Kapor

To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief 
aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to 
discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from 
the fiction ... The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think 
intensively and to think critically. - Martin Luther King, Jr. The Purpose of 
Education

 
 
Donna Plunkett
Savannah Country Day School
824 Stillwood Drive
Savannah, GA 31319
plunkett at savcds.org
912-961-8754
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