Mrs. Lowe, a third grade Reading and Language Arts teacher, is carrying on a 3rd grade team tradition by hosting a "Starbooks" Cafe book tasting. On this special day, the classroom is transformed into a pleasant coffee shop complete with sensory treats including relaxing music. Students are presented with trays of new books to preview and explore. Menus are used for students to record their thoughts and interest ratings about each book. The menus will be used by Mrs. Lowe to group students into book clubs and launch small group novel studies. Inside the Starbooks, Cafe, there was a lot of discussion about books and reading, and all students' opinions and interests were welcomed.
These Starbooks Cafe decorations might look familiar to former 3rd graders at Slaughter Elementary, as they previously belonged to Ms. Donna Gregg, beloved longtime Slaughter teacher who last a brief battle with cancer in February of this year. Mrs. Lowe is thankful to have experienced Ms. Gregg's very first Starbooks as her student teacher in 2019. When asked about what Starbooks means to her, Mrs. Lowe said, "I can still remember the students' faces as they came in on that day. I had never seen them so excited about books… and that was exactly Ms. Gregg's plan. The whole idea was to get kids excited about reading!" Mrs. Lowe plans to continue to carry on the legacy of her mentor teacher by making reading engaging.