WELLS, Maine – An instructor this week asked a group of children at Wells Elementary School which animal was floating in a book they had read together.

“The bee!” one of the children responded enthusiastically.

“The bee,” the instructor confirmed. “What was he floating in?

Some children answer at once: “A flower!

“What’s the next word?” The instructor asked, asking the question of the boy sitting next to her.

The boy looked at the note. After uttering the first sound of his two syllables, he responded with perfect pronunciation: “flutter”.

Summer Academy instructor Jennifer Hicks leads a group of students participating in the pilot launch of Book Explorers, a new initiative to improve literacy through the Barbara Bush Foundation, at Wells Elementary School on Wednesday 4 August 2021.

As their peers worked independently on their laptops at their desks, the children sat in a semi-circle in front of the instructor and continued with their exercise. They identified a word, said it out loud, confirmed its meaning, and explained a bit about how it appeared in the story they read. For example, “flapping the wings,” they learned, is “gently flapping the wings” and, as one girl proudly said, it was the bat in the story that flew.

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Studying the pages, speaking words, answering questions from their instructors, these kids aren’t just reading books at Wells Elementary this summer. They explore them. And they do so as participants in the aptly named Book Explorers pilot program of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

A 9-year-old summer academy student doing classwork at Wells Elementary School on Wednesday August 4, 2021. This student is participating in the pilot launch of Book Explorers, a new initiative to improve literacy through through the Barbara Bush Foundation.

Book Explorers is a new online literacy program that connects Grades 1 to 3 students with an instructor and uses strategies and activities to build their literacy skills and, therefore, their confidence.

Pilot working with 2 partners in York County

Bonnie Esty, the new director of school recovery for the Wells-Ogunquit Community School District, praised the program during WOCSD’s Summer Academy program on Wednesday.

“When I was approached I knew it would be perfect for the Summer Academy,” Esty said. “The plan is very simple, very specific – everything is there that you need. It’s really important for this type of program because it’s so fast. The students have only been there for 11 days.

A 9-year-old Summer Academy student does homework at Wells Primary School on Wednesday August 4, 2021. This student is participating in the pilot launch of Book Explorers, a new initiative to improve literacy through of the Barbara Bush Foundation.

The program is being piloted at two sites in Maine this summer, according to Pam Cote, the foundation’s director of programs and training. In addition to the three-week summer academy currently offered at WES, the YMCA of Sanford-Springvale has also incorporated Book Explorers into its summer offerings both at its Sanford facility and at its Lyman camp. .

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The program is also being piloted in Texas and Florida, Cote added. Plans are in place to roll out the program nationwide, especially once participants in the pilot effort have provided input and the foundation is able to review, analyze and analyze it. Act in consequence.

“We will use all of this to improve the program,” Cote said. “It’s about continuous improvement. But we are ready to roll this out – interested schools can contact me. “

Côté can be contacted at [email protected].

The program combats the effects of the “summer slide” and the pandemic

Book Explorers is designed to help kids avoid that “summer slide” that sometimes happens when progress during the school year gets lost in the carefree days of July and August. And, nowadays, the program is designed to overcome something else as well: learning gaps caused by the restrictions and limitations that students have encountered in their education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A summer academy student participates in the pilot launch of Book Explorers, a new initiative to improve literacy through the Barbara Bush Foundation, at Wells Elementary School on Wednesday August 4, 2021.

The program is adaptable, capable of being modified by a school or organizations that use it to help meet the literacy challenges and needs of young people, according to Cote.

“It can be used during the school year, as well … for enrichment or intervention,” Cote said. “It’s really a program that can become part of a child’s learning program. It is a complement to their teaching of reading, it does not replace it.

Book Explorers also aims to support educators and caregivers in a variety of settings, including at home and in the classroom. The program also provides resources to help parents and guardians fulfill their role of supporting student learning – as Barbara Bush said, a parent is their child’s “first and best teacher”.

“Everything we do is multigenerational,” Cote said.

The program complements Teen Trendsetters, the foundation’s long-standing national literacy initiative that pairs teen mentors with elementary school students who are four months or more below their grade reading level, according to British Robinson, president and CEO of the foundation.

“Book Explorers can be used in conjunction with Teen Trendsetters to extend the program beyond the school year and support students’ reading progression over the summer months, or it can be used by an organization or a classroom during the school year as an additional literacy instructional tool – for enrichment or intervention, ”Robinson said in a statement.

Students participate in the pilot launch of Book Explorers, a new initiative to improve literacy through the Barbara Bush Foundation, at Wells Elementary School on Wednesday, August 4, 2021.

Book Explorers is fully online, providing digital access to a number of age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books. Each book comes with guides for guardians and parents. The parenting guide includes an app to help parents improve their own literacy skills or English language proficiency.

“Parents and children can also access all the equipment from the house,” Cote said.

Grade 3 reading skills have lasting implications

According to the foundation, students who cannot read properly by the end of third grade are four times more likely than their able peers to leave school without a diploma.

“In fact,” adds the foundation, “88% of students who did not graduate from high school were struggling readers in grade three.

Before the pandemic, 65% of fourth graders nationwide were not proficient readers. Leading educators predict that number has likely increased, as the pandemic has led to school closings and other academic disruption nationwide. This circumstance could lead to a “generation forced to catch up for years to come”, according to the foundation.

The mission of the Barbara Bush Foundation is that the young children in its new Book Explorers program – in addition to its other programs – are not among those who catch up in the years to come.

A 9-year-old Summer Academy student does homework at Wells Primary School on Wednesday August 4, 2021. This student is participating in the pilot launch of Book Explorers, a new initiative to improve literacy through of the Barbara Bush Foundation.

Case in point: A Wells Elementary School child this week shared what she has learned and enjoyed about exploring books since Summer Academy began in late July.

“I was able to explore and learn new things about animals,” said the 8-year-old. “I found that their tails stand up and make them balance.”

She also spoke about the elephants and how they use their long proboscis to help them eat peanuts and “whatever food they want.” She said it felt good to be able to read.

“I’m learning new things. “