March 12, 2009


BOCES Arts in Education Program
New York State Department of Education

Re: Letter of Recommendation for Children's Author Carol Parenzan Smalley


Dear BOCES Arts in Education Coordinator:

        This letter comes to you from an elementary school teacher and a public librarian.

        On March 4, 2009, we hosted children's author Carol Parenzan Smalley, at the Hoosick Falls Elementary School to share her "Navigating with Explorer Henry Hudson" program with an energetic classroom of fourth graders.

        In her 1 1/2 hours with the students, she spun spider webs (to outline parts of speech as related to the explorer), traveled a river (to trace the travels of Henry Hudson and to talk about the uniqueness of this New York State waterway), guided students through math ratios (to determine how much flour, slat, and water we would need to make out modeling material), and helped the students get messily involved in creating their own 3-D relief maps of the Hudson River using home-made salt dough, the kids had a blast, (The adults did too!)

        She encouraged them to work like crews aboard their own ships as they used teamwork to design and create their maps. This program wasn't a history lesson, it was a life lesson, sprinkled with tidbits across the curriculum.

        At the conclusion of her program, she answered student questions about the life of an author and her current projects. She also donated a personalized copy of her book, What's so Great About ...Henry Hudson?, to the public library, where the young explorers of Hoosick Falls can continue to journey with the great navigator.



        From start to finish, she involved the students and made them an integral part of the program. This connection continued after the program too, as she spotlighted their work and projects on her website. The students were thrilled to see their work on the Internet.

        Carol left the students with a sense of curiosity. She gifted them tools for their own writing and creativity. And, she also left behind six very awesome home-made relief maps that the fourth graders are anxiously watching dry. The one in the picture above shows the source of the river at Lake Tear of the Clouds. Other groups created maps of the river's mid-section. And the final group made a map where the river enters the Atlantic Ocean.

        We hope other schools will book this author and her programs. We jointly recommend her as part of your Arts in Education Program

Sincerely,



Carol Gaillard
Cheney Library Director


Katie Brownell
Hoosick Falls Elementary School Teacher

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