LVA was lucky to spend an evening with Lauren Tarshis! In order to make the Read Across America Week “even more awesome”, our 4-6 building hosted an Author Visit with Mrs.Tarshis on Thursday, March 2nd. This special nighttime event was a complete sell out, with tons of LVA families coming out and supporting this inspiring author. We could not be more enthusiastic about all the festivities of the night!
Our 4-6 scholars are avid readers of all of Lauren Tarshis’ works. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the I 
Survived series, which are famous for being fast-paced historical fiction chapter books about disasters that have occurred throughout history. These high-interest reads are hard to keep on shelves because they are super entertaining while also helping our readers become more knowledgeable about the history of the global world we share.
But this author’s influence does not stop there! All grades in the building have been incorporating her articles from Scholastic Storyworks magazine into their daily reading adventures. From whole group, to small group, to just on their own, our students are navigating her high quality informational texts and dramas like analyzing all-stars! One favorite title for Sixth Grade has been “Black Sunday”, which helped our thinkers learn about the Dust Bowl. Fifth Grade has been committed to deeply examining the text “Freedom or Death” and what it means to be a risk-taker in the face of challenges. Even our Fourth Graders are tackling these terrific texts, with some students developing original timelines to organize the information in the paired texts “Icy History” and “Ice Cream for All!”. Lauren Tarshis’ work is helping our LVA scholars strengthen their reading superpowers!
Lauren Tarshis has the ability to touch a variety of LVA readers with all different interests. While presenting her journey as an author last night, she shared that she originally wrote the I Survived series to appeal to boys, but has been pleasantly surprised that it has reached all audiences. Her presentation last night reached all in attendance too! Cameron, a student who attended the event last night, said, “I thought there was something for everyone to see”. He described how he enjoyed the flashbacks to her childhood and the sneak peeks of her new books. His enthusiasm was apparent as he confidently and proudly announced, “I’ve read every single book that she ever wrote!” and that he is eagerly awaiting the release of the new texts.
Jamie, a student who presented Lauren Tarshis with a gift that students created for her, said, “She was sending the message that you can do whatever you want as long as you try until you get there.” Our LVA students benefited from hearing the strong message that we do not always have to be destined to be something, we can grow into it with effort and perseverance. Thank you to all of the families who supported this outstanding and inspiring event. It was a fantastic way to wrap up our Read Across America week!
Ms. Stephanie Chimics and Mrs. Sarah Cunningham
ES Reading Specialists, Lehigh Valley Academy
Lehigh Valley Academy RCS 