Member Profile: CCCD Kits from St. Lawrence – Lewis BOCES Learning Resources Center by Ginger Tebo

St. Lawrence – Lewis BOCES Learning Resources Center is proud to offer its patrons a wide variety of Coordinated Cooperative Collection Development kits, or CCCD kits. The kits cover a variety of topics that are of interest to students and teachers, and many of them are linked to NY State Standards. Each kit includes an assortment of books, DVDs, audio materials, and hands-on items for students to interact with during related units of study. Many of the kits are continuously checked out from the first day of school to the last day, with only a brief stop in the Media Library to prepare them for delivery to the next school.

The math-themed kits include interactive pieces as well as math and movement mats, and cover topics such as fractions, probability, and developing number sense. Each kit is loaned out for four to eight weeks so that teachers can implement hands-on learning with students as they practice a particular topic.

Makerspace-themed kits have been a huge hit at schools within the St. Lawrence – Lewis system. These include a Builders kit, Production Studio, littleBits, PreK-2 kit, and more. Each kit provides the necessary tools and equipment, and the borrowing school is only responsible for the consumables.

Some CCCD kits align with other resources in the Media Library or relate to curriculum topics, while others celebrate literacy by highlighting specific book series or characters. The Harry Potter kit includes robes, wands, and the infamous Nimbus 2000 broom. In the pirate kit, a large wooden treasure chest full of a wide range of books for elementary students, a plush parrot, and a spy scope is perfect for Talk Like A Pirate Day or a Reader’s Workshop unit.

Teachers who adhere to the Common Core modules will find resources and inspiration in the kits for Bud not Buddy, Jackie Robinson, and Lyddie. Science curricula can be enhanced with one of the natural science-themed kits, such as Dinosaurs, Butterflies, Northern New York Animals, Polar Animals, or Weather. One of the newest additions is the Astronomy kit, which is one of the first kits purposely developed to align with the Next Generation Science Standards. This kit includes books, a telescope, inflatable planets, and a Smithsonian Planetarium Projector.

Learning Resources Center staff work with teachers and librarians to develop new kits each year, and they are evaluated and updated regularly. Staff within St. Lawrence – Lewis BOCES member districts can easily reserve kits through the online booking system, SNAP.

About the writer: Ginger Tebo is the School Library System Director and Learning Resources Center Supervisor at the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES in Canton, NY.