From time to time I will be posting stories by teachers about how bridges are brought into their classrooms. Spring in Portland Public Schools and in other districts means it’s time to study the big bridges across the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Our first contributor is Rochella Farnand, a third grade teacher at Chapman Elementary School in Northwest Portland. SWW

Third grade Chapman students have been building bridges for 15 years. We do the research, write a basic speech, and learn how to give presentations in school. We break up the topics into history, structure, and what the...

Host Kathleen Stephenson speaks with the founder of the Between the Covers program, Sharon Wood Wortman, about The Big & Awesome Bridges of Portland & Vancouver—A Book for Young Readers and Their Teachers.
 
Follow the link below to listen to the interview online:
 
http://kboo.fm/sharonwoodwortmanonthebigawesomebridgeso
 
or download an mp3 of the inerview here:
 
http://kboo.fm/sites/default/files/episodeaudio/the-big-and-awesome-book.mp3
 
 
Air date: 5/7/2015

The Portland Tribune's Jennifer Anderson writes, "There are a lot of books about Portland’s bridges — the city’s most visible defining feature. But how many of them lay flat on a desk when opened, with pictures and maps that pop off the page, the front and back reinforced to last as long as a steel bridge?"

Read the full article here.

Big & Awesome Bridges book featured and The Bridge Lady performs “BridgeStories—A Storytelling Slide Show” at Lincoln Elementary School, 4200 Daniels, Vancouver, WA 98660, 6-8 PM, as part of the school’s Family Literacy Night. FREE.