Right to Read Week Update
This month’s Elementary School update is from Mrs. Diane Kaple regarding the elementary building’s annual Right to Read activities. If you have any questions about the program, please use the comments section below and we will answer them in a timely fashion.
Exciting things are happening at BES and there’s been a whole lot of reading going on! This year’s reading challenge theme was, “BES takes flight, reading one million minutes is out of sight!” Taken from two of Steven Kellogg’s books, Clorinda takes Flight and What is a Million?, students were challenged to read one million minutes, with the promise that Mr. Roll would be launched in a hot air balloon, just as Clorinda was in the book.
The students and their families, along with our staff, worked very hard to meet that goal. The minutes were divided between school and home, with students reading daily for 20 minutes at school and 20 minutes at home. After four weeks, they not only met the goal, but exceeded it with a grand total of 1,246,789 minutes!
Right to Read Week (RTR) began with a visit from author/illustrator, Steven Kellogg, who shared his love of books with story-telling, humor, and amazing illustrations. The week also included community guest readers in the classrooms and our annual Family Literacy Night. This year, more than 120 families participated in a variety of literacy games, including a Book Walk, Book Bingo and Steven Kellogg Trivia using Qwizdom. Local cartoon artist, Earl Musick, gave students a peek into the world of cartooning. A fun time was had by all.
To end our celebration of reading, Gary Tyo, of Mid-Ohio Ballooning, presented an assembly about hot air balloons. Due to weather conditions, our attempts to launch Mr. Roll will have to wait until Spring, but the students were not disappointed. Mr. Tyo gave them a glimpse into the history and design of hot air balloons. The culmination of the week came when the students were led outside to see him inflate a seven-story-high hot-air balloon, followed by the release of their own helium-filled balloons. Each one carried a tag with the school’s address and RTR week information.
We teach our students that reading is an adventure and that you never know where a book will take you. Though the challenge is over, our adventure continues to take us to new places. Two of our helium balloons were found in Navarre and Wooster, Ohio and one in Hookstown, Pennsylvania. Another traveled 1,390 miles to Nova Scotia, Canada! This year’s challenge can best be summed up by Dr. Seuss, who said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
