Reading Fun

This past week was one of those weeks where I had great enjoyment spending time reading with some of my favorite children’s books to Mrs. Tesa McClure’s first grade class at Rock Crusher Elementary School.  Mrs. McClure knows how much I enjoy reading to the students and doing the voices of the different characters and making the sound effects.  I love watching the student’s reactions to the stories and the messages.  As a Board Member I appreciate when I have an opportunity to see and be an integral part of the experience of students learning while at work/school.  Not only do we often learn more about the manner in which students receive and absorb information but it also helps to ground us, as Board Members, to our primary function of providing and making decisions that are best for our students.

The books I chose have a personal meaning to me as they are books I have read often to my own son and daughter also.  I began by reading one of our family’s classic, “Coco and Cavendish: Circus Dogs” by Judy Sierra and Illustrated by Paul Meisel.  The story is written from the perspective of Coco, a circus poodle who I also provide with a bit of a French accent. The next book I read was “Dr. Seuss: The Lorax” by Theodor Seuss Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. ).  Seuss This is my very favorite Dr. Seuss book.  Not only does this book’s message about the importance of being good stewards to our environment, but it also is a book that empowers young students as the persons that can be the ones to make a difference in our futures.  For those of you who may not know, a new movie of “The Lorax” is getting ready to be released in the theaters.  (Click here for the movie trailer.) The last book is a favorite with this age group, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” written and illustrated by Mo Willems.   This is the first in a series of book by Willems about a inquisitive cute little pigeon.  Reading it to the kids was definitely a hit! Smile!

Many studies show that reading to a child has many critical benefits. A study was made in Rhode Island Hospital to compare two groups of eight months old; one group was read to often as babies, while the other was not.  It was shown that those who were read to have their “receptive” vocabularies (number of words they understand) increased 40 per cent since babyhood, while the non-reading group increased by only 16 per cent.

Teachers, staff and school board members do not need to be the only persons the get the enjoyment out of reading to students.  You can also become a school volunteer or mentor.  Click here for information on becoming a volunteer or mentor.

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