Russell Elementary School marked Read Across America week with a series of activities aimed at encouraging students to read. The event featured guest readers from various parts of the community, including members of the fire department, KSU athletic department, Presbyterian Village, retired teachers, the sheriff’s department, parents, Dr. Maynard (the area superintendent), Becky Sayler (school board member), and friends and family of teachers. Each classroom had at least two guest readers on Wednesday.
The school organized several reading challenges and games throughout the week. One activity was the “250 Years of Voices: Read the Stories that Shaped America” Beanstack Reading Challenge. Students were encouraged to read for 200 minutes between March 1 and March 15 using either physical or digital books available through SORA. By logging their reading in Beanstack, students could earn digital badges and tickets for prize drawings.
Another tool promoted during the week was the Reading Coach App, which allows students to practice reading fluency by accessing passages online at https://coach.microsoft.com/join/678919 or https://coach.microsoft.com/join/532935. Students who completed a passage received a pencil as a reward.
Other activities included “We the People Riddles,” where students solved riddles and brought their answers to the library learning commons for prizes; Reading Bingo, which required students to complete five squares in a row with verification from a teacher or parent before claiming a prize; and an estimation game involving jars filled with red, white, and blue gummy bears and Hershey kisses. The student whose guess was closest to the actual number got first choice of candy.
According to organizers: “We’ve been having a great time celebrating reading this week! Guest readers came in Wednesday and read to all the classrooms. Every class had at least 2 guest readers! Our guest readers were from the fire department, KSU athletic department, Presbyterian Village, retired teachers, Sherriff’s department, parents, Dr. Maynard, our area superintendnet [sic], Becky Sayler, our school board member, and teacher’s friends and family.”
The range of activities aimed to engage students with different aspects of literacy while involving community members in promoting reading.
