A reading project at Forestdale Elementary in Springfield lit a fire under the school's littlest readers.
Each of the three kindergarten classes at Forestdale read 100 books as part of a project that donates books to needy schools across the country.
"It was really very easy. They were really excited about it," said Jaynie Herbert, the kindergarten teacher who coordinated the project.
When school started in September, Herbert noticed an announcement in a mailing from Scholastic, the largest publisher and distributor of children's books, to participate in the company's "ClassroomsCare" program. Under the terms of the program, if a school enrolls and reads 100 books as a class, Scholastic will donate 100 books to a needy school elsewhere.
Forestdale’s three kindergarten classes, taught by Herbert, Scheip and Lauren Huemmer, began reading in mid-September, and they finished their 100 books on Nov. 10. That date was six weeks ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline set by Scholastic.
"It had an impact on the children. They had a purpose for reading," said kindergarten teacher Kathy Scheip. "They knew if they read another book, another child would get a book, and that motivated their reading."
Typically, Herbert said she strives for two books a day, but the project kept her students ahead of pace.
"They voted that they wanted to do this, and every time we read a book, they said, ‘Can I color the square?’ They all wanted to do this," she said. Each time the classes read a book, they colored another square on a heart-shaped chart, which contained 100 squares. All the squares colored meant the project was done.
Most of the reading was done in large groups, aloud, but some students read aloud to the class, and others, like classroom aides or other teachers, also read to the class. Teachers tried to incorporate the subjects of the books into the classroom topics, like insects, magnets, and Johnny Appleseed.
"When they had free time, my kids would ask to read another story. They wanted to get this done," said Herbert.
According to Scholastic, the "ClassroomsCare" program, now in its fourth year, involved 190,000 students nationwide this year. Following the program's conclusion in December, three nonprofit partners will work with Scholastic to donate the books, which will total more than 1 million, to needy classrooms.
THE THREE classrooms at Forestdale will each receive a certificate for their efforts, along with the poster that features the squares colored for the books they read.
"I think it’s wonderful. Anytime you put a book in a child’s hand, it is a wonderful thing," said Scheip.
"Sometimes when you’re 5 years old, it’s very hard to do something for somebody else. To know they could listen to a story, and work together to give something, I think that meant something to them."