Some people wear their love for reading on their sleeve. Newtown Elementary School students show their passion for reading on their classroom doors.
Newtown Elementary School used the month of March to celebrate literacy. As part of the celebration, students were challenged to participate in a classroom door decorating contest. They were encouraged to decorate their classroom doors based on a book that they read in school or at home. More than half of the school’s classrooms participated.
In first place was Ellen Shackley’s third-grade class. Their door was based on the “What If You Had Animal Parts” series. The students explored why certain features help animals to survive. Students then added those parts to avatars they had created for themselves and posted them on their door.
Karen Holl’s second-grade class was runner-up with a reflection from a Skype visit with Laura Murray, author of “The Gingerbread Man Loose in School.” The students created book covers for their own “Gingerbread Man/Girl Loose in the School” stories and wrote a synopsis of what their stories would be about. The door was decorated to resemble a blog with their ideas.
Students in Jennifer Blais’ second-grade class grabbed third place honors with their interpretation of “Wodney Wat’s Wobot” by Helen Lester. After reading the story, students wrote letters to the book’s characters or the author. They then turned their letters into the body of their robot, or “wobot” as Wodney would say as he had problems saying his R’s. The door hosted the robots.
In addition to the door contest, the school hosted a variety of other activities throughout the month. According to Crystal Felton, school reading specialist, some of the ideas were downright novel.
“The students dressed like a character from a book. We had a hallway reading marathon where they read in the hallways of the school and then summed up their story to a partner. They wore words on Wednesdays. Our students love to celebrate reading.”