Pembroke Academy was transformed into the magical world of Seussville to celebrate the importance of reading during March is Reading Month.
Teachers and parent volunteers led station activities such as Yertle’s Twisters, tongue twisters for fluency practice, Thing Three is Me and Fox in a Socks for rhyming practice, The Places I’ll Go, writing an adult life goal on a hot air balloon, and Egg, Egg, and Ham, a “Seussified” version of Tic-Tac-Toe. Students also traveled with “passports” to other destinations in Seussville, such as Punctuation Pockets, Sequence and Write, Cause and Effect, Comic Strip Creation, and Story Talk, to name a few.
In addition to traveling through Seussville, Pembroke families listened to music or watched slideshows on Dr. Seuss’ life as they enjoyed Cat-in-the-Hat pizza, Yellow Yink Ink drink, Truffula treats, and Fish One, Fish Two creations.
In addition, judges had the difficult task of choosing the top three winners of Pembroke’s First Annual Family Literacy Project, in which scholars and parents interpreted their favorite fiction or non-fiction books while following the instructions and rubrics provided. Winning projects were displayed in the hall while the rest of the projects lined the path to Seussville.
“Reading is the foundation to a child's future successes, and our celebration promoted ways to help children discover the joys of reading,” said Jennifer Sesi, library tech specialist at Pembroke Academy.
The highlight of Pembroke’s March is Reading Month was the anticipated announcement of the challenge result. Pembroke scholars were challenged by Uche Uchendu, ELA academic specialist at Pembroke, to read one million words in three weeks. The students surpassed their goal and read 2,997,152 words!
“Participating in Reading Month activities will inspire students to read daily and thereby challenge students to excel in school,” said Sesi. “Better grades and more academic successes will prepare our children for the future and help eliminate the achievement gap.”