Reading Counts Assembly

I was invited to attend a local school's first Reading Counts Assembly of the year.  This is a "year-round" school with students from Kindergarten through 8th grade, so it was challenging to come up with something that would at least somewhat appeal to that wide age range.

I started out by making a confession:

"When I was in elementary school...

I hated to read!"

It was fun because the kids sounded so surprised!  But that is the absolute truth!  I had a hard time learning to read...I wasn't a strong reader...reading was not fun.

I then told them about my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Freeland, who read aloud to us everyday.  I told them about how I got to go to Alaska and meet a Kodiak bear cub...

I got to help solve The Westing Game

And I even went to the future to find out what might happen to our world if we don't care of it...

Since then I have gone on many more adventures...and I started to actually like reading.  And the more I read the better reader I became and the more I liked it!

I then shared a Jack Prelustsky poem from A Pizza the Size of the Sun...to help them appreciate their school lunches--Rat for Lunch

I ended by encouraging the kids to read for fun!  And I encouraged the teachers and parents to continue to read aloud to their children!  Because that can change lives!