FROM LEFT: Second-graders Jessica Verdin, Angel Mendez and Anabel Garcia read some of their favorite books during the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School Book Character Day in El Centro. ¿¿¿I like the Harry Potter movies,¿¿¿ Angel said while wearing his large glasses. (ROMAN FLORES) |
Seven-year-old Alejandro Ponce sat cross-legged on the ground near the playground, eyes transfixed on one of his favorite books, “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly Guy.”
Alejandro, his second-grade classmates and the rest of the students Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in El Centro took their books outside for a bit of reading during Book Character Day at the school Thursday.
Throughout the day students, and some teachers, were dressed as some of their favorite characters from children’s literature.
The day was inspired by the Reading is Fundamental program, which is a federal grant that enables the students to have three free grade-appropriate books to take home and read, said school RIF coordinator Lori Campos.
"A new book is distributed every two months; that way it’s spread throughout the year," the second-grade teacher said.
Campos said all grades in the school participate, which amounts to 1,500 books a year. "A lot of them don’t have transportation to get to the public library so this gives students more access to reading," she said, noting that the school is in a low socio-economic area.
The books go directly to the students and any extra books go to the kids at the end of the year,” she said.
"It motivates them to read more so that their skills get better," added Pauline Zinn, another second-grade teacher at the school. "It lets them know that reading is fun and they can experience the world through books."
And the students recognized the storybook characters from the dress-up day.
“They were saying, ‘Did you see Harry Potter? Did you see Snow White,’” Campos said. “They loved it.”
Alejandro, his second-grade classmates and the rest of the students Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in El Centro took their books outside for a bit of reading during Book Character Day at the school Thursday.
Throughout the day students, and some teachers, were dressed as some of their favorite characters from children’s literature.
The day was inspired by the Reading is Fundamental program, which is a federal grant that enables the students to have three free grade-appropriate books to take home and read, said school RIF coordinator Lori Campos.
"A new book is distributed every two months; that way it’s spread throughout the year," the second-grade teacher said.
Campos said all grades in the school participate, which amounts to 1,500 books a year. "A lot of them don’t have transportation to get to the public library so this gives students more access to reading," she said, noting that the school is in a low socio-economic area.
The books go directly to the students and any extra books go to the kids at the end of the year,” she said.
"It motivates them to read more so that their skills get better," added Pauline Zinn, another second-grade teacher at the school. "It lets them know that reading is fun and they can experience the world through books."
And the students recognized the storybook characters from the dress-up day.
“They were saying, ‘Did you see Harry Potter? Did you see Snow White,’” Campos said. “They loved it.”
