Reading, writing and arithmetic are fundamentals in every classroom, but third graders at Arongen Elementary school in Clifton Park are learning a new spin on the old lessons.
With slumber party read-a-thons, poetry readings and even bank accounts, the 42 students in Meghan Hall and Julie LaGoy’s third grade classes have formed a community that fosters learning.
We learn all the ways to connect reading and writing, said third-grade teacher Meghan Hall, whose class held a slumber party read-a-thon Friday, Feb. 15.
Students arrived in pajamas and sprawled out on sleeping bags, surrounded by books, and spent the majority of the day reading everything from fantasy to fiction.
`A lot of kids have gotten hooked on series and authors,` said Hall.
Sonya Mastracci, a student at Arongen Elementary, is reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder `Little House on the Prairie` series. She said that her class is reading, `to make our challenge and become a better reader and writer.`
In order to encourage the students to read, Hall and LaGoy help them set personal goals, based on each student’s reading abilities, which determines a certain number of pages for the student to read independently in a specified time frame.
Hall said that, in the beginning, the challenge motivates the student to read, but, in the end, the students start to motivate their classmates and themselves.
`We get so excited to hear the kids talking on Monday morning to each other about how many chapters they were able to read over the weekend or recommending a particular book to their classmates,` Hall said.
A slumber party read-a-thon is just one way to inspire children to read, but student’s in Hall’s and LaGoy’s classes also practice writing with writer’s notebooks, which the students use like journals, with family photos on the cover and drawings inside, to practice writing short stories and poems.
The students learn writer’s workshop techniques that focus on the process and mechanics of writing, and how to develop a topic into a narrative with a voice.
After several weeks of preparation, the students took to the stage at Clifton Park Center Thursday, Feb. 14, to read poems they wrote to a crowd of more than 100, including parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers.
The students read a variety of poems, including haikus, shape poems and alliteration poems.
`I like the shape poems,` said Nathan Fankhanel. `I like trying to fit the poem into a shape.`
Matt McLaughin wrote a two-page Tonka poem about an avalanche for his brother. `Boom! Crash!` he said, enthusiastically reciting his poem. He said the Tonka is an ancient Japanese poem form, and although his brother was not there to hear him read the poem, McLaughin said he shared it with him when they got home from school.
Evan Warner wrote a funny poem about John McCain.
`I saw a picture of John McCain/His face it looked like it was in pain,` the poem began. Warner said that McCain looks old in some of the pictures he has seen of him.
The students have been following the primary elections and keeping track of the delegate votes, and have become familiar with each candidate, said Allison Goetz, a student in the class.
Matt Roos also wrote a silly poem. His poem pokes fun at his parents, `My dad rocks/even though he smells like stinky socks.`
Another part talks about his mom, `My mom is such a hot head/She always wants to go to bed,` he said.
However, he ends the poem with, `This might have made you uneasy, or even maybe queasy/ But love my parents, Yes I do/ And that is the end of my hilarious clerihew.`
The family and friends who attended the Valentine’s event were given roses from the students, which were provided by Fun Works, a family fun center in the mall, which also gave the student’s an all-day pass to use at their leisure.
`My mom said about six times that she loved everything,` said Steven Shannon. He said that his mom’s eyes watered when he gave her a rose after reading his poem aloud.
In addition to sharing their poems, the students also sang `L-O-V-E` and `What a Wonderful World` to the crowd.
Melvin’s Magnificent Magic Shop, a store in the mall, sponsored the event.
Students were also able to enjoy lunch with their parents in the center’s food court, and received gift certificates to other stores and restaurants in the mall.
While reading and writing are clearly connected, how does math fit into the student’s daily schedule?
Well, like any community, the students in Hall and LaGoy’s classes have jobs, which pay a significant salary of 10 cents per day. In order to receive their pay at the end of the week, students must be on task every day and do what is required of them. Students can receive bonuses for being helpful or using manners, and fines for not following directions. At the end of the week, the students deposit their money into a personal, class bank account to spend at the end of the year during a class sale. The bank account teaches students money management skills and discipline, according to Hall.“