Students and families at Marine Corps Base Quantico participated in the National Education Association’s annually sponsored Read Across America program, commemorating great American writer and cartoonist, Theodor Seuss Geisel.
The Read Across America program, now in its 12th year, focuses on motivating children to master basic skills while influencing parents to be actively involved in their children’s education. All week, elementary school students have been gathered in schools and libraries across the nation to engage in arts and craft exercises, group readings and skill building games that promote literacy.
On Tuesday Patricia Boswell, a second grade teacher at Russell Elementary, conducted Dr. Seuss themed activities, where students made “Cat in the Hat” costumes, played tic-tac-toe with “Green Eggs and Ham” cutouts and watched “Mayzie Head Daisy” together.
“I like to expose all of my students to Dr. Seuss material that they haven’t read or seen before,” said Boswell. “All of Geisel’s books have such great messages and are wonderful to share with the students.”
Geisel became one of the most influential authors of the late 1900s with a book titled “And to Think I saw it on Mulberry Street.”
“He’d suffered many failures with his ‘Dick and Jane’ series because publishers were telling him that there was nothing like his writing on the market,” said Boswell. “Amazingly enough one company decided to take a chance on the book ‘And to Think I saw it on Mulberry Street’ and it was a complete success.”
Through the growing success of his literature over the years, Dr. Seuss became a house hold name for families nationwide.
“He is such an influential author; his work got my daughter interested in reading” said Jane Springer, organizer of the Read Across America event held at the Grey Research Center March 4. “Ashlie grew up on his ‘Silly Sally’ book and as she got older and the book became worn I could see the influence his writing had on her as a young girl.”
Jane Springer and her daughter Ashlie Springer read a book named “Silly Sally” to the students as a display of how reading can truly bring families together.
“Ashlie could recite the book ‘Silly Sally’ by Audrey Wood since she was three,” said Springer. “Through the years we turned it into a game, where we act it out, adding to the effectiveness of its words and meaning. When she was nine she started reading it to her younger brother and now we recited it on drives and look for more books that are just as fun.”
The Read Across America program is geared toward pre-kindergarten through sixth grade students and incorporates many Dr. Seuss titles whose purposes are to promote creativity, positive behavior, social acceptance and comprehension of the human condition.
“Every book tells a different kind of story,” said Boswell. “‘McElligot’s pool’ tells of endless possibilities, ‘I can lick 30 Tigers!’ is about human potential, ‘Green eggs and ham’ shows children that they should try everything at least once and ‘The Sneetches’ demonstrates the effects of discrimination.”
Guests also read books, during the Read Across America event that was held at the Grey Research Center, written by authors who have been influential in their own way, with messages of encouragement and acceptance.
“I was very excited with the turn out and extremely pleased with the cooperation and support we received from the schools who were involved,” said Jane Springer, coordinator of the Read Across America event at the Grey Research Center. “I could see that the teachers and parents really enjoyed their time with the children.”
“I chose to read ‘It’s ok to be Different’ by Todd Parr,” said Sandra Corbett, a Guidance Counselor at Ashurst Elementary School. “I think children should know that it’s ok to be who they are, so I like to open and close every school year with reading this book to the students.”
Some of the most emphasized points of these events is the value of proper book selection and parental involvement.
“Literature is a great way to build a relationship with your children,” said Corbett. “Reading to your children just once a day can go a long way, and selection is also important because books can send a great message.”
There were teachers from many different grade levels and high school students who participated in reading to the children at the event, where one teacher even read ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ in Spanish.
“It was wonderful to be invited to read to the children in Spanish,” said Melissa Cruz, a Foreign Language Elementary School teacher of Spanish at Russell Elementary School. “Considering the majority of the students did not have Spanish instruction they were very attentive.”
Those asked to act as guest speakers at the event understand the importance of promoting literacy and doing so in family togetherness.
“For me it’s not only an opportunity to meet with the children outside of the classroom but also to connect with the parents,” said Cruz. “It is a great chance for the children to work with their parents to reinforce lessons taught.”
Some teachers believe that there has to be a certain level of cohesion with school and home elements to create the best scenario for children’s education.
“Parental involvement is crucial to children’s success in school,” said Cruz. “It is important to establish a home-school connection to foster stability and trust between the parents, students, and staff.”
Ultimately, Read Across America is all about educating today’s youth, getting parents involved, and making a creative learning environment for everyone.
“Seeing the smiling faces of the children, and seeing that parents took time out of their busy schedules to participate in the event was the most important art of the entire event in my eyes,” said Cruz.
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.-Children commemorate the contribution of children's book writer Theodore Robert by participating in the Read Across America program at the Quantico library Mar. 4., Lance Cpl. Christopher Duncan, 3/4/2009 2:42 PM
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