TCS Celebrates “Read Across America” Week

By Samantha DePriest

Every March across the United States and right here at Trinity Christian School, students celebrate “Read Across America” week. The purpose is to “encourage students to read and celebrate the power of literacy as a foundational skill”. Reading can transport children to a far off land or back in time, tell the story of historical or fictional characters, and increase their understanding of the world around them.

Children’s book author Andrea Davis Pinkney shares, “Reading to children is crucial for their development. Kids see what we show them. Not just during “Read Across America” week but every day. It is our job to show kids the tapestry in our nation that is races, faces, and places. Encouraging our children to read daily helps expand their ways of thinking, opens their hearts, and helps them see the world in different ways while inspiring them to be a better person.”

Lower Elementary

From our littlest Lions in PreK all the way up to Upper Elementary School students, everyone loves dressing up for “Read Across America” week. Students and staff look forward to expressing their creativity during the spirit week of themed dress down days.

• Monday: Crazy Hat Day

• Tuesday: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

• Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday

• Thursday: Thing 1 and Thing 2 Day

• Friday: Crazy Sock Day

Recently, students in grades first through third participated in a Reading Challenge. They worked hard to read as many pages per day as they could. Mrs. Randolph, Lower School Principal shared, “We are so proud of our Lower School students for rocking the Reading Challenge. Our first-third grade students read a total of 170,873 pages in just five weeks!!!! That’s incredible! Parents, thank you for supporting and encouraging your child to participate! Congratulations to Mrs. Akey’s class for reading the most pages as a class! Mrs. Akey’s students read 25,418 pages! This is truly amazing! They are the proud winners of our Lion Leadership Award!!!” The grade level winners were Mrs. Varela's 1st grade class who read 12,178 pages, Mrs. Ellis’ 2nd grade class who read 15,236 pages, and Mrs. Akey’s 3rd grade class who read 25,418 pages. Our Lions sure love reading and far surpassed expectations with their accomplishments.

Throughout this exciting week our Lower Elementary classrooms were filled with exciting and engaging classroom activities including visits from mystery readers including parents, grandparents, TCS staff. Even some of our TCS high school students visited classrooms and read to students as part of their Family and Consumer Science course. Our students truly enjoyed having some of their favorite people in their classrooms reading aloud to them. There is something special that happens for a child when a book comes to life. No matter the age, being read to has many benefits including increasing vocabulary, reading comprehension, fluency, listening skills, developing imagination, bonding, and developing a love of reading.

Upper Elementary

Thanks to the generous contributions to our TCS Annual Fund, our fourth and fifth graders were blessed with the opportunity to attend an on campus Creative Writing Workshop with Christian Author Jenny L. Cote. Jenny’s workshop was engaging and inspiring for both our students and staff.  She encouraged our young writers with tips for creative writing like:

• Remember to add lots of details. Every word matters.

• Paint a picture in your mind and then write what you see.

• Pictures help inspire. Use your creativity.

• Colorful characters are what makes life special. Embrace the issues that maybe make you different and include them in characters in your writing.

• Research is a like a treasure hunt. Get out of the internet and go see where history happened.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for things. If you’re interested in something, ask an adult for help researching the topic to learn more about it.

• Try to get a little better with each writing assignment.

After the workshop, Jenny autographed copies of her books for students who had pre-ordered and posed for pictures with each of the classes. The students lined up to give her high fives and thank you’s for writing such awesome books they love to read. Our teachers are so excited to read the writings of these fourth and fifth grade students since they have attended this amazing workshop. To learn more about Jenny L. Cote or order an autographed copy of one of her books, click the buttons below. (Orders will be accepted through this link until Tuesday, 3/12)