Teaching Tip: Get Pumped for Reading!

Name:

Monica A. Gardner

Economy:

United States

School:

Eastbury Elementary

Subject:

Literacy/Wellness

Tip:

Get Pumped for Reading was a month-long reading and fitness initiative that involved the entire school: students, staff and families. Our objective was for the entire Eastbury School community to celebrate the importance of a healthy mind and a healthy body. Our main goal was to implement a school-wide celebration of reading with a wellness twist. Activities included:

• A kick off assembly in the gym with aerobic dancing
• A reading chart in each classroom with the teacher and students setting their own classroom reading goals
• Wellness facts featured on the daily morning announcements
• Nutrition lessons during Physical education classes on the food pyramid
• Students read a “well balanced diet” of genres
• Guest Reader Day
• Weekly Drop Everything and Read
• Compiled a cookbook for staff of healthy recipes
• Family Literacy and Wellness Night with stations for quiet reading, dancercise, interactive websites, samples of healthy snacks, materials and websites on nutrition, fitness stations with heart rate monitors, crafts and puzzles on nutrition