1/8/08

Third grade students who performed at kickoff assembly stand before bulletin board that will show student progress.

Throughout Baltimore County Public Schools, teaching students reading skills and teaching them to love reading as well go hand in hand. Incentive programs, book clubs, and other strategies inspire students to spend more of their leisure time reading.

At Charlesmont Elementary School in Dundalk, paper trees and vines climb the hallways as part of the latest school-wide reading incentive program, “Reading Through the Rainforest.” At the program’s kickoff assembly on January 4, third-grade students performed a “Readers’ Theater” script to introduce the program, and school counselor Sue Clarke made an appearance disguised as a rainforest tree.

According to reading specialist Jane Losinger, each student has been given a rainforest animal to represent himself or herself. Students read for at least 15 minutes each night to help their animals climb from the “understory” of the forest up through the layers of the rainforest until they reach the top of the ecosystem – the canopy. A large bulletin board in the school lobby displays each student’s progress so that the entire school can celebrate reading success.

 “I am excited about this special reading incentive program,” says Principal Marsha Ayres, “because it not only promotes home/school parent involvement, but it also teaches the participants about the rainforest layers. Students, parents, and teachers can learn about the animals and insects that live at the various layers and the impact of sunlight on the vegetation at each layer.”

At the kickoff assembly, school counselor Sue Clarke made an appearance disguised as a rainforest tree.

Although the school has implemented numerous reading incentive programs in the past, this is the first time it has used the rainforest theme. Second-grade student Sarah W. is one of many students enthused about the program. “I like it,” she says, “because I like learning about different places in the world, like the rainforest.”

School administrators and teachers believe that reading incentive programs reward students for achieving their goals and reflect the rigorous standards of Baltimore County Public Schools.  “It is our hope,” says reading specialist Mary Riggins, “that highlighting the importance of reading through our Reading through the Rainforest incentive program will show our Charlesmont families how important this skill is for student achievement in all areas of life.”

Story by Jane Losinger, reading specialist and Good News Ambassador, Charlesmont Elementary School, and Diana L. Spencer, communications officer, Baltimore County Public Schools. Photos courtesy of Charlesmont Elementary School.

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