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Luverne Elementary School is abuzz with reading activities throughout the month of February in celebration of “I Love to Read Month.”
Tucked among the various reading offerings is fourth-grade teacher Peyten Elbers’ “Book Club,” a new class offered through Luverne Community Education.
The first-year teacher wanted to offer a reading alternative during the month of February for families with third- through fifth-graders and their activity-filled schedules.
“I know how busy families are nowadays to try to have their child read every night, so I decided to merge the two ideas and create a book club to get kids excited about reading,” she said.
“I’m offering this as a fun way to get students excited about reading. There are groups for sports, robotics, cooking and Spanish. Why not add a group for reading as well.”
She has 27 third- and fourth-grade students sign up for her after-school Book Club.
For an hour each week, Elbers gathers with students from the same grade level in her room after school. Together they share a snack as Elbers reads a book. Then they read a book together, followed by playing games centered around story meanings.
“These games focus on skills such as, who is the main character, where is the story taking place, what is the plot of each story, and so on,” she said.
The selected books are based on the students’ Accelerated Reader level and the students can test on the books read in Book Club to earn points toward their individual reading goals.
“Reading can be fun,” Elbers said. “I hope that this book club helps kids reach their AR goal along with learning how to read.”
Luverne Elementary staff has organized various “Drop Everything And Read” moments, and each Friday in February students participate in various reading activities in their classrooms.
March 2 is the late children’s author Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel’s birthday and a day filled with reading as the school’s I Love to Read Monday comes to a close.
Elbers’ Book Club embraces Geisel’s whimsical stories in an effort to encourage young students to read.
“Just like Dr. Seuss said, ‘The more you read, the more things you know. The more you learn the more places you will go,’” Elbers said. “Reading is a skill we will use the rest of our lives, and I want students to view reading as something to enjoy.”