Fourth Grade Gets "Dirt"y with Daily Independent Reading Time!
Fourth-grade teachers held an assembly on Monday, August 23rd to kick off their new reading initiative titled "D.I.R.T.," which stands for Daily Independent Reading Time. The concept was brought to Lansing by our new Director of Teaching and Learning, Mr. Miles Azzeh. Students across the building will be independently reading a book of their choice for twenty minutes every day. The only caveat is that the book must be on their reading level. Each teacher will get to join in the fun by also independently reading during this time.
Mr. Azzeh was thrilled to see the school adopt this reading strategy.
"It really warms my heart to see our fantastic teachers so dedicated to helping our students develop that love of reading. Fostering great reading habits will not only help kids when it comes to vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, but it will also help them increase their background knowledge of the world and people around them. I can’t thank the staff at LIS enough for their commitment to helping our kids’ literacy skills."
Mrs. Laurie Holden led the assembly, and the kids had a blast learning that their reading time was strictly for the enjoyment of reading. Mrs. Holden relayed that there would be no tests, no questions, no book reports, but most importantly, there would be no fake reading. One student from each class was then selected to present their favorite book and why it was special to them.
"My favorite part of the assembly was hearing the cheers from students when Mrs. Holden said THEY get to pick the book they want to read," said Mr. Azzeh. "Student choice when it comes to reading is something that we talk about a lot but never actually do. I’m thrilled the teachers are letting the kids have a say in what they want to read!”
Outstanding work, Mr. Azzeh and the students and staff at Lansing Intermediate School!