PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) — When a whole school reads a book there’s a lot to talk about.
That’s the motto at Prairie Queen Elementary in Papillion, as they are all taking the month of February to all read the same book.
Every year since the school was founded seven years ago, all Prairie Queen Elementary participates in its One School, One Book campaign.
Each student is given the same book for free. The books are provided by the Parent Teacher Organization.
The book this year is called The World According to Humphrey, which is about a hamster that lives in a classroom.
The main emphasis is on reading the book as a family and answering a pack of questions together. This helps students engage in attentive listening, reading, and thinking.
The school’s Instructional Coach Paula Devol says reading aloud at home strengthens students’ vocabulary and helps them become effective readers.
“It’s just a great opportunity for parents to interact,” Devol said. “There’s a lot of problem-solving opportunities in this book to talk about, like how you deal with friends who are shy or students who might be mean.”
When students return the question packets, they are put in a drawing to win prizes as well.
The school says parents have reached out saying how much they love doing this every year. The students sing a similar tune and enjoy the family time they share.
“When we get home and we read the book, we just take turns reading it,” 6th Grader Caiden Hansen said. “Usually, my mom starts off and then she hands it off to me or my sister.”
“We switch off reading every other page, and then at the end we answer some questions,” 6th Grader Anna Krska said.
“I usually read to my sister. We always go to her bed before she goes to bed, and I read the book to her and she enjoys it,” 4th Grader Hannah Whyte said. “I enjoy it too.”
Many of the classrooms are also incorporating some of the readings into work at school, giving students the opportunity to continue to talk about the book with fellow students and teachers as well.
