North Hartsville Elementary School becomes who’s who of children’s literature
Photo Contributed
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
North Hartsville Elementary School was overrun with characters Thursday March 2. There was a mouse, a cat wearing a hat, Captain America and perhaps even a few whosits and watchamacallits.
Students and staff alike were celebrating Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’ birthday by dressing as their favorite character, said NHE Literacy Coach Kristen Nicholson.
“It is Dr. Seuss’ birthday but we don’t want to celebrate just one author,” Nicholson said. “Our kids are hooked on books; they are hooked on authors. This is a way for them to show off the authors that are intriguing and interesting to them.”
Nicholson said that Character Day is a great way for students to express their individual interests.
“One kid is dressed as Jack from the Magic Tree House and just has a pair of glasses and his backpack,” Nicholson said. “He can show, ‘I am in to this’ but do it in a simple way.”
Photo by Melissa Rollins
It wasn’t just students who took the opportunity to get a little creative, either.
“This is also a fun way for teachers to show the authors that they enjoyed reading or changed their lives in some way,” Nicholson said. “The administration team has chosen a series; we are all Junie B. Jones because we have a big following of Junie B. lovers in first and second grade.”
Animals were also a popular costume.
“Some students have chosen a character from non-fiction, a way to show that they read a lot of things,” Nicholson said. “One kid is dressed as a shark because he loves reading about sharks. He didn’t have to be a literary character; he loves sharks and he wanted to be a shark.”
Along with Dr. Seuss crafts, such as coloring a red and white hat like the one worn by the Cat in the Hat, students took part in other book related activities. One second-grade classroom dressed up like characters from a book. Each student then spoke in character to their classmates about why they should read their book.
Members of the community volunteered to be readers for the special day. Brittany Douglas read Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. Emma Hodges read Happy Birthday to You, also by Dr. Seuss.
Emma Hodges reads to students
Students crowded around each reader excitedly, some interjecting with surprise or asking questions about the characters in each of the books. The readers took the excite in stride, talking with students about the fanciful names of Dr. Seuss’ creations, reading in tempo with the phrasing and styling of the author’s amusing books.