Hopkins Hill School Celebrates Reading Week

The Magic of Reading was the theme of this year’s Reading Week at Hopkins Hill
Elementary School in Coventry. On Monday students kicked off the week with an 
assembly in the gymnasium where students learned about the fun activities planned for the week. The assembly ended with all students and teachers in the gym participating in DEAR time. (Drop Everything and Read).

On Monday, students were given silk sashes. Each night students had the opportunity to earn badges and jewels for their sashes by reading, completing their homework and turning off the TV and completing activities. Students were allowed to watch the Discovery Channel to learn something new.

A book swap occurred throughout the week. Students brought books in and teachers placed them on a table outside of their rooms. Students could give a book and take a book all week.

Hopkins Hill adopted a new mission statement this year:

EMPOWER
E = Educate: To teach; to share knowledge and skill and to Inspire: To encourage someone to do something
M = Motivate: To help someone have an “I can do” attitude.
P = Persevere: To keep trying and never give up even when things get difficult.
O = Open to Collaboration: Willing to work with others.
W = Whole Child, Whole Community: Everyone working together as one.
E = Equipped: To have what you need; to be ready and prepared
R = Responsible, Respectful, Safe: Responsible: To be trusted to do the right thing; Respectful: To treat others the way you want to be treated; to be polite; Safe: to do no harm to others or yourself.

Mrs. Tancrelle, principal, challenged students to make and decorate a hat to depict the vocabulary word that was assigned to their grade level from part of the mission statement. 

There was also a poster contest during the week. Students made posters with
the vocabulary words in the Mission Statement. These posters were displayed on 
classroom doors.

On Thursday a special guest visited to entertain the students. Storyteller Len Cabral whisked the students into his world of storytelling to the children’s delight.
 
On Friday the culminating event was a reading celebration parade. Students proudly wore their sashes with the badges and jewels they earned all week. Students from kindergarten through grade 5 stepped up and accepted Mrs. Tancrelle’s challenge to create vocabulary hats! There was an array of creative vocabulary hats being worn by students in the parade.

The magic of reading was alive and well at Hopkins Hill School.