Oxford Elementary kicks off six-week reading event

Photo: Kayla Collins

ENGAGED —  A group of students at Oxford Elementary School begin reading "The World According to Humphrey" together in the school gymnasium January 3 during a kick-off of the school's six-week reading event.

OXFORD —  Staff, students and parents of Oxford Elementary packed into the school gymnasium on January 3 to kick off a one-of-a-kind reading event, organized by a committee of OES teachers. 

From 1:30 p.m., when the assembly began, to February school vacation, every student at OES will be challenged to read "The World According to Humphrey," by Betty G. Birney. 

According to Oxford Principal Kim Ramharter, a group of staff members, the OES Reads Committee, has been formulating how to get students more excited and involved with what they're reading. 

"It's a way to create a reading community in our school," said Rhonda Twitchell, an interventionist at OES. 

According to Twitchell, this is the first reading event of this kind to happen at the school. She said the event is modeled after a program called "One school, One book," where all students read the same book and complete the same learning activities.

During the assembly, pre-k to sixth grade students cheered as Mrs. Ramharter, dressed in a plaid shirt, boots and a cowgirl hat, rolled out a hamster cage with a small, furry friend inside – a hamster named Humphrey.

They also clapped along as OES staff, all dressed country-themed, stood up to do the "Hamster Dance," moments before unveiling the school's book of choice. 

According to Ramharter, "the unveiling of the book is huge for kids." 

"We've been building them up for this," she said. 

"The World According to Humphrey," the first of a series, is about a pet hamster, Humphrey, who lives in Room 26, an elementary classroom at Longfellow School, and the children's homes he visits on weekends.

The students also watched an introductory video, narrated by the author herself, encouraging them to read the book as she held up her hamster hand puppet. 

She explained to the students that she's written more than 200 episodes of animated and live-action television programs, including Madeline, Doug, Bobby's World, Fraggle Rock and Clifford. 

The intent of the reading challenge, Ramharter said, is to improve the students' reading habits by getting parents more involved with their child's reading at home. 

"It was really to build it up to be a big deal and we are all doing it together," Twitchell said. 

Each student was given a book at the assembly. To begin the challenge, the students, parents and staff all read the first chapter together. 

"We actually had someone on the committee who read the book [aloud] and changed their voice to sound like the hamster," Twitchell explained. 

"So, 'Humphrey' read the first chapter while the kids followed along," she said. "The kids loved it." 

Every day, for the month of January and February, said Twitchell, students will complete an activity or answer trivia questions related to what they read in that week's chapter, from a calendar of activities created by the committee.  

A newsletter has also been sent home to parents, Twitchell said. 

According to Twitchell, to get parents more involved with their child's reading, the committee has scheduled "family nights" at the school –  one on Thursday, January 17 and Tuesday, January 22, for kids and their parents to discuss what was read. 

"They will be the same event but give parents two different opportunities to come in," Twitchell said. "If they can't make it on Thursday, they can come in on Tuesday." 

Twitchell said the family nights will also compose activities related to the book for parents and their children to engage in together. 

"We will see how this [six-week event] goes and reevaluate it," Twitchell said. "We are hoping to do one again next year, but since this is our first time around, we just wanted to keep it to this one book and see how it went."

Photo: Kayla Collins

HAMSTER DANCE —  Oxford Elementary staff do the "Hamster Dance" during an assembly Friday to get the students excited about reading "The World According to Humphrey," by Betty G. Birney. 

Photo: Kayla Collins

TA-DA! —  Staff at Oxford Elementary pose after they unveil a large replica of the book every student at EOS will be reading between now and February 13. 

Photo: Kayla Collins

FURRY FRIEND — Oxford Elementary School Principal Kim Ramharter wheels out a hamster cage with a live hamster inside during an assembly Friday. Ramharter said the intent is to get students and their parents more engaged in their reading by doing a different book-related activity every day for the next six weeks.