Mr. Popper's Penguins Comes to Freeman for the Month of February!

It's time once again to start One School One Book at Freeman Elementary.  Last year was our inaugural year for the program and we read The World According to Humphrey.  It was wildly popular with students and families.  We even had a pet hamster, Hattie, stay with us at school.  To give you an update, this year Hattie is enjoying spending some time with the kindergarten classes as they study her for Science class.  She is still enjoying running on her wheel, snacking on carrots and seeds, and talking to Mr. Rex, the janitor each night.

Mrs. Sieh dressed like a penguin to kick off this
year's One School One Book program with
Mr. Popper's Penguins.

This morning we kicked off the month of February with introducing this year's book selection.  We will be reading Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.  Our assembly this morning was spent going over how the program works and handing out books to each class.  A huge THANK YOU! to the PTO for providing a book for EACH student this year.

So how does the program work?  Along with receiving a book, students will be coming home with a book mark and a handout.  In the handout, is a parent letter, and a reading schedule.  Each night, Monday through Friday, students are assigned to read one chapter.  They are pretty short and easy to read. It's important that you read the assignment each night because when they come to school the next day, there are trivia questions from the book that the class will answer.  Those answers are submitted to Mrs. Sieh and tallied over the course of the month.  The class with the most points will receive a prize.  There will be 3 questions each day.  Two relating to the book and 1 relating to penguin trivia.

Also in their packet is a Certificate of Completion form.  After the Friday reading assignment, students can fill out the certificate for the week with their name and a parent signature.  Cut off the certificate and bring to the elementary office the following Monday morning.  Students who return their certificate on Monday will receive a small prize.  There are 4 weeks, so there will be 4 tickets total to turn in.  Each child has a certificate that they can complete.  At the end of the month we will celebrate with penguin activities to wrap up our program.

We hope that families really embrace this program by sitting down as a family to read together each night. Books chosen for the program are age appropriate for the whole family to enjoy from preschool to adult.  One of the best gifts you can give your child is spending time together and promoting literacy.  Even if you have a busy night, have someone read the book in the car on the way to a game or activity.  If you need catch up time, that is what the weekends are for.

Mr. Popper's Penguins is a classic.  The first copyright was 1938, but it is still a favorite among kids.
Our Reading Schedule:
(One chapter a night, Monday-Friday)
Feb 1-5, Chapters 1-5
Feb 8-12, Chapters 6-10
Feb 15-19, Chapters 11-15
Feb 22-26, Chapters 16-20

Happy Reading!