Jackie McDonald of Hall's Cross Elementary

Jackie McDonald of Hall's Cross Elementary, speaks about her project…

"This year our class has been working on a variety of community service projects. For three years I have celebrated Dr. Seuss Day with my students by having them read to younger students. This year I learned about the Pay it Forward Foundation's grants and thought I could tie community service in with Dr. Seuss Day. The result was a success. The Pay it Forward Foundation funded a hard cover Dr. Seuss book and blank tape for each of my students. Each student was able to write down their top two picks for books. I went out and bought one of these books for them. They then worked on reading and rereading their book to practice fluency and reading with expression. They were able to trade books with classmates if needed.

After about one month of practicing they were ready to read their books on tape. From the beginning of the project the students were aware that they were going to read their books on tape and then donate the book and tape to neighborhood families and primary classrooms. Before they read the books on tape we met with Miss Blair's first grade class to buddy read our books. This served as great practice for the students and they say it helped take away their jitters about reading on tape. With the help of our devoted instructional assistant, each student read his/her book on tape. We also met again with Miss Blair's class on Dr. Seuss Day and again buddy read Dr. Seuss books. This time Miss Blair's class read to us as well.

The students really enjoyed this project. They felt more confident after hearing themselves on tape and enjoy the fact that their work is helping little kids. An added bonus was being able to share with Miss Blair's Class. Our community is also benefiting since some families now have an additional book title for their home library. Through this project many children were able to share in the joy and spirit of Dr. Seuss."