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Mountain View Celebrates Poetry During Reading Month

Pics and text submitted by Sharon Griffin, Reading Coach, MVES

Reading Month at Mt. View Elementary focused on celebrating poetry, with the theme "A Reason for a Rhyme".  Students from all grade levels read poems each morning on the Morning News and teachers incorporated poetry into the curriculum in the classrooms.  The month culminated with a Poet-in-Residence, Dan Dutterer, from Asheville, NC.  Dan dressed as "Pirate Jack", spoke in a wonderful British accent, and kicked off the week with a performance of poems about pirates. 

Pirate Jack then worked in classrooms across all grades helping poetry come alive for the students.  Students learned poems for dramatic performances at the end of the week.  Pirate Jack also performed for a joint PTA/Title I Parent Night, incorporating many students into his performance.  Predictably, interest in reading poetry books rose tremendously over the month. 

During the month, MVES  students participated in the Annual Book Exchange, bringing in books each week from home to trade for others.  The cafeteria windows were decorated by our Art Teacher with humorous poems about food and a Bulletin Board was created with favorite poems of the staff.  Poems were scattered around the hallways and students were often seen stopping to enjoy a poem.  The month ended with a Faculty Read-Aloud where favorite poems were read to the students by faculty in grade-level groups. 

Mt. View indeed had a "reason for a rhyme" during February!