YORKTON – Students at St. Michael's Elementary School got a unique hands-on learning experience Jan. 17 thanks to a special visit from a local farming family.
Tammie Latimer, a Teacher and Learning Achievement Coach at the school, said the visit featured two bunnies, two chickens and a 12-day-old baby lamb. The event was organized to help students connect with the animals they are reading about in "Charlotte's Web" for the One School One Book event.
One School One Book is an essential strategy that reinforces reading instruction, increases parental involvement and bridges the home-school connection. With this program, each student in the school receives a copy of the selected book to read at home with their family. At school, students celebrate and explore the novel with their classmates, building a true community of readers.
The farm visit aimed to teach students about animals they might find on a farm, similar to the friends of Wilbur, the pig, in the story "Charlotte's Web."
The school-wide One School One Book event is set to take place on Jan. 28 to celebrate Family Literacy Day, which occurs the day before. Plans for the event include a county fair with traditional games such as egg tossing, bean bag toss and a haystack search for Templeton the rat, a character from the book.
"We're going to have some of the traditional candies and treats of the fair so we're just hoping to have a really big fun night for families to spend together," said Latimer.
This marks the third year that St. Michael's has participated in the One School One Book event, but Latimer has been involved with the program for 16 years having organized it for 13 years while teaching at St. Paul's.
Latimer emphasized the importance of family involvement in fostering a love for reading in children.
"Children can only build a love of reading when their parents share that love with them. We do all we can here at school to teach the basics of how to read but it's really a family that builds the love of books in their children. Parents are our first teachers and when they teach with passion and love then the children will have it too," she said.
Leading up to the event, the school has planned various activities, including daily trivia questions related to the book, with prizes for those who answer correctly. Students will also take home a trivia question to share with their families.
"We all learned today that rodents' teeth never stop growing for their entire lives. Little fun facts for them to learn," Latimer noted.
Latimer added that the opportunity to interact with farm animals is valuable for many students who may not otherwise have the chance.
"For them to see and touch [the animals] is just so important," she said. "Next week we're hoping if the weather is warm ... we'll bring in a cow."
