Elementary Takes Reading into a New Level

Columbus School’s 1st E teacher Jonathan Keeler has all of his students fascinated with reading by acting, singing, and connecting his students with the book on story time.

His students have always loved this technique because he has used it forever and it makes them feel more involved with the adventure.

“We don’t only laugh but we also have fun on story time… it’s not a chore, we love it, it makes me excited,” 1st grader Simon Sanchez said.

This technique is being used not only as a method of fun and comedy, but in the long run, it’s believed to have major improvements in the kids’ way of learning and routine.

“They follow along and are able to think critically on what the moral of the story may be,” 1st grade teacher Jonathan Keeler said.

Their students are aware they are learning with his way of reading. They have shown to love the way he gets into character.

“He makes the voices from all the characters which help us get into the story, we feel what the characters are experiencing,” 1st grader Maria Robles said.

It’s not only fascinating for students, but even teachers with years of experience find it extremely useful as well.

“The students are able to hop into the book while creating more adequate mental pictures of the story which helps them understand what’s going on, on a deeper level,” 1st E assistant Veronica Peláez said.

Their goal is to change the path a lot of students have walked through in the past, the teachers want the kids to feel comfortable and excited about reading.

“With all the emotions we share on story time, they end up seeing the book as something fun, which helps them later in their own reading, it helps them notice intonation while copying my expressions,” Keeler said.

Until now, the effects have been all positive and everything is advancing into a favorable direction.

“They are passionate about reading, instead of being distracted, this non-monotonous way generates curiosity and interest which prevents kids from falling behind and getting lost in the story,” Peláez said.

From generation to generation improvements are being made, in the english department everything is going smoothly due to the kids having more fun reading.

“All week is basically waiting for story time, we can’t wait to read,” Sanchez said.