Upland Heights Elementary just got a whole lot merrier with a new holiday book tradition! The library wrapped books and put them under a festive Christmas tree for teachers to send students on a book-picking mission.  

Erin Leleux the Upland Heights Media Specialist and Pam Jester the Media Assistant came up with this idea to build some excitement around reading these last couple of weeks of school. The books are intended to be a quick read-aloud for the class to enjoy together, then be brought back to the library. 

All grades participated in the new holiday book-picking tradition. Students loved coming in and picking books blindly, and knowing they could come back more than once made it fun, and no one was ever disappointed in the books they blindly picked. 

“I truly believe in the power of a read-aloud,” said Leleux. “It builds vocabulary, targets the skills of audio learners, improves important processing skills, teachers can target so many literacy skills, and helps with attention spans. Engaging activities in the library enhances reading engagement and helps develop a school-wide culture of reading.” 

Several of the teachers took the simple activity and built on it. Jacy Carrillo, an English as a Second Language teacher, had each of her students choose a book to unwrap. Instead of just reading aloud, Carrillo had the students try to persuade her to read their chosen book to the whole class. Imagine the pitches: passionate pleas, funny one-liners, and even some dramatic reenactments. The class then hosted a mini-election to vote and determine which book they read.  

“I think this may be one of my favorite ways to choose a classroom read-aloud ever,” said Leleux. “It's festive, engaging, and gives the kids a real stake in the process.”