One School, One Book program:

NNS Trumpet - of the Swan v3 
Nikiski North Star Elementary School students were excited to read "The Trumpet of the Swan" during February as part of the One School, One Book program to celebrate Love of Reading month.

Reading can be a solitary experience — curling up with a book before bedtime or immersing oneself in a story to while away spare time. But a good story can also be an engaging discovery to make together. If a love of reading hasn't quite taken hold of a student, sometimes the fun of sharing a book between a class, a family or an entire school can be just the thing to develop lifelong reading habits.

Enjoying the fun of reading is just what schools did during February, as Love of Reading Month. There were days to celebrate Dr. Seuss, guest readers from the community sharing their favorite stories, costumes, decorations, games, contests to win books and reading-related prizes, and plenty of other activities to get kids reading.

Two schools, Redoubt Elementary and Nikiski North Star Elementary, decided to take a coordinated approach. Beyond just getting students to read, the schools decided to get all students and their families to read the same book at the same time.

In the "One School, One Book" program, a single chapter book is chosen for the entire school and sent home to families with a schedule for when each chapter should be read. Reading should be done out loud as a family, with discussion following about what was read. At school, there are activities to coordinate, promote and enrich the shared reading experience, including a kickoff assembly, and a showing of a movie version of the book, to which families are invited.

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Trumpet players participated in a kickoff assembly at Nikiski North Star Elementary in February to begin the One School, One Book program, in honor of reading "The Trumpet of the Swan."
The Redoubt Elementary community read "The Mouse and the Motorcycle," by Beverly Cleary, with a movie showing at the end of February. Nikiski North Star's book was "The Trumpet of the Swan," by E.B. White, which began with a kickoff assembly featuring student trumpet players, and ended with a showing of the movie version of the book at the end of the month.

The purpose of the program is not only to connect the extended school community, but to encouraging reading at home as a family, so students see that reading is important to those who are important in their lives.