Reading and drawing: Northwest Elementary students create colorful characters
BUTLER TWP — Kindergarten students in Butler Area School District schools were excited to hear stories from United Way volunteers Thursday, April 4 and Tuesday, April 9, but even more excited to take home their own copies of those books.
On Tuesday, United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania volunteers and staff members read to the youngsters at Northwest Elementary, and then helped the children color and create their puppets of book-inspired characters.
The event was part of an effort in which the United Way put together literacy packets for more than 1,400 students in 15 schools in the region, said Amy Franz, regional vice president of the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“We pick books that are kindergarten and first grade appropriate that lend themselves to having a hands-on activity after we read the story,” Franz said.
Then, the copies of the books are distributed, so that the children can add to their at-home libraries, an action taken to promote literacy in the developing minds, Franz said.
“It helps with their literacy and grade-level reading,” she said. “Not only will they have this time with the visitor, but they have two books to add to their home library.”
According to Franz, the United Way also delivered packets to students at Broad Street, Center Township, Connoquenessing, Emily Brittain and Summit elementary schools on April 4.
One of the books read to the students was “Looking for a Jumbie,” which was about the search for a mythological creature. The students’ packets contained cut-out pictures of the creature and other characters from the book, which they colored and glued to Popsicle sticks to interact with as puppets.
The other book was about camping, and Franz said both stories led students to engage with reading comprehension in different ways.
“They like the characters in the books, and then when we did the activities, it led to conversations,” Franz said. “The kids who read the camping book, they talked about their own camping experiences.”
Hazel Calderon, a kindergarten student in Toniann Kelly’s class, colored one of her characters Tuesday with numerous crayons, while kindergartner Kai Doerflinger stuck to one color per body part.
Franz said that while the United Way’s efforts last week and this week were focused on children already enrolled in kindergarten, the agency also helps people looking to enroll their children into kindergarten programs throughout the region.
“We work with our pre-K providers, and we get them connected with resources so they meet their elementary schools, and we help fund kindergarten transition programs,” Franz said.
