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Woodside Elementary rally is springboard to literacy
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Army captain Keith Carpenter (center) visited Woodside’s March 24 literacy rally as a friendly gesture. Woodside principal Tim Kelty used his presence to teach his students about leadership.
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Ariana Williams let her voice ring loud and proud as she recited her selection of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
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The school’s kindergarten students each read a small section of Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to their classmates. Sumara Myers (center) stood proudly as she recited her selection.
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As the story progressed, the students added painted signs that showed a caterpillar growing larger and larger. Helping hold up the large caterpillar was Sage Kalna (left), Hayley Perdew, Kristen Yeager, Farrah Hewlett, Landon Fortson, Romelia Arreaga, Amber Hallett, and Dawson Schertzer.
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After Eric Carle’s very hungry caterpillar grew and grew, the insect, and the student’s signs, transformed into a beautiful butterfly.
By SARAH FOOR
At the change of every season, Woodside Elementary celebrates literacy, good behavior and leadership with its Literacy Rally. Every season’s rally features Woodside traditions, including seasonal jokes by principal Tim Kelty, chanting along with loud and proud Woodside cheers and a literacy performance by the students of a certain grade.
Although the traditions were still there, the March 24 show featured some unique guests and performances. Principal Kelty used a special appearance by Army Capt. Keith Carpenter to teach his students about leadership, which the rally champions.
“Mr. Carpenter is here because he’s a leader — that is actually part of his job, boys and girls. Being well-behaved and an inspiration to your classmates can help you be just like Capt. Carpenter when you grow up,” Kelty explained to his students.
For the literacy performance, the school’s first-graders staged a performance that explored the story of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” by author Eric Carle, with a reading of the text and a song and dance routine.
Woodside literacy coach Janet Detwiler helped the students bring the book to life with the help of the first-grade teachers.
“I think the format really helped in this case — the first-graders have shown great excitement for the project because they get to sing and move to it. As their literacy coach, it’s wonderful because song can really help the kids become better and more fluent readers,” Detwiler explained.
The first-graders read the text of the book and held up painted signs that showed the caterpillar growing and growing. At the close of the book, he transformed into a butterfly, and the signs of the first-graders also flipped over to morph into a painting of a butterfly.
Kelty told a few jokes about the Easter bunny, and then the spring literacy rally ended with a familiar cheer to the students.
“Hickory, dickory, dock! Woodside rocks!” they sang together.