Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing break with your families. I’m happy to be back with my Johnson family today, and to be sharing photos of such a fun event with you!

When I started Johnson’s Picture Book Month Celebration in November 2012, I knew that it was a great excuse to share my favorite picture books with my students and to get them excited about the stories that we share with them at Johnson everyday. Last week, when we shared our third annual Picture Book Month Celebration, I happily realized that it has grown into so much more.

Our students think long and hard about their costume choices, and come dressed to the nines to show off their favorite picture book characters. In the first gallery below, check out some of their costume choices!

3rd and 4th graders get so much joy out of preparing and sharing their stories with K and pre-k students. This was the first year with FOUR grades participating instead of two – and it was double the party! Third grade students read with pre-k partners, while fourth graders shared with kindergarten. When they were finished, student groups rotated to a new older volunteer to share a new story.

I can preach about reading, storytime, and how much fun it is to lose yourself in a book all day long – but we all know that peer mentorship and positive role models have such a huge effect on our students. Our third and fourth graders continue to impress me in their willingness to stand up, work hard, and act as role models for Johnson’s little guys. Their choices matter – and they know it!

In the gallery below, you can see some shots of 3rd and 4th graders sharing their prepared stories with their young partners.

Students weren’t the only ones to show their picture book spirit! Johnson teachers came in costume and participated in a costume parade and guessing game to test their students’ knowledge.

We all had a blast singing, dancing, sharing stories and videos, and celebrating all that we love about reading together. It was a wonderful party!

Later that afternoon I visited Mrs. Rickabaugh’s class to learn more about their picture book projects. This group went above and beyond to create and display beautiful projects based on their chosen picture book. Not only did younger students get to hear a story, but when they walk past Mrs. Rickabaugh’s classroom, they get to see the characters come to life! With a combination of art, vocabulary, and writing, students got to know their characters inside and out. I was SO impressed!

THANK YOU to all of the students, parents, and staff that participated and made our Third Annual Picture Book Month Celebration our best celebration yet!