25 Days of Classrooms: Bookstore Field Trip!

This month I am sharing stories from
classrooms in Berwyn South District 100.

Day 3: A Bookstore Field Trip with Michelle Brezek (6-8 at Heritage)

  

     This visit inside a classroom actually takes place outside of the classroom.  Yep, that's right.  Michelle Brezek took some middle school kids to lunch and a bookstore.  To buy books.  :)

     Heritage had a summer reading program, and these students were the top readers for the school.  To reward them, they arranged for a field trip to Barnes and Noble.  Each child was able to buy a book, and they got to pick the one that they wanted to read.  If it was beyond the price point, they were able to pay the difference, and/or they were able to buy additional books using Michelle's teacher discount of 20% off.  (This meant they practiced math skills, too.).

     Why does this make my list of classroom visits?  Well, it turns out that most of these students had NEVER been to a bookstore.  They were the top readers, yet hadn't experienced an actual bookstore.  I am all about providing experiences for students, and this counts.  I spent half my childhood at Waldenbooks.   I'm glad that they now know that a place like Barnes & Noble exists.

     Here are the books they picked!  What a variety of readers.  :)  I might need to borrow a few.

     On the drive home, the bus was relatively silent.  Why?  They were READING.  Nice work, Michelle Brezek and Allison Boutet (HMS Principal) for rewarding your readers not only with books, but also with new experiences.  Here's hoping they return to the bookstore on their own again someday.