Would you like to go to school in your pajamas and read all day? Well, the students at Chickering School get to do that on a very special day called Read Your Heart Out Day (RYHOD). But you don’t really read your heart out of your body. RYHOD is when the students get to read all day and if they want to wear their pajamas. they can. They can also bring their stuffed animals, pillows, and/or blankets. RYHOD is a celebration of the end of Fit & Lit, a program to exercise our brains and bodies.
During RYHOD students of all classes come to school in pajamas and slippers. Some students bring blankets, pillows and stuffed animals. In some classrooms teachers put up canopies or tents for students to read under or in. Some activities students do are listen to parent guest readers, read with classroom buddies, perform Readers Theater, and sometimes room parents would bring in special snacks. But mostly we read, read, read!
This year with digital readers, we needed to get special permission from our principal, Dr. Nugent. Currently our student handbook doesn’t allow us to bring in any digital devices from home. Dr. Nugent granted permission to bring in Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and other eBook devices. The students were very grateful to Dr. Nugent for allowing them to bring in reading devices for RYHOD.
Everybody at Chickering School loves RYHOD! We talked to our teacher, Mrs. Haggett, and teaching assistant, Mr Crowley, about their feelings regarding Read Your Heart Out Day. Mrs. Haggett said, ” I love read your heart out day because students read what ever they want and we can have fun talking about different books and sometimes parents come in and read to us.” ” Yes, I do, because it gives everyone a chance to relax, wear comfortable clothes, sit anywhere they want, and also focus on reading all day long,” remarked Mr. Crowley. Some of the students shared with us: “…read all day and not do any subject[s]….” “…it is fun and you do not have to do any work at all.” and “…read all day. It is nice to relax and not do any work all day.” One student that we interviewed had mixed feelings about RYHOD, ” I like it because I really like reading. But I don’t like it because you’re not allowed to talk so its just quiet time all the time.”
We asked the teachers if they think Read Your Heart Out Day is a good idea? Both Mrs. Haggett and Mr Crowley think that this special day is a “wonderful idea”. Mr. Crowley said, “…it gives everyone a chance to relax and get a break from all the other subjects and focus on reading various kinds of literature.” “…we do get to choose what we want to read. We get to do reading plays if we want to , we can read poetry and we can have parents come in and read to the children,” replied Mrs Haggett.
For our outstanding work during Fit & Lit 2012, the principal rewarded the entire school with a second RYHOD! Coming from the gym was a thunderous, earsplitting, booming cheer following Dr. Nugent’s announcement. We certainly love Read Your Heart Out Day!
Reported By: Amy, Martin, and Sophia