William B. Ward Elementary School fourth-graders have watched a book come alive. Their teachers dressed up as characters from the book “Tiger Rising” by Kate DiCamillo, much to the delight of students such as Ruthie Goldman.
"It was fun,” Goldman said. “It brought the book to life!"
Tiger Rising is used in Ward’s fourth-grade curriculum to teach students reading comprehension and how to analyze characters. This exercise develops analytical-thinking and problem-solving skills.
Fourth-grade teachers decided a great way to reward their students would be to dress in character and act out some of the students’ favorite scenes in the book.
Taylor Turnbull, a fourth-grader in Lucero Oceguera's class, said, "It made the story realistic and showed what happened in the book. It made it easier for me to understand the story."
"Performing for our students was powerful!” fourth-grade teacher Tanja Rolon said. “We're not only here to teach them reading strategies and skills. We are their role models and I feel like we showed that reading is fun and can be approached in different ways."