Fifth-grade teachers: Deborah Malara, Brooke Pappas, Annmarie Luca, and Ofelia Avellanet {Photo by Deborah Malara}
By Jill Fox
Fifth-graders at Park Trails Elementary School had an opportunity to evaluate their tastes in books at a “Book Bistro.”
Organized by teachers, students from four classes sampled different books at stations set up around their classrooms.
“We put out piles of books they wouldn’t normally pick up to give them a “taste” of something different,” said fifth-grade gifted teacher Deborah Malara.
Each classroom was set up like a café for the 120 students, who snacked on cookies and hot chocolate while reading a few pages of each story.
“I liked that I could try out different genres of books, like mysteries and fantasies,” said ten-year-old Olive Smith.
Normally, the students judge the books by their covers and don’t stop and take a minute to look inside. At the book tasting, they enjoyed the change of pace, said Malara.
Smith said she really enjoyed learning about new books to read.
“Mrs. Malara kept adding books to each table, and she thought I would like The Mysterious Benedict Society, and I did.”
Malara said the kids’ reactions were great.
“I heard one say, ‘Wait! I don’t want to move to the next table.’ And another said he didn’t want to stop to go to the bathroom because he would lose time at a book station.”
Fifth-grade student, Olive Smith samples a book. {Photo by Deborah Malara}
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