Counselor Promotes Reading Through True Story Novel

Funded Nov 29, 2022

Over the course of three months, approximately fifty students read "An Invisible Thread, a Young Readers Edition," independently. All of our fourth and fifth grade students were exposed to the first chapter of the book and had to reflect on their own families. Students were asked to compare their home lives to the life of the main character in the book. It helped students gain a better understanding of how fortunate they are to have a home, and clothes, and food to eat. At the beginning of the year, I showed video clips to the students from the movie the Queen of Katwe. It is also a true story, but students had a hard time relating to a country like Uganda. The true story of "An Invisible Thread, a Young Readers Edition," takes place in the United States. Students were able to compare the real life stories and draw conclusions based on their exposure to both the literature and the video.

The best highlight for the students was getting to interact with Laura Schroff, the author, through Google Meet. She took her time with us and answered all of the kids' questions. She was very personable. She sent every child an autographed book mark. She also sent a signed copy of her book and allowed me to give it to a child that participated in the book study. The student was elated to receive the gift. The students felt that they were so important because they got to meet and talk to an author.

Students that participated have continued to talk about not only the book but the experience of meeting the author. They would like to find a way to do a Google Meet with Maurice, the boy from the story. We were able to follow up with some videos of Maurice and Laura Schroff.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Goodwin