The "Wonder"ful Gift of Reading

This past Friday was one of my favorite days EVER. We launched "The Wonderful Gift of Reading"(think "One School, One Book") at one of the schools where I coach, and I couldn't have asked for a better response from both staff and students. I'm so excited to share with you what we did!

A few months ago, our school's reading specialist approached me about helping with "One School, One Book." The school has participated in the program the past few years, but I hadn't been involved with it. Real talk: I love the idea behind "One School, One Book," but I have never been a huge fan of the book selection the program offers. I may have even remarked at one point that if I had to read one more book about a hamster or a mouse, I'd lose my mind. When my colleague asked me to help with the program this year, I immediately started researching books that didn't feature animals as main characters and that had a universal theme to which both children and adults could connect. When I stumbled on Wonder, I had an epic "OF COURSE!!!" moment. 

Wonder was an ideal choice for several reasons:

1.) The book's message is amazing. Plain and simple. It teaches us about the importance of kindness and acceptance. It reminds us to never judge others by appearances. And it encourages us to be brave and to stand up for ourselves because bullying is never acceptable.

2.) Finding a book that can be read by students in grades PreK-5 is nearly impossible. Thankfully, R.J. Palacio has not only written an incredible novel, but she has also written and illustrated a beautiful picture book that conveys the same message of acceptance. 

For obvious reasons, we couldn't call our school-wide reading program "One School, One Book." So, once we decided on Wonder, we came up with the name "The 'Wonder'ful Gift of Reading." 

Our goal was to purchase a book for each family in our school in order to create a shared reading experience for the entire school community. 

Once we had agreed on Wonder, we had to figure out how we were going to be able to afford to buy a book for each family in our school. Thankfully, my administrator had set some money aside for the "One School, One Book" program, so we were able to use that money to purchase books. I scoured websites and catalogs to find the least expensive prices for each book, but unfortunately, Wonder is only available in hardcover. I was, however, able to find the picture book in paperback, and we were able to purchase both books from Amazon. 

I created a parent letter to send home to parents several weeks before sending the books home with students.

Click on the link above to grab a {FREE} editable version of the letter.

While on Winter Break, I created seven clues for students to unwrap once we returned. The clues were simply well known quotes from the book that I printed, laminated, and wrapped with blue and black snow-themed wrapping paper (I had a serious color scheme happening...everything had to be in shades of aqua blue, white, and black). 

Our reading specialist and I appeared together on the morning announcements the Friday we returned from break to explain what the program was, why we were doing it, and what students could expect in the coming days. After that, one clue was unwrapped each day on the morning announcements until the day of the big reveal (more details on that in a minute), and as each clue was unwrapped, I added it to a hallway display. Students were encouraged to guess what the book might be, based on the clues.

This is the hallway display after the launch {notice the books at the bottom and the pictures of the characters from the book}. 

The goal was to build up as much excitement and anticipation as we could, prior to revealing the book. So again, over Winter Break, I worked on creating an iMovie that I intended to play at a school-wide assembly. I interviewed teachers and other people in the building who had already read the book, and I also gave the students a few more clues. You can check it out below!

At the final hour, I realized that the iMovie wouldn't be nearly enough (even though I felt like I had spent half of my life working on it!), so I created a PowerPoint in which to embed the video. 

On the morning of the reveal, the person who was supposed to help me get our video and audio set up wasn't able to be there, so after a brief panic (I had the entire school coming to the auditorium in an hour, so the pressure was on!), I was able to track down a few techies who could help me, thankfully.

When the students arrived in the auditorium, they saw the slide below:

My colleague and I took the stage and explained the program again.

Then, the moment to reveal the book arrived! Before the assembly, we had taped two small laminated paper gifts to the underside of two seats. Toward the end of the assembly and after playing the video, we asked students to check their seats for a laminated gift. The two students who found the gifts came onstage to unwrap the books.

When they held up the books, everyone cheered. Life. Made.

The big reveal!

Once the assembly was over, our reading specialist and I went room to room, delivering books. I felt like Santa Claus! Inside each book, I tucked a brochure for parents.

So, now that the book has been revealed, what happens next? Directly after the reveal, I put the Educator's Guide for both Wonder and We're All Wonders in teachers' mailboxes, and I encouraged teachers to take pictures of any activities that they did with their students. I also asked teachers to invite me in to co-teach a lesson with them, using the book. 

Students will be reading the book both in school and at home until mid-March. Our PTO will then be sponsoring a Family Movie Night, during which families are invited to watch the movie "Wonder" (they've even decided to turn it into a small fundraising effort by selling snacks that evening!).

Honestly, I could not have asked for a better response to the program, and I'm so glad that we decided to do it. Walking into my colleague's classroom after the launch and seeing her reading We're All Wonders to her PreK kiddos was simply the best.

Quality read aloud opportunities = happy literacy coach.

I'd love to hear what you think about this program! Let me know in the comments!