Ballard students learn while celebrating Thanksgiving

Reading is not always the easiest thing to teach to a first-grader.

Ballard Elementary School teacher Jeannie Gilbert said one of the best ways to do it is to make it fun.

One way to do that, she said, is to combine reading with one of the United States’ favorite holidays — Thanksgiving.

“It is just a fun way for the kids to learn how to read,” Gilbert said. “We know that to become a fluent reader you have to read the same reading selection multiple times. It can be a challenge to get them to do that.”

To that end, Gilbert and fellow first-grade teacher Kelsey Dwyer joined forces for a combined holiday presentation they call Reader’s Theater.

Family and friends were invited Tuesday to watch the show unfold, complete with songs, poems, jokes and proclamations of what each student is thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Having the parents come is a big piece of the puzzle.

“They know their parents are going to be there so they work really hard. They also read with them at home and practice their parts at home,” Gilbert said. “They are so proud to have them come and watch them. It makes them feel like their parents care about them and that school is important.”

The classrooms started preparing for the show in the beginning of November by practicing poems, selecting parts and making their own costumes.

“We learn about pilgrims and Indians and do a lot of stories and writing about them,” Gilbert said. “Many of the students didn’t know what a wigwam was, so we learn a lot of vocabulary along with it.

“We see reading scores go up after Readers Theater.”

This was the 10th year Gilbert has put on the Thanksgiving show at Ballard Elementary.