A
Vaughan
Elementary
School
challenge
united
students
and
teachers,
while
infusing
excitement
about
reading
in
a
competitive
but
friendly
way.
The
project
spearheaded
by
Heather
Crissman,
reading
teacher
and
Christine
Martin,
Title
I
teacher,
utilized
a
March
Madness
basketball
theme.
"We
met
with
the
librarian
to
choose
eight
books
that
would
capture
the
interest
of
all
students
in
grades
K-5.
We
grouped
the
books
by
similar
themes
to
create
four
unique
conferences,"
said
Crissman.
She
and
Martin
recruited
teachers
to
video
record
themselves
reading
one
of
the
eight
books,
ensuring
pages
were
displayed
so
students
could
see
the
text
and
illustrations.
The
first
pair
of
books
were
introduced
during
morning
announcements
with
links
provided
so
teachers
could
play
each
video
later
in
the
day.
After
viewing
both
book
readings,
students
voted
for
the
one
they
liked
best.
Students
were
advised
to
focus
on
the
story
and
not
the
reader's
delivery.
"This
was
a
fun
way
to
capitalize
upon
the
excitement
of
the
basketball
season
while
engaging
our
students
in
reading
with
a
school-wide
approach
that
builds
community
and
consensus,"
said
Vaughan
Elementary
Principal
Mark
Boyd.
At
the
end
of
the
day,
teachers
entered
vote
totals
into
a
self-tallying
spreadsheet
that
was
shared
on
Microsoft
Teams
for
all
staff.
To
capture
interest,
a
bracket
was
displayed
in
the
main
hallway,
near
the
cafeteria,
so
students
and
staff
could
be
kept
aware
of
the
winning
titles
and
upcoming
matches.
"It
was
fun
walking
through
the
hallways
and
classes
and
hearing
the
students
talk
about
which
book
they
wanted
to
see
as
the
champion,"
shared
Crissman.
The
books
selected
for
the
competition
included:
The
Brief
Thief
The
Legend
of
Rock,
Paper,
Scissors
The
Day
the
Crayons
Quit
The
Interrupting
Chicken
Once
Upon
a
Cool
Motorcycle
Dude
Frankly,
I
Never
Wanted
to
Kiss
Anybody
Creepy
Pair
of
Underwear
The
Very
Impatient
Caterpillar
Boyd
and
Christina
Badami
and
Michele
Edwards,
assistant
principals,
recorded
the
final
read
aloud
of
The
Very
Impatient
Caterpillar,
which
was
the
celebrated
Wildcats
champion.