Final United We Read Activity

For the final activity of United We Read 2013 at CHS, a class of 4th grade students from Alma Schrader Elementary visited the CHS Library to have a book discussion with high school students.  The 4th graders had been reading A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin to go along with the book A Dog's Purpose for older readers.  The class arrived at the high school in the morning and took a tour of the halls, a science lab classroom, our new performance hall, and the library (of course!).  After that, 2 classes of high school students came in and were paired up with an elementary student to have a discussion.  For each question, the students were given a certain amount of time to take turns answering and discussing their opinions, experiences, etc.  This was a great thing for the younger students because each of them were able to share their story and connections to the text.  Unfortunately, in your regular every-day classroom, this can't happen  because of all of the things that have to fit into a day.  The 4th graders really enjoyed getting to talk with a "cool" high schooler. 

The 4th grade class also brought in a LOT of donations for our local animal shelters, The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri and Safe Harbor.  We combined those with the donations that the CHS staff members had already made and were able to come up with quite a nice pile! 

Donations collected by CHS staff and 4th graders