Lower School Reading Week 2024

Monday, April 1, to Friday, April 5, readers throughout The Bush School community joined together for Reading Week 2024, a reading-filled week that tied into the academic theme of “roots,” which allowed our community to explore new lives, celebrate newfound heroes, and more. The week was filled with a great mix of reading games, challenges, and activities which connected students, faculty, and staff through their love of literature. Students dressed up as their favorite characters, attended a book drive, met cookbook author Kenji Lopez-Alt, and more! This week is beloved by many Lower School students and faculty and is quickly becoming an annual tradition for Bush. 

“Laura Chesebro (Lower School Librarian) and I created Reading Week because we want to celebrate our community that loves to read,” said Lower School Dean of Academics Julie Barber. “Readers love to know what other people love to read, remember old favorites from way back when, and get excited about what we will read when we get older. Reading Week helps make our community of readers visible to each other. Children get to know the readers that live in other grade levels and see their teachers as readers, too. When you are in a community with book lovers, you can’t help but become a book lover yourself!” 

Lower School students had the opportunity to participate in Reading Week events independently or with their fellow classmates. 

Throughout the week, students participated in a variety of activities that brought together literature lovers from the entire community! 

Log Your Reading Minutes encouraged students to reach the Bush reading goal of 10,000 minutes and track their progress in a reading log, which was provided to teachers. Progress toward the goal was on display at the Reading Week table for all students to track. 

In the Classroom Door Decoration Challenge, classes had the opportunity to show off their artistic skills! Classes and teachers all over the Lower School displayed a cover or scene from a favorite book to decorate their door. Students chose to fill out their guesses for all doors on sheets provided in their classrooms.

Name That Book was an exciting activity in which students participated in identifying quotes from Lower School favorite books. Reading Week offered students many fun challenges, such as Guess That Reader, in which daily mystery teacher readers were described at the Reading Week table near the Third Grade classrooms. Students gave their best guesses to figure out who the reader was!  

Each day also provided a reading-themed event perfect for Bush book lovers. On Monday, April 1, students dressed as their favorite book characters. Tuesday, April 2, students attended a book drive for gently used books. Wednesday, April 3, was Read My Shirt Day, where students wore a shirt with their favorite slogan, saying, or quote on it. Thursday, April 4, the Lower School Drama Club put on an incredible theater performance called “It’s A Book” for the K-5 audience. Friday, April 5, Bush invited author Kenji Lopez-Alt to Friday Morning Meeting (FMM), who taught students about writing cookbooks. Finally, Lower School students ended Reading Week with—you guessed it—more reading! A fifteen-minute, school-wide D.E.A.R occurred, where the Lower School Dropped Everything and Read (D.E.A.R) together.

In conjunction with Lower School celebrations, students attended The Bush School Book Fair on Tuesday, April 2, through Thursday, April 4, in the Community Room. 

Reading Week will return in April 2025, right before Spring Break.