First Lady Crissy Haslam Hosts a Read20 Family Book Club Event at Cedars of Lebanon State Park
NASHVILLE – First Lady Crissy Haslam hosted a Read20 Family Book Club event today at Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Lebanon to promote the importance of daily reading.
Approximately 90 3rd graders from Southside Elementary School in Lebanon joined Mrs. Haslam by campfire to read the August Book of the Month, Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems by Kristine O’Connell George. After the reading event, students visited the park’s Nature Center and hiking trails to learn more about Tennessee wildlife and forestry.
“There are many ways to enjoy reading, and it is important for children to explore different topics and styles of writing,” said Mrs. Haslam. “Children can grow love for reading by exploring topics that interest them, and sometimes they just need to find the right book!”
Literacy can be the most important skill for success in school, and the Read20 Family Book Club is an additional tool for families to enjoy daily reading. One book is selected each month as the featured “Book of the Month” and corresponding family activities are featured on the book club website, www.tn.gov/read20. Families are encouraged to continue reading other books after they’ve finished the Book of the Month. The Read20 Family Book Club is geared toward elementary school-aged children and their families, and Mrs. Haslam highlights the importance of reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
“Third grade is a very important year for students, when they transition from learning to read, to reading to learn,” said Mrs. Haslam. “If a student cannot read on grade level by the end of 3rd grade, their chances of succeeding in subsequent grades without reading intervention decreases dramatically.”
For more information about the Read20 Family Book Club visit www.tn.gov/read20, www.facebook.com/CrissyHaslam, follow @Read20TN on Twitter, or go to your local public library.
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