OCEAN CITY, NJ \u2014 Ocean City schools celebrated Read Across America Week, hoping to instill a love of reading that is still important in the digital age.<\/p>\n
Ocean City Primary School celebrated Read Across America Week on March 2, welcoming community leaders and Ocean City Free Public Library volunteers to read to students, the district said in a news release. Guest readers also visited Ocean City Intermediate School, where themed spirit days added to the fun all week. <\/p>\n
The annual event to promote a love of reading has taken on added importance in an increasingly digital world, some Ocean City educators say. <\/p>\n
Throughout the week, students participated in engaging read-alouds designed to spark enthusiasm about books and storytelling. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal for Read Across America Week is to create excitement around reading and help our youngest learners see books as joyful and meaningful,\u201d said Mary Beth Libro, supervisor of instruction for the Ocean City School District. \u201cWe hope every child leaves the week motivated to pick up a book at school and at home.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kathleen Woodring, a member of the Friends and Volunteers of the Ocean City Free Public Library and a former OCPS teacher, said the library group feels strongly about supporting Read Across America. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is our mission to promote the joy of reading and literacy in our community,\u201d said Woodring, who was joined by more than a dozen fellow volunteers at OCPS. \u201cParticipating in Read Across America is one of the many ways we help encourage a love of reading.\u201d <\/p>\n
Woodring, who taught at OCPS for 25 years, said returning to read with the students is especially meaningful. \u201cWalking into a classroom and sitting down to read with students brings me so much joy,\u201d she said. \u201cI was so impressed by their listening manners and the thoughtful observations they shared about the story.\u201d <\/p>\n
While celebrations like Read Across America spark excitement around books, educators say they also highlight the importance of developing strong reading habits at an early age. <\/p>\n
OCPS reading specialists Kristen Crowne, Jennifer Gatto and Jaime Nicholl say building foundational skills remains the focus for pre-K through grade 3 students, who are not yet immersed in digital media. <\/p>\n
The reading team helps students to recognize letters and sounds, grow their vocabulary and draw meaning from text. They believe students benefit from turning the pages in physical books and having conversations about the story. OCPS teachers consider students\u2019 individual interests and incorporate popular book series and characters to spark interest and engagement. <\/p>\n
Parents also can play a significant role in developing children\u2019s reading habits by setting aside time to read together, and showing their own enthusiasm for reading, the specialists say. <\/p>\n
As students grow, literacy instruction continues to evolve to meet the challenges of a digital environment. At Ocean City Intermediate School, reading specialist Megan Duffey acknowledged that today\u2019s students are constantly exposed to digital and interactive content. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith everything being fast-paced and digital, students\u2019 attention spans have changed,\u201d Duffey said. \u201cThat makes it even more important to build reading stamina and teach students how to slow down and read deeply.\u201d <\/p>\n
Duffey emphasized that technology itself is not a problem, but must be used strategically. <\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology is not the enemy,\u201d she said. \u201cThe key is using it with intention while still protecting time for uninterrupted, sustained reading.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OCEAN CITY, NJ \u2014 Ocean City schools celebrated Read Across America Week, hoping to instill a love of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-143401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}