SeDoMoCha Elementary families follow the Yellow Brick Road to One Book, One School celebration

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer
   

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — For the last month SeDoMoCha Elementary School students and families read L. Frank Baum’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” at home as part of the fourth annual One Book, One School program — copies were provided by the school. The shared reading program concluded with an ending celebration at the school on the evening of Feb. 12 with games, crafts, trivia and food.

    “The night was another huge success.” Principal Julie Kimball said the day after the One Book, One School celebration. “I received a great deal of positive feedback from those in attendance.” She estimated between 350 and 400 attended the evening’s program.
  Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
    PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN — The fourth annual One Book, One School program, in which SeDoMoCha Elementary students and families read “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” together, concluded with a celebration on the evening of Feb. 12 at the Dover-Foxcroft school. The festivities included a meal, games and crafts and trivia questions from the Wizard himself, pictured.

      On Feb. 12 students and their families arrived at the school at 5 p.m. and then divided into four groups by grade levels to take part in different activities in four 25-minute sessions. In the cafeteria those in attendance enjoyed a meal, which once again was funded by the SeDoMoCha School Organization, of pizza, a fruit bowl, pretzel wand dipped in chocolate and juice.
    The pretzel wand was chosen to resemble a witch’s wand from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Kimball said the green juice represented the color found at the Emerald City, and fruit was included to represent other colors found within the novel.
    During the One Book, One School kickoff last month, families were given a yellow piece of paper cut into the shape of a brick along with their reading logs. They could then put their family name on the brick and decorate it however they saw fit. Submitted bricks were displayed on the cafeteria wall for families to find during the dinner portion of the evening.
    “The crafts were a big hit this year,” Kimball said. “Instead of doing individual projects in each room, students created a portfolio of sorts that included the use of many mediums.” The portfolios included students decorating some of the characters from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
    “The games were popular along with the face painting, which is always a big hit,” Kimball said about another one of the evening’s activity sessions. Students and families played games such as witch hat toss, scarecrow bean bag toss and Emerald City red light, green light.
    Kimball said a new addition for 2014 was family photos, some of which were taken after attendees sat at the face painting table. She said the photos will be printed and given to families to commemorate the event.
    In the gymnasium attendees had a chance to meet the Wizard himself prior to a round of trivia based on the novel. “I am Oz the great and powerful and I have some questions for you,” the first of the evening’s four groups heard, but could not see where the voice was coming from. They later had the chance to see the Wizard, projected on the stage.
    “We had approximately 50 volunteers last night,” Kimball said, mentioning those helping included elementary and middle school classroom teachers and ed techs and students from Foxcroft Academy. “This night would not be possible without all of their help,” she said.
    As in previous years, families who read the One Book, One School selection at home filled our their reading logs as they read a chapter per night. Completed reading logs were entered into a prize drawing with winners chosen from kindergarten through grade 4. The prizes were a “Wizard of Oz” calendar and a book of the students’ choice.
    “Classroom teachers approached the book in different ways.,” Kimball said about other activities with One Book, One School. She said classroom activities included reading the novel, crafts and viewing the film.
    “I did read a daily trivia question as part of morning announcements,” she said. “We also had a daily drawing for which classroom would have Toto come to visit.”
    “We are absolutely planning to have another event next year,” Kimball said. “Believe it or not, our book choice is already in the works.”
    The first SeDoMoCha Elementary One Book, One School took place in 2011 as students and families read “A Castle in the Attic” by Elizabeth Winthrop and then enjoyed a medieval feast after they finished the novel. A year later “The Indian in the Cupboard” by Lynne Reid Banks was the program selection and the ending evening event featured a Western motif and activities. In 2013 One Book, One School featured E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web” and this novel led up to a night at the fair.
    The shared reading experience, with a parent or someone older, is intended to help students improve listening comprehension, increase vocabulary, understand concepts, lengthen attention spans and create a positive attitude toward books.