Long Beach Public Schools embraced the joy of reading throughout February with various initiatives that supported the theme, “Fall in Love…#Booklove.” A districtwide celebration featured interactive, engaging activities that promote a positive connection with literacy. 

Feb. 5 was recognized as World Read Aloud Day, during which classes spent extra time exploring books. Posters designed and created by a high school student were displayed in each building. "

At the elementary level, students reflected on a book or character that is close to their heart and drew and/or wrote about it on a heart cut-out. Director of Literacy Dr. Lorraine Radice and members of the faculty will assemble the pieces into a collective work of art that symbolizes unity in books and love.  

Long Beach Middle School teachers read the first two chapters of the book, “Shouting at The Rain,” on World Read Aloud Day. Written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, this story is the featured selection for the upcoming school-wide book talk in May.

Long Beach High School held its inaugural book fair on Feb. 10 and 11, thanks to the contributions of many students, English teachers and other staff members. Those involved created signs in English and Spanish that were displayed around the building, crafted artwork linking the book fair to the “Fall in Love...#Booklove” theme, constructed bookmarks to promote the March 11 high school book talk and distributed book flyers and presented videos from Scholastic.

The high school’s upcoming book talk features “Long Way Down” by Jason Reynolds, which was the top selling title at the fair. All English classrooms at the high school received a copy of the book. Two IB Film students created a mini documentary for World Read Aloud Day that spotlights the upcoming book talk, as well as the overall culture in the building that was evident in organizing the fair.  

Teachers also coordinated many of their own celebrations of #Booklove in the hallways and classrooms. These are just some examples of the district’s year-round emphasis on reading!