Saudi Gazette Books are a man's best friend, a friend who guides you in your bad times, accompanies you in your good times, helps you explore places and festivals around the globe, lets you meet prominent personalities, and lets you experience the past in all its glory. Love, friendship, laughter, anger, fear, happiness and all other emotions are inspired by words; such is the strength they possess. In order to celebrate the power of words, The American International School in Jeddah (AISJ) had a ‘read-in' on Wednesday, Mar. 7, which also coincided with the World Read Aloud Day. Around 900 hundred students, aged between three and eighteen, sat with their teachers in the school's lush green football ground for 30 minutes to silently read their favorite books. AISJ's literacy coach Christine Bender El Jerby said, “This was the first time we had such an activity. I told the students how their life would be different if they didn't know how to read.” From merely writing your name to filling out an application forms or from shopping to traveling to dining everything revolves around words. “Literacy is a gift which literally opens the world for you,” she said. Reading out together as a community was totally a unique experience for students and teachers. “I enjoyed sitting on the fresh grass and reading under the sun. I read Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets by J.K.Rowling,” said a chirpy sixth grader. Another sixth grader told the Saudi Gazette, “Although it was quite warm outside, it was a nice experience. I read 39 clues.” “I enjoyed reading out with my friends too,” said a fifth grader who was holding The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. The most adorable ones were the three and four-year-olds, who too were quietly sitting in the ground on their beach towels reading picture books. “ I brought a book from home. It was about dogs and a girl. I read the whole book and I didn't talk. It was hot,” said a four-year-old young girl from Pre-kindergarten. Reading is thoroughly encouraged at AISJ; students spend two and half hours every day reading different kinds of books in their respective classrooms. Apart from the main library, students have a mini library at the back of their class room from where they get to pick and read a book of their choice. Unlike other schools where students simply read books and write reports, AISJ students are asked to read and write what they comprehend. This gives them more freedom of space to think, imagine and analyse. “I think reading is important and fundamental. Nothing is more important than kids reading. AISJ is a leading literacy school where we motivate our children to read and write instead of being idle. And, they absolutely love it,” said Dr. Mark English, superintendent of the school. He further added, “We would like to have this kind of an activity every month. In fact we plan to make it as a part of our curriculum. We also plan to integrate e-books in order to encourage them to read more. I love seeing them read as it opens one to a lot of ideas.” In one of English's highly interactive and spell-binding read-aloud class, he told a bunch of fifth graders to read all the time because books are true, lifelong companions. They not only provide knowledge, they provide guidance too. __
