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Fifth Grade Rooster Games

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This Week at Gordon: February 12 2004

 

On Thursday, February 12th, Gordon hosted dozens of fifth graders from Myron J. Francis School and St Margaret’s School for the East Providence round of the fourth annual Rhode Island Rooster Games.
 
Gordon librarian Karla Harry and Myron J. Francis librarian Joy Starnino started the Rooster Games in 2001. When Donna Sousa replaced Starnino at Myron J. Francis, she kept up the connection, and Harry says now “the Games wouldn’t happen without Donna’s help.”
 
At the Games, students from each participating school team up to solve hands-on challenges based on the books nominated for the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award. Each year, participants cite the opportunity to collaborate with students from other schools as one of their favorite aspects of the event.
 
To participate in the Rooster Games, students must read at least five of the twenty books that have been nominated for the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award. “These are the best new books published for elementary students,” explains Ms. Harry, “and once they’ve read five the students often find they can’t stop.”
 
Indeed, when the students who had read all twenty were gathered together for a photo, they formed an impressive crowd. And these students discovered that reading all twenty has its advantages, since the Rooster Games competition demands a thorough knowledge of every book on the list.
 
The teams move through a series of activities that engage all of the senses, including a poster-making contest and exercises in which authors, titles and the first lines of books must be matched up. One favorite station asks students to identify titles that are associated with an array of household objects.
 
The day culminates in a game-show style quiz involving all of the students, allowing them to wave signs, get a little loud and blow off some steam after a focused morning that followed weeks of reading and preparation.
 
Since the first year, which only included Gordon and Myron J. Francis, the Games have grown into a statewide phenomenon, with more Games scheduled throughout February, March and April. Other participating schools include Captain Isaac Paine School (Foster), Chariho Middle School, Quidnessett Elementary School (North Kingstown), Ashaway Elementary, Hope Valley Elementary, Williams School (Little Compton), Lincoln School (Providence), Wheeler School (Providence), Sarah Dyer Barnes (Johnston), Graniteville (Johnston) as well as schools in Jamestown and Westerly.
 
 

 

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