Seaford Fifth Graders Take Part In ‘Book Tasting’

SEAFORD, NY — For dinner goers the world over, the question of what to do when tasting a wine can be a vexing one. The swirling, the sniffing and the proper size sip to take are enough to leave even a sophisticated, worldly type stumped. For Seaford Harbor fifth graders, however, the question of what to do when taking part in a book tasting was easy to answer Wednesday: Crack it open and start reading.

The fifth graders took part in a "book tasting" Wednesday, taking stacks of books from their classroom libraries and reading the summaries to see which one appealed to them.

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According to fifth grade teacher Mackenzie Hickey, the book tasting was meant to help students find the book that was "just right" for them, both in terms of subject matter and difficulty. Not only was it important that students grew as readers, district officials said, but that they also found the content interesting and relatable. That ability to pick the right book, Hickey said, is a life skill that students can carry into the future at book stores or libraries.

District officials said students would get independent reading time in class every day, and take the books home to read for 30 minutes a night before completing a short response assignment on story elements.