Missouri Kindergarteners Honing Reading Skills Through Hot Rods

While the hot rod scene is certainly for more than just old guys these days, school-agers in Sedalia, Missouri are getting a jump start at breaking into the car community. But before you start scratching your head, we’ll tell you this – it’s not what you think. While most of us think of hot rods as life-sized toys, the Sedalia kids created their own versions of the highly sought after classics out of cardboard in an effort to help put their reading skills on the fast track. And according to the Sedalia News-Journal, the kids are enjoying every minute of it.

In an effort to help kindergarteners with their reading skills and vocabulary development, teachers at Sacred Heart Kindergarten got together to teach reading on the move. But rather than taking the early elementary students on a field trip, the teachers handed each student the keys to their very own reading journey via the Superkids Reading Program.

Through this program, by the Rowland Reading Foundation, students K through 2nd grade are taught comprehensive learning skills, vocabulary and skills for further learning with the help of a fun and energetic cast of characters. It was one of these characters, a young boy named HotRod, that provided the “driving” force behind the Sacred Heart hot rod activity.

As part of the project, kindergarteners created their own hot rods out of cardboard boxes. In doing so, they learned vocabulary like taillights, license plate, and headlights. They also learned basic traffic safety rules. Then on January 25th, students took to the road (the lines in the school gymnasium) to put their reading skills to work.

Fifth-grade students joined in on the fun, holding up “billboards” in the form of sentence strips for the kindergarteners to read. In order to complete their journey, the kindergarteners had to visit each billboard and read it before crossing the finish line at the end of the road.

While certainly not a traditional form of hot rod enthusiasm, it’s heartwarming to see teachers and students embrace the car world in everyday learning adventures.

Not only are the early elementary school children at Sacred Heart being taught vital reading skills, they’re also getting a pretty cool look into the hot rod community. What more could we ask for for our up-and-coming generations?