Erskine School students of grades 5 and 6 put together a version of 'T'was the Night Before Christmas' on Thursday, Dec. 10 at the school as a readers' theatre production, supervised by librarian Sheri Morbeck.
The students were divided into five groups and the plays were a spin off from the famous poem 'T'was the Night Before Christmas'.
All the students who participated in the plays also take part in playing crib with members from the Erskine community once a week.
"The majority of these kids had never played cribbage before we started at school," said Morbeck. "But they have learned the rules very quickly, and are doing very well, and now we have a weekly competition for the 'highest hand'."
With 26 students from grades 5 and 6, Morbeck divides them into three groups.
"Because this is such a large group, I put them in three smaller groups, and group 1 engages in recycling all the paper, another group engages in recycling the bottles and drink containers, and the third group plays crib with Erskine community members, once a week," said Morbeck. "And we keep rotating the activities."
According to Morbeck, crib helps them to enhance their Math skills.
"Improving their Math skills is always a benefit, and learning how to interact with adults is a great life skill," added Morbeck. "We have never had a club at the school before where outsiders came in, so we thought it was only appropriate to have a little Christmas party to thank them and celebrate the season with them!"
Morbeck came up with the idea of a Readers' Theatre, because it incorporates reading and interacting with others very well.
"Approximately a dozen adults come in to play crib once a week and they were all invited, but only seven were able to attend, " said Morbeck. "This was a great experience for the kids as they had only one hour and a half to learn their lines, and put the entire production together. T'was a great time."