BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Sabres are making an effort to improve early childhood literacy by giving away books within the majority of Buffalo Public Schools to improve the reading rates in the Queen City.
Students at the Stanley Makowski School 99 have been provided decodable books as a way to add to their reading skills.
“I like reading books because I can learn and know what words mean and stuff,” says Drevon Glover, a 4th grader at Stanley Makowski School 99.
The Chief Academic Officer of Buffalo Public Schools, Anne Botticelli, tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person there’s a decline in reading rates among the youth.
Yet, the donations of the decodable text by the Sabres are the hope to improve those numbers.
“So a decodable text is aligned with any phoenix in the classroom so as kids learn certain sounds,” she says. “And learn how to put those sounds to print for example the word “Cat” would be K-at when the kid recognizes that sound and letter they’re decoding.”
The Buffalo Public Schools' mission is for third-grade students to move on to the next level with proficient reading skills.
“I want these kids to be successful and I know even if we can just turn on a little bulb they can feel good about their reading skills,” Botticelli says. “They’ll keep growing on their own cause they’re going to love reading and get new knowledge every time they open a book.”
