As teachers bustled around the Lansdowne Middle School library setting up a webcam and projector Wednesday afternoon, 15 antsy students chatted away, adding to the energized atmosphere of the room.
Then the lights dimmed. The chatter stopped.
On an 8- by 5-foot white screen in front of them, the students saw the image of their patiently waiting audience, 75 kindergartners at Woodbridge Elementary School.
The two groups of students are taking part in a project in which the Lansdowne youngsters,
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students, show off their English skills by taking turns reading a children's book to the young audience more than eight miles away.
Each of the older kids read a few lines of "Whistle for Willie," a children's story by Ezra Jack Keats about a boy who teaches himself to whistle.
"These students are all just beginning to speak English," said Jane Smith, the World Languages and ESOL department chairwoman at Lansdowne Middle. "This gives them a chance to communicate for a purposeful reason with the other students."
Nancy Reed, a resource teacher who helps integrate technology into teachers' lessons at Lansdowne Middle and Woodbridge Elementary, thought about the multicultural groups in both schools and saw the value in connecting them.
The schools set up the first story time in January, Reed said, and the project is expected to continue until April.
"The first one went so well, we decided to keep it going," Reed said on the Jan. 9 event, which featured "The Snowy Day," also written by Ezra Jack Keats. "Web conferencing is such a neat way to connect."
Despite occasional stumbles, the middle school students, some of whom have studied English for less than a year, always recovered and continued telling the story.
Comprehension, Smith said, isn't what the students need to work on. It's gaining confidence in their speaking English.
"The challenge was to get the kids to be able to pronounce the words and say the words loud enough," Smith said.
"Partnering older students with younger students is a really good way for students to feel successful," Smith added. "They can feel successful because these are younger students they can help out."
The kindergartners benefit, Reed said, because they hear a story read and the teachers use the story to reinforce what the kindergartners are already learning.
Glenn Maroya, a sixth-grade student, said he moved to the United States from Gabon, a country on the coast of western Africa, a month ago.
He said he liked reading to the younger students because "you can teach all of them."
Eighth-grader Karen Saravia, who said she moved to the United States from El Salvador six months ago, also said she enjoyed working with the kindergartners.
"Many people no speak English and I speak a little bit," Karen said. "It's good for me."
After the story, the kindergarten students identified sets of opposite words, like "long" and "short," that appeared in the story.
The young students then quizzed their older peers about opposites, letting out a raucous cheer each time the middle school students answered correctly.
Because the lesson involves older students assuming the roles of teachers and readers, the kindergartners always pay close attention, Reed said.
"(The kindergartners) like getting to see role models and getting to see older kids in a real life setting," Reed said. "They just stared at the big screen, staring at the big kids."
Jessica Campbell, a teacher at Woodbridge Elementary School for seven years, said having older students read to her kindergarten class has a different effect than when a teacher reads.
"I think it gives them something to look forward to," Campbell said. "They can see themselves more as one of the older kids than as a teacher."
Campbellsaid she has six English language learners (ELL), students who are learning English and have another primary language in her class.
Seeing other non-native speakers tell the story, Campbell said, hel[s her ELL students think, "I'm not the only one out there having to learn English."
In April, the kindergartners will get to meet their role models in person, Campbell said, as the middle school will make a field trip to Woodbridge Elementary to read a story and do science experiments that correspond with the story.