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Facing the fifth grade challenge at Meadowcliff Elementary | Craig's Reading Roadtrip

The book 'Hatchet' by Gary Paulsen, though written for eighth graders, was perfect for Meadowcliff Elementary School.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - It’s tough to read to fifth graders. If a book is going to captivate them, it has to have action combined with familiar relationships.

The book “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen, though written for eighth graders, was perfect for Meadowcliff Elementary School.

Craig read chapter one which sets the scene for the conflict of the book: a boy facing his demons alone and all the while contending with an in-flight tragedy. When Craig quit reading, there was a noticeable groan as the young people wanted more. That’s a good sign.

Credit: KTHV

Meadowcliff, like the rest of central Arkansas fifth graders, will be taking the ACT Aspire tests in a couple of weeks. Arkansas fifth graders scored lowest in reading back in the school year of 2016-17.

Judging by what we saw at Meadowcliff, they should improve dramatically. On Friday, March 30, our 50th school as we return to where it started: Chicot Elementary.

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