It seems that one way to interest young children in reading, is to make them part of the story.
First graders at Manhattan's PS 111 are part of a literacy program, which is geared toward English language learners.
"We're not trying to teach children or their parents how to read, but we are trying to bring them all the other aspects that go with living a literary life to help spread that love of reading," said Erin Jackman
Jackman, a former teacher at this school, founded the Brooke Jackman Literacy Program. It was named for her sister, Brooke, who was killed on 9-11 at the World Trade Center, in her office at a financial firm.
"She wanted to become a social worker and work with children and she loved to read," said Jackman.
The kids take the next step of staging a play, using puppet masks that they have made.
You take a group of first graders and give them masks and parts to play and they're going to have fun. Teachers say that this approach to literacy is also helpful in improving the reading skills of these students.
And parents who came to the show can see a difference in their children.
"I see him that he's getting, like, more books to read and he's, like, all the time asking me to read books for him, and he's usually looking for books to read," said Epifania Ceballos.
