HAHIRA – Hahira Middle School seventh graders participated in the school’s first Literary “Snowcase” to promote and enhance literacy before Christmas break.

Students selected a fictional chapter book appropriate for their reading level from the HMS library that interested them, school officials said in a statement.

“Teachers have made it a priority to incorporate independent, silent reading time within the school day allowing them to identify the theme, point of view, settings, characters and the main conflict, which would become the focal points of their presentation,” school officials said.

Students wrote their own reviews of the book but their three-dimensional models are what attracted attention system-wide.

“With a large push for literacy this year, we knew we wanted to promote reading in a grand way,” said Bailey Philpot, seventh-grade teacher and “Snowcase’ spearhead.

With the literary elements identified, “We had to display our project through a 3D Christmas element, like a Christmas tree, a gingerbread house, a present or something similar,” said student Claire Odom, when asked about project logistics.

“Our students were given a week to plan and construct this project, so they practiced managing their time as well as managing the materials needed,” Philpot said.

The exhibit took up every table in the lunchroom and the students manned their stations to provide insight on their book and creations to all who stopped by, providing a verbal aspect to the cumulative project.

Odom presented her book through a Christmas tree with each character represented by an ornament.

Kaylin Clemons created a display featuring book characters and Christmas characters all in one.

“The fun part was getting to build something creative and still learn at the same time,” she said. “The detail called for by the extensive project required students to truly comprehend their text,” school officials said.

“Looking for the five elements made me read more in-depth,” Vinh Le said. “I really had to pay attention to get all of the correct information and be able to present it.”

Le read a book with numerous plot twists, which inspired his clever work on his gingerbread house.

Philpot and her colleagues described the students’ ideas as “pure magic” and they look forward to hosting the “Snowcase” again next year.