Lutie preschool teacher takes reading online

Lutie preschool teacher Tim Lewis says he has missed seeing his students each day since Missouri’s schools closed amid COVID-19 concerns, but he’s finding ways to keep connecting with all those smiling faces. He started posting “Storytime with Mr. Lewis” videos on YouTube, videos in which he reads a book and asks students to respond in the comments or by message or email to let him know how they are doing. “My students and I love reading books together in my classroom when we’re in school. When the virus shut down Lutie, I wanted a fun way to still be able to connect with and read to my students,” Lewis told the Times. “In my classroom, I’ve used a YouTube channel daily to enhance my teaching. All of my parents have access to this channel of educational videos. I thought it would be fun to create my own reading videos and add them to the channel. The books I choose weekly tie into what we would have been studying that week in school.” Lewis has posted two videos a week for the last month or so. To view the videos, visit YouTube.com and search for “Storytime with Mr. Lewis,” or “Mr. Lewis classroom collection.”