In a case of kids helping kids, students from Canal School have put together reading packages for kids who are less fortunate than themselves.

This week, the 32 students involved in the project dropped off packages containing a book, a tape of the student reading the book, a bookmark and a personal letter for patients at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House in Portland.

The project is the brainchild of Title 1 Remedial Reading Teacher Linda Galipeau, who has organized it for the past four years. Galipeau said this year students from Katie Hasson’s third-grade class also selected books and recorded them.

The project is paid for through a Westbrook School Department Service Learning Grant, a grant that Galipeau said is available to all teachers in the district.

Galipeau said the kids chose their books themselves and after reading it, they practiced reading the books aloud at home. When they were ready, the kids made a recording of themselves reading the books.

Once the tapes are finished, the kids put together a package, which includes the book, the tape, a laminated bookmark drawn by a student, a personal letter from the student who read the book explaining why they chose the book and a little about themselves and a postcard so whoever gets the book can write back to the student who read the book. The finished packages are being brought to the Ronald McDonald House and hospital to share with the kids who are patients there.

Galipeau said the idea is that patients can pick out a book that interests them and either read it along with the tape or have a parent read it to them. Once a child chooses a package, Galipeau said it is theirs to keep.

The students said they enjoyed putting together the packages. Amber Link-Winslow said she was excited to pass the books out to the kids and hopes to hear from whoever gets the book.

Link-Winslow said she chose the book “Winter on the Farm,” because it’s about her favorite season. “I like the winter,” she said. “I don’t like summer.”

Caitlin Searles said she was nervous the first time she went to record the book, but she said she had fun doing it and would want to do it again.

David Ryan, who has only been a Canal student for a few weeks, read “Commotion in the Ocean.” Ryan’s book was written completely in rhyme. He had fun recording the singsong rhymes, but he didn’t sing. He said the rhymes made it easier for him to read.

“You get kind of nervous when you tape it,” he said.

Erika Griffin said her favorite part was the taping. She said that she especially liked it because it was like performing. Griffin read the book “Bunny Cakes.” She said she picked it out “because it was really funny.”

Besides doing something nice for other kids, Galipeau said the project also helps the students with their reading and comprehension, especially when they are making the recording of themselves reading the book. “It teaches them to read fluently,” she said. “Sometimes they’re word-for-word readers, and this teaches them to flow right along.”

Each one of the kids said they were excited to take the trip into Portland to drop off their packages. This was Griffin’s second year doing the project. She said doing something for other kids made her feel good.

“It was nice to give them tapes to listen to,” she said. “Because if they can’t come out of their rooms, they have something to listen to.”

Searles agreed with her classmate. “I think it’s nice because if they don’t want to read the book, they can listen to the tape while they go to bed or whenever,” she said.