PORTAGE | Crisman Elementary School students spent some time looking up at the stars as their reward for reaching their reading goals.

They were treated to 30 minutes inside a portable planetarium on loan from the Northwest Indiana Education Service Center. Those who had met their Accelerated Reader goals for the first half of the school year got to doff their shoes and climb inside the tent-like sky classroom for a chance to learn about planets, constellations and sunsets and sunrises.

"Very, very cool," third-grader Valerie Plinovich said after her class had a turn inside the planetarium. "It felt like you were really going into space."

This was the first time Crisman has had access to the portable planetarium, said Ruth Cozza, one of three Crisman teachers trained to lead the sessions inside the starry classroom. Cozza teaches first grade. The other teachers who took turns teaching the youngsters about the night sky were Jim Babcock, a fourth-grade teacher, and Debbie Jankowicz, who teaches second grade.

Their lesson took the students from Mars to Saturn and included discussion about how different cultures created stories about the stars, giving birth to the constellations. The planetarium became a noisy place as the students oohed and aahed as they pointed out constellations such as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Orion, Gemini and Cassiopeia.

"It was awesome," third-grader Cosmo Harbison said.

To motivate the students to keep pace with their reading goals, Crisman teachers offer incentives such as the planetarium visit and game days.

"We want to make sure they keep reading because their reading is what got them here," Cozza said.