BOSTON -- Hundreds of Boston elementary school students and teachers participated in a "flash mob" dance on Wednesday to encourage children to read.

Hoping to ignite a lifelong love of reading in students at Boston's Gardner Pilot Academy, the school's auditorium played host to a flash mob on Wednesday. The goal is to promote reading.

"Reading is really the foundation of all of their future learning, and it's important that kids have books in their homes and they have library cards, and at school we make it not just about test taking but about, really, authentic learning and authentic reading," Gardner Pilot Academy Principal Erica Herman said.

Inspired by a similar event in Florida that caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, Wednesday's assembly seemed to have sparked the kids' curiosity.

"It's very important because if you don't read then you wouldn't be smart," fourth-grade student Natasha Linton said.

"It's finding a topic that kids love to read about. And it's making sure there's time within their day to make sure they are reading," Herman said.

Students were then given the chance to pick out some new books, which were funded by Read Boston. The goal is to give the kids something productive to do during their school break that begins at the end of school on Thursday.