In an effort to keep an active reading culture in middle school, ALMS is launching a reading program for 6th grade students to read books and earn prizes. Students will create personalized reading goals with their ELA teacher and track their goals weekly on a paper reading log. If students reach their goal every week of the quarter, they will earn a prize. If they earn a prize every quarter, they will be invited to an end-of-the-year pizza party celebration. There are prizes at the end of the quarter and at the end of the school year; if a goal is not met, there is always a reason to keep reading.
The mission is simple: Gators Read Books emphasizes modeling, goal setting, and positive reinforcement with the sole missions to encourage kids to read more books. Middle school comes with changes to library access, and we do not want the desire for reading to perish during these critical years of student growth. This program also allows our ELA teachers to connect with students as readers, helping them to reflect on their current reading habits and encouraging them to develop attainable goals.
Students are able to change their goal each quarter, but the goal that they set should be able to be tracked each week. Breaking up the goal into smaller, more manageable pieces will help our students see success. Students can choose to track their goals through the number of minutes, number of books, or number of pages that they read. Progress is visibly tracked on a chart in homeroom classrooms during Friday SWAMP time, so students can encourage one another to reach the finish line. Along with their quarterly prize, students also receive a Gators Read Books bookmark that will be signed at the end of each quarter if the goal was met. This will be the student’s ticket into the pizza party at the end of the year.
Archer Lodge is cultivating a reading culture school-wide, too. Some teachers are modeling the importance of reading through 10 minutes of D.E.A.R. time (Drop Everything and Read), and all teachers have “Currently Reading” signs in their classrooms to spark conversation. Along with this, the library now offers loyalty cards where students can check out books ten times for a chance to win a prize. All completed cards turn into raffle tickets for an end-of-the-year giveaway of t-shirts, a yearbook, and Great Gator Challenge points.
We are excited to see the impact that this program will have on our students throughout the school year.