LIS students have a six-figure result to celebrate!
Loveland, Ohio – It was a challenge for the entire student body at Loveland Intermediate School (LIS): Read more inside and outside of the classroom this school year… and have fun doing it. And the English/language arts teachers who made the year-long LIS Reading Challenge to read more independent books in varied genres had one additional request – for students to count the pages read each trimester. The first trimester page numbers came in – it was a whopping 665,803 pages!
“The success they achieved in one trimester is thrilling!” said LIS Gifted Intervention Specialist Kristi Swartz. “We want our students to develop a passion for reading. By encouraging independent reading we are helping students to obtain skills that will serve them well their entire lives. When students read more they develop better vocabulary and grow in every area of understanding. The more they read the more they know, which benefits students in every part of their lives inside and outside of school. One group even decided to create their own book club and discuss the book together simply for fun as a result of this reading challenge.”
Each classroom teacher encouraged independent reading and challenged students to simply read more than they typically would. Student goals varied on their reading habits so the task fit every student where they were academically. Teachers encouraged students to share good books in the classroom by developing book talks and book projects based on their reading, and to share books they were enjoying with each other along the way. Students in every classroom were talking about books and reading for enjoyment.
“We want students to ‘meet’ authors they may be unaware of and find books that engage them, so that they love reading,” said Swartz. “We want students to try out varied genres of books, and having peers interested in books encourages reluctant readers to pick up the book and read it! Students are genuinely excited about reading and want to create an even higher goal for the second trimester.”
