Pleasure Reading to Enhance Academic Performance

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Pleasure Reading to Enhance Academic Performance

• Union City Community High School
• 50,000 Page Reading Challenge
• Union City, Indiana
• Cathy Stephen, Superintendent
• Janet Caudle, Principal

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Information Literacy Curriculum
IntegrationMaterials Grant

• Shelley Wambo, English Teacher
• Holly Stiggleman, Media Specialist

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Background of Program

• The 50,000 Page Reading Challenge was originally
  designed as an initiative to increase pleasure
  reading among students at Union City Community
  High School.
• The program quickly gained momentum, resulting in
  creating a high-paced reading challenge between
  grade levels and faculty/staff to see who could
  read 50,000 of pleasure reading the quickest.

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50,000 Pages Challenge Rules

• Each grade level is challenged to read 50,000
  pages by an assigned date.
• Participation in the program is completely
  voluntary.
• Students may choose any book they would like to
  read for the challenge however, no book that is
  currently a movie can be used unless approved by
  the students English teacher.
• Newspaper and magazine articles of at least one
  page may also be used.

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• Books assigned by teachers as in-class reading
  may not be counted unless the nature of the
  assignment allows the students to pick the
  reading material.
• Example A history class reading The Diary of
  Anne Frank would not be able to count those
  pages.
• A student choosing to read The Diary of Anne
  Frank to meet the requirements of a historical
  book report would be able to count the pages.
• Upon completing a reading, students must complete
  a conference with any teacher. The student must
  bring the reading material to the conference.
  The number of pages are only counted upon
  approval of the information provided within the
  students conference.

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• No book previously read before the dates of the
  challenge may be counted.
• After a student has contributed 300 pages to the
  challenge, they will receive a certificate worth
  extra credit points to be used in English class
  only. (Each English teacher will decide how many
  extra points may be given.) The certificate may
  be used any time, but only 1 certificate will be
  given to each student.
• Each teacher serves as the final judge as to the
  number of pages a team has earned.
• All students and teachers are encouraged to
  complete a book review form to be kept in the
  library media center.

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Indiana State Standards
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Each classroom teacher will choose to
incorporate the reading into his/her curriculum
differently. Some may use the reading to enhance
or complete content standards, while others use
it as an auxiliary component to the core
curriculum. The following Indiana Academic
Standards for English/Language Arts could be
covered by this reading program
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Indiana Academic Standards for English/Language
Arts Grade 9 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.1.3,.9.2.3,
9.2.4, 9.2.7, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.3.5,
9.3.6, 9.3.7, 9.3.8, 9.3.9, 9.3.10, 9.3.11,
9.3.12, 9.4.3, 9.4.5, 9.4.10, 9.4.12, 9.5.1,
9.5.2, 9.5.4, 9.5.8, 9.6.1, 9.6.2, 9.6.3, 9.7.7,
9.7.14, 9.7.15, 9.7.16, 9.7.17, 9.7.19 Grade 10
10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3, 10.2.1, 10.2.2, 10.2.4,
10.3.2, 10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.5, 10.3.6, 10.3.7,
10.3.8, 10.3.9, 10.3.10, 10.3.11, 10.3.12,
10.4.2, 10.4.11, 10.5.2, 10.5.4, 10.5.7, 10.5.8,
10.6.1, 10.6.2, 10.6.3, 10.7.7, 10.7.8, 10.7.14,
10.7.15, 10.7.16, 10.7.17, 10.7.18, 10.7.19
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Grade 11 11.1.1, 11.1.2, 11.1.3, 11.2.2,
11.2.4, 11.2.5, 11.2.6, 11.3.2, 11.3.3, 11.3.4,
11.3.5, 11.3.6, 11.3.7, 11.3.8, 11.4.4, 11.4.5,
11.4.6, 11.4.10, 11.4.12, 11.5.2, 11.5.3, 11.6.1,
11.6.2, 11.7.16, 11.7.18 Grade 12 12.1.1,
12.1.2, 12.1.3, 12.2.2, 12.2.5, 12.2.6, 12.3.1,
12. 3.2, 12.3.3, 12.3.4, 12.3.5, 12.3.6, 12.3.7,
12.3.8, 12.3.9, 12.4.4, 12.4.5, 12.4.6, 12.5.2,
12.5.3, 12.6.1, 12.6.2, 12.7.6, 12.7.16, 12.7.18
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Information Literacy Standards
The nine Information Literacy Standards for
Student Learning as outlined by the American
Association of School Librarians in Information
Power and in the Correlation of the Information
Literacy and Indiana Academic Standards for
English/Language Arts are addressed based on the
type of reading material chosen by each student.
Analysis and use of the reading accomplished by
the student is determined by individual classroom
teachers. It is obvious that within the
components of the reading competition, the
independent reading standards are most likely to
be covered with the nature of the project.
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Grade 9 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2.3, 9.2.7, 9.3.1,
9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.3.5, 9.3.6, 9.3.8, 9.3.12,
9.7.7, 9.7.17 Grade 10 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.2.4,
10.3.1, 10.3.2, 10.3.3, 10.3.4, 10.3.5, 10.3.6,
10.3.12, 10.7.7, 10.7.17 Grade 11 11.2.4,
11.2.5, 11.3.1, 11.3.2, 11.3.3, 11.3.5,
11.7.6,11.7.18 Grade 12 12.1.3, 12.2.4,
12.2.5, 12.3.1, 12.3.2, 12.3.3, 12.7.1, 12.7.6,
12.7.18
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Note Concerning Grade Level Adaptation
This project was designed to address grades 9-12
however, it could easily be adapted to suit any
grade level. Content standards, therefore,
will change according to both teacher use of the
program and grade level.
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Program Supplements

• DEAR Day (Drop Everything and Read)
• Readers of the Month (Grade Level and Faculty
  Participants)
• 50,000 Pages Book Reviews
• 50,000 Pages Book Review Booklet
• Reading Challenge Between School Systems

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DEAR Day
SSR can be one more tool for developing lifelong
readers. The impact of sustained silent reading
time, commonly known as SSR, is supported through
research. Research has shown that reading
ability is positively correlated with the extent
to which students read recreationallyIt is
crucial that teachers participate in the process
as role models. Hopkins, Gary.
Sustained Silent Reading Helps Develop
Independent Readers (and Writers). Education
World. 1997. Educationworld.com. 1 Dec. 2002
(http//www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr038.sh
tml)
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DEAR Day

• For twenty minutes everyone in the building
  participates in pleasure reading.
• One day a week UCCHS students, faculty and staff
  participate in DEAR day (Drop Everything and
  Read).
• Teachers, staff, administration and secretaries
  model reading for our students.
• DEAR Day can be incorporated to fit individual
  school schedules.

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Readers of the Month
Every month, UCCHS English teachers choose one
person from each grade for Reader of the Month.
The media specialist chooses the faculty / staff
reader of the month. Each reader of the month
fills out an information sheet that tells what
they are reading, where they like to read and how
many pages they have read for the reading
challenge. Their picture is taken and then
displayed with their information sheet in the
library media center.
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Book Review Sheets
Each student is encouraged to fill out a book
review sheet that asks for a brief description of
the book, a ranking of the book, and the location
where the student found the book. It also asks
if the student recommends the book to be
purchased for the library media center.This
creates a valuable resource for the media
specialist when ordering books for each
individual media center. It is impossible to
read each book that is available for students
therefore, this resource is a tool that shows
what students are interested in reading.
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Review Sheet Binder
The review sheets are housed in the library media
center. All students are encouraged to look
through the binder when needing help choosing a
book. The review sheets allow them to see what
their peers recommend Students do not always
listen to the book recommendations made by
adults, but are more responsive to those made by
their peers.
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Reading ChallengesBetween School Systems
It is a fun addition to the program to increase
the amount of competition involved. After its
first year, UCCHS decided to compete with
Winchester Community High School and Northeastern
High School with our reading challenge. Results
are reported from all schools on the first of
each month and are posted in the main hallway.
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Library Media Centers Involvement in 50,000
Pages Challenge

• Library Media Centers play a vital role in the
  success of the program.
• Supplemental library activities can greatly
  enhance the pleasure reading experience of the
  students.

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Possible Activities

• Celebrate National Library Week with cookies,
  contests, and read alouds.
• Give book talks to enhance interest in particular
  genres or current bestsellers.
• Participate in Read Across America
• Engage student interest in the Eliot Rosewater
  Indiana High School Book Award Program
  http//www.ilfonline.org/Programs/Rosie/rosie.htm

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A Library Media Specialist should collaborate
with classroom teachers to promote pleasure
reading.
One simple activity that was developed at UCCHS
to promote new books was allowing the sophomore
class to get a special preview of new reading
material to the library during their English
class. Once new material has been prepared,
students are allowed to sit at tables filled with
the books and browse through one book for 3
minutes. After browsing, students are asked to
write a summary of the plot based on what they
read and describe their interest level in reading
the book at a later date. This has proven to be
successful in creating new interest in the
library.
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A Library Media Specialist should build a
collection that caters to students interests and
needs.
The library media specialist at Union City
Community High School is extremely open to
suggestions made by the students of the schools.
Unless the material is deemed inappropriate, all
requests for special book purchases are made.
This helps create a library the students see as a
place for them, not what other adults think they
would like. It also fosters a positive
relationship between students and the media
specialists for book chats or talks to discuss
what students are reading, whether from the
library or not.
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The success of Union Citys reading challenge on
standardized test scores is expected to be
reflected in future reports from MAPS testing,
ISTEP testing, and SAT or ACT results.
Obviously, an increase in scores cannot be
directly related to the reading challenge
however, an increase can be a reflection of the
students efforts to increase their reading
ability and comprehension through pleasure
reading. Success is expected to come with
continuous planning, implementation, and
monitoring of the program by the administration,
faculty, and staff.
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Any questions about this reading program can be
directed to Shelley Wambo, English Teacher Holly
Stiggleman, Library Media Specialist Union City
Community High School 603 North Walnut Union
City, IN 47390 Phone [phone] Email
shillard_at_resc.k12.in.us hstiggle_at_resc.k12.in.us