READING CHALLENGE: STUDENTS READING FOR FUN!

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READING CHALLENGE STUDENTS READING FOR FUN!

• Solana Beach /Earl Warren Middle School
• Shared Use Library
• Today a reader, tomorrow a leader
• W. Fusselman

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The Women Who Make it Happen
Patricia TironaYouth Librarian Pat.tirona_at_sdcount
y.ca.gov Vanessa Dorosewicz Pius Teen Technical
Advisor/MIRACLES worker
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• Library serves Earl Warren Middle School with
  600 7th and 8th graders
• Serves bedroom community of San Diego as branch
  of San Diego County Library system, one of 33
  branches
• High level of literacy at the school
• 95 of students are English proficient
• 91 of parents have some college
• 80 of parents have degrees
• 9 of families qualify as low income

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Earl Warren Middle School/Solana Beach Library
What a school thinks about its library is a
measureof what it feels about education.
Harold Howe Professor Emeritus at the Harvard
Graduate School of Educationand a former U.S.
Commissioner of Education
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Some Benefits of Shared Use

• Extended library hours offer more accessibility
  to library resources than a school media center
  (SMC)
• Community members benefit since library opens at
  730 a.m. weekdays when school in session
• Students benefit from later hours after school
  Saturdays
• Location on school grounds makes for easy access
  to materials for students faculty
• Library Tours, web literacy bibliographic
  instruction integral part of curriculum
• Library becomes second home for many students at
  lunch after school

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ADVANTAGES

• Encourages partnerships with teachers
• Exposure of student body to public librarys
  print online resources
• Selection of recreational materials more
  comprehensive than SMC
• Wider variety of electronic resources/databases
  than SMC
• Captive audience
• By end of first month of school, every student
  visited library at least once for Library Tour
• Students involved in library/programs at lunch
  after school

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DISADVANTAGES
                                                
                                                  
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• Community patrons may find student presence
  disruptive during high usage periods (lunch and
  after school)
• In reality, community is overwhelmingly
  supportive of sharing the space with students
• Parking traffic congested before after
  school.
• Patrons learn to adjust schedule

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MISSION

• My objective was to make the library a welcoming
  place to students teachers
• Programs draw students in every afternoon, with
  snacks
• Promote partnerships between teachers library
• My goal was to assist in improving achievement
  levels of Middle School
• Reading Challenge
• Bibliographic web literacy instruction

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Reading Challenge

• Reading Challenge a collaborative program that
  encourages recreational reading each semester for
  the entire student body
• Partnered with English Department
• Rewards students who have read at least 1000
  pages per semester for leisure
• Attend a movie party during their English period
  at end of each semester
• Movie selected from books read during the
  semester
• Special refreshments served, i.e.. Donuts, candy,
  and water 1st period, popcorn, candy water for
  rest

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RC PROGRAM

• Results updated on whiteboard in library
• Different award scenarios each semester
• First semester all students who read over 1000
  pages came to the party
• Second and third semesters, in addition, the top
  ten readers won gift certificates
• Last semester all readers who read over 10,000
  pages won a gift certificate

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SUCCESS FACTOR School

• Support of English Department School
  Administration - mandatory
• Their consent was required for library to host
  students during a class period at the end of the
  semester
• English teachers marketed activities class
  visits book discussions in library, posted
  flyers, logs, deadline reminders
• School Administration posted regular notices on
  the schools e-blast

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SUCCESS FACTOR Students

• Students were involved in the administration of
  the program.
• Initially I directed RC, then Vanessa, by 4th
  semester team with two interns volunteers
• The team took it up a notch
• They challenged student community to friendly
  competition between individual students
  English classes for of pages read
• They inspired peers through word of mouth,
  posters, flyers, results board displayed in the
  library

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SUCCESS FACTOR Simple Design

• Reading not seen as work
• Reading became accepted behavior
• Students have a choice of titles and
• formats
• Books were peer reviewed
• Incentives were designed for their
• tastes

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SUCCESS FACTOR Community Involvement

• Community partners provided prizes refreshments
• PTSA, Del Mar/Solana Beach Optimist Club
  (www.optimist.com), Library Friends
• Partners delighted to contribute to a great
  project
• Students see that the community cares
• Since funding was spread over these resources,
  financial impact was minimal for the library

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PROGRESSION OVER 4 SEMESTERS
Pages read
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ASSESSMENT

• Earl Warren continues to improve its academic
  performance since the Reading Challenge began
• Academic Performance Index (API) 2007-2008
  increased 21 points from the year before, to 924,
  the highest ever API
• More students scored in top proficiency band /
  fewer students scored in lower two proficiency
  bands, for the English/Language Arts discipline
• Earl Warren awarded California Distinguished
  School May 2009
• Both the school CDS review panel cited the
  shared use library partnership as a valuable
  significant factor in the success of the school

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Helpful Hints

• Involve the students, school community
• Provide books they want to read talk to each
  other about
• Challenge them with a contest prizes (top ten
  get book store certificates)
• Pick a good movie have lots of snacks that they
  like!

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Conclusion

• Reading Challenge can be adapted to many
  environments
• Its formula works a balance of
• economical yet entertaining activity (movie with
  snacks)
• efficient marketing promotion
• collaborations that have a shared goal to
  encourage reading

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CONTACT INFORMATION

• If you would like more information about Reading
  Challenge
• OR
• Solana Beach Library/Earl Warren Middle School
• Shared Use Partnership, please contact Patricia
  Tirona at pat.tirona_at_sdcounty.ca.gov

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REFERENCES

• San Dieguito Union High School District. (2008).
  School Accountability Report Card. San
  Francisco, CA School Wise Press. Retrieved
  June 20, 2009, from http//sarci_en_37-68346-6061
  998m.pdf
• Richmond Public Schools. (2008). Reading
  Quotes. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from
  http//richmond.k12.va.us/readamillion/readingquo
  tes.htm