My students need 3 iPod Touches as raffle prizes for Summer Reading. Students will receive a raffle ticket for each AR test taken on the 7 books I have preselected.
According to Carolyn Foote (2010) For student reading skills to improve, they need to read. They need to have lots of access to books and technology. They need to feel comfortable around books, talk about books, and associate books with positive interactions.
There are 900 students at my suburban middle school.
According to the 2011-2012 ODE School Report Card, 37.8% of the student population is economically disadvantaged, 13.6% of the students have a disability, and 37% of the students are non-white. The school district has recently undergone a lot of budget cuts which has resulted in the release of many Library Media Specialists and library clerks. Consequently, student reading and library participation has decreased.
Based on Renaissance Place test scores, administered to students during the 4th-grading quarter of the 2012-2013 school year, 48% of our school's 6th-graders and 58% of our school's 7th-graders are below 50% proficiency in reading. The national percentile rank is 18% and 17% respectively.
My Project
Research shows that students who do not read over the summer, lose crucial ground - especially reluctant or at-risk readers. Taking just one summer off from reading can sometimes mean a loss of a whole school year of struggling academic performance!
I am challenging my students to read more award-winning young adult literature, including nonfiction. The challenge is for students to read at least five of my seven selected award-winning books over the summer and take AR tests on them when they come back to school at the end of summer break. Selecting the books for them will, hopefully, challenge them to expand their interests and experience different genres. Providing incentive prizes and raffle items to participants will hopefully motivate students to participate. The iPods, a device many of our students cannot afford, could be used in the future for downloading eBooks from Audible, Great Course, or the public library.
Based on our school's 6th & 7th-grade reading test scores, and considering the negative impact a whole summer of little or no reading has on student achievement, it is very important for our students to be reading over the summer.
Students at this age level whom are not big readers need an extra push, or incentive, to read. Just having the chance to win an iPod touch is motivation enough for them to read five books over the summer.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Trimble and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.