My students need 2 copies of each of the 18 books on the 2015-2016 Georgia Children's Book Award Finalists List in order to prepare for the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl.
My elementary school has competed in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl for four years. This team prepares students for a unique reading competition in game format. We meet each week from August to February to discuss the books and practice for the meet. "Today's Readers are Tomorrows Leaders."
My students come from very diverse backgrounds.
We are in a Title I school with over 65% of our students on free and reduced lunch. Most of their families do not have the extra spending money to be a part of a team because it requires them to read 18 new books that our school library does not yet carry. However many of our students are voracious readers and often read more than one book per week. The media center is in constant need of new and interesting titles for these students. The majority of my students rely solely on the school media center or the local library as their source for books. The Helen Ruffin competition provides these students a chance to read and experience the Georgia Book Award Nominees for 2015-2016 which have a copyright of 2012 or later. Not only will the 10 team members benefit from these books but the entire fourth and fifth grade (over 200 students) will have access to them in the library once the competition is over.
My Project
The students will read and rotate the books on a weekly basis. They have notebooks and activity sheets they complete which helps them remember the setting, main characters, timeline of the book, and students create 10 questions on each book they read. Each week we will meet and go over the book and add to our work sheets until all the books are completed. As soon as everyone on the team has read all 18 books, we begin our practice question rounds where we use a buzzer system to prepare for the reading bowl.
Students who are part of the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl competition show increases in standardized test scores and reading comprehension.
Students develop an appreciation for literature, enhance their verbal communication skills, work in a cooperative environment, build self-esteem, develop team spirit, and improve in overall academic achievement. Plus they have a GREAT time meeting together and discussing what they love or don't love about each book.
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