A reading project started by a teacher at Midkiff Elementary School with about 30 students has blossomed into a project that has included over 200 students at the campus.
As the 2011-2012 school year began, then third grade teacher Sandra C. Rios was brainstorming ideas on how she could help build her student’s reading stamina, get them to enjoy reading, and keep from burning them out on passages. Rios said she really wanted to get them out of their comfort zone of reading shorter books and into chapter books. This is where the idea of the Chapter Book Series Challenge was born.
Rios began working with campus librarian, Liz Cavazos, hoping the idea would really catch on with the boys in their target third grade level. Several chapter book series were selected. Cavazos also categorized the chapter book series together to make it easier for students to access when they visited the school library. Students who completed each chapter book series would take an Accelerated Reader exam on the books. The students, who scored at 90% or higher on five book exams in the same series, would be rewarded with a special Chapter Book Challenge t-shirt designed by Rios. The shirt features many of the popular figures found in the chapter books read the most.
Since that first year, the success of the Chapter Book Series Challenge has resulted in it expanding to include grades 2-5. Rios said not only has the number of students taking the challenge grown, but so has the reading list of series. She said students are now giving her more titles to add to the Challenge, including nonfiction chapter books. The number of series to be completed now increases with the grade level. By fifth grade, students who meet the challenge complete five different series successfully.
Unlike the more picture-driven books for beginning readers, a chapter book tells the story primarily through prose. The chapter divisions provide the readers with opportunities to stop and resume reading if they are unable to finish the book in one sitting.
Rios said she encourages students to visit their local libraries and bookstores, and also make use of electronic book offerings when possible.
Rios is now teaching fifth grade and has many of the original challenge takers in her class once again. “I love seeing their excitement when they get that 90% or 100% they didn’t know they had in them,” Rios said. “The seed has been planted. As these students begin their middle and high school years, I hope that I’ve fostered the love of reading for many years to come.”
Pictured are Liz Cavazos, librarian; and Sandra C. Rios, fifth grade English Language Arts teacher at Midkiff Elementary School.
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