Winter Olympic Read-A-Thon

One of my favorite times of year....the Read-A-Thon!  This year was bigger than ever.  All Eagle Cliffs students participated, kindergarten to 5th grade.  It was our very own Winter Reading Olympics!



As defending champions, we were NOT going to let that trophy slip away.  The Connected Combo worked so hard.  What an amazing team of incredible readers! The students were so motivated.  Here are some ways we encouraged each other and kept up our reading.

 

     First, we made our own Olympic torches.  These torches were a labor of love.  The students painted the wood blocks.  Miss Frey lettered our names.  Then, Mrs. Jensen created the flame.  The students read to earn stars.  Each half hour of reading was represented by a star.  Students were great at brining in their logs so we could add stars. Also, when students read the goal of 300 minutes they earned a small torch trophy. 
     We added fun to our torches with some Olympic Reading Events.  Students had a reading challenge.  If they completed certain "events" they could earn bronze, silver, and gold medals to their torches.  For instance, one event was the bobsled.  If students read for 20 minutes in the bathtub, they completed the bobsled event.  We also had the biathlon where students had to read aloud to an adult.  When you are reading hours every night, the Olympic events added some extra motivation.  I got great pictures from so many parents. I loved to see the students completing their reading events with big smiles on their faces.  Thanks for the amazing support.

At the end of the read-a-thon, these connected combo kids read 18,800 minutes in ten days! Six students read over a thousand minutes!  And.....EVERY.SINGLE.STUDENT...read the goal of 300 minutes or more.  Hard to beat 100% participation!  Best of all, I see true improvement in the students' reading.  The extra work has propelled them even further with meeting academic goals. 

We would find out if we won at a school wide assembly.  We marched into the assembly to the Olympic theme song.  I was so proud!  The school had great participation and our students were shining stars!  For reading the most total minutes in the entire second grade, our class had the silver and bronze medalists.  We had the gold and silver medalists for the entire third grade.  And.... drum roll, please.... the trophy returns!  We will have a pizza party soon to celebrate our read-a-thon victory!  Thanks again for your focus, commitment, and support of our reading!