Reading Rooftop Adventure

It all began with an attempt to improve the reading results from our standardized testing. Irving School serves a relatively low income area of Bloomington. Students from this area do not typically score as high on test measures as students from other areas of town. This is not from a lack of effort on the part of a very dedicated staff.

I formed committees to focus on each subject area. ( One was a Fine Arts committee, which I abbreviated FARTS in faculty meeting).The reading committee became the focus of the attempt to stimulate more reading by the students. The belief was that more reading would lead to greater reading success.

I recall telling the committee I was willing to sit on the roof for a day if the students would reach a reading goal. I do not recall where the idea originated. I also felt we needed a large, but reachable goal. It was important to me that the students realize they could accomplish something big and important.

I thought the number 1 million was often thrown about, but that most of us had no concept on the actual size of that number. 1 million books seemed pretty unreachable, but 1 million pages seemed a reasonable goal for a student population of around 450. The staff did the calculations and determined a goal for each classroom.

Joanie S. did a nice drawing to display in the hallway and track the results.

Mary D. chaired the reading committee and took the lead. The reading committee established tracking procedures and the count was on. We were to discover that progress was not very rapid at first.

As the numbers ticked up, it became apparent the goal might not be reached, and certainly not until the spring. However, the staff remained positive and continued to encourage reading at all times. Any time students were not specifically studying another subject, they were given free reading time. Joan B. did a terrific job of encouraging reading and book checkout from the learning center.

As we entered February, it appeared the goal could be reached, but only in the spring. This was good for me, as sitting in the cold would not be too much fun. Spring break was the last week in March and fortunately the goal was reached just before break.

I decided to pay off the challenge a few days after we returned from break. It seemed reasonable to give us time to prepare. I also thought it would be a little warmer outside.

When the reading committee saw we reached the goal, Mary D. asked me to set another challenge to complete the year.When I asked for suggestions, someone (probably Mary) suggested I get my hair spiked like a rock and roll player. At that time, Bart Simpson was a new item, and lots of kids, and adults, thought the Simpsons was pretty funny. Bart was not a good role model, but he did have sort of spiked hair.

I agreed to spike my hair if the students would read another million pages by the end of the year. I figured I was safe, as it took the students 7 months to reach 1 million pages. There were only 7 weeks left after spring break. 2 million seemed so remote, I said I would double count the number of pages read over spring break. I thought this might keep the kids reading. Boy, "encourage" was an understatement.