Scholastic Reading Counts! Success Story: McBride Elementary School, Springfield, MO

Kristi Johnson teaches a combination third and fourth grade class at McBride Elementary School, in Springfield, MO, a public school that includes grades K-5. She reports that Scholastic Reading Counts! has made a huge impact on the number of books that her students read each year. At the beginning of each school year, she shows her students how to take quizzes. Ms. Johnson gives the students graph paper, models how to graph the points, and helps them decide an appropriate scale for their personal points growth by assessing how many points they usually get each week. Student sets their own goals for each quarter and then they graph their points for each week using their new graphing skills. These graphs are not displayed, however, Ms. Johnson says that everyone usually knows everyone else’s progress because there are no secrets between third and fourth grade students!

After the first quarter, the students look at their points totals and project how many they can possibly attain by the end of the year. Usually, this involves roughly quadrupling their points, but sometimes they decide to set their sights a bit higher.

As the second quarter begins, Ms. Johnson uses some healthy competition to encourage her students to increase their number of points, as she pairs them up. Their point totals soar as they prepare to beat their competition! By the time the third quarter arrives, they are working in groups of four. And finally, during the fourth quarter, she divides the class into two teams.

As the year progresses, she can better predict which students will be "cheerleaders" for teams of four, and by the end of the year, the students themselves choose a leader for each of the two teams. Usually the teams are closely matched, but each year Ms. Johnson is surprised by the effect of the competition on certain previously hesitant readers.

During the last week of school, they tally the total number of points for each team, and the team with the least of amount of points is responsible for bringing treats to a reading celebration party for the whole class. Both teams enjoy knowing how many books and tests they successfully completed. All the students look forward to this party, where they get a chance to munch on some yummy food, congratulate one another on their incredible successes, and share their favorite titles!

There are always some exceptional reading superstars: last year Ms. Johnson had a third grader who earned more than 500 points, and this year she teaches a fourth grader who is on a pace to break 600 points! The experience of reading truly brings the whole class together. By taking responsibility for their own goals, and then meeting those goals with the support of their classmates, these students learn more than just how to read.