Scholastic Reading Counts! has really brought out some winners at Metcalfe Elementary School in Gainesville, Florida – both teachers and students alike. Mrs. Gilliam, a third grade teacher took extra time to make sure that her students could pass their quizzes with flying colors. She read many of the Sunshine State Young Readers Award books (S.S.Y.R.A.) to her students. If [her students] didn't pass their quiz, she sat with them and read them the questions. It was still totally up to them to give the correct answer, but it meant that some children who have excellent listening skills, but don't read on the grade level the book was written at (some books on the list are way above 3rd grade reading level) were able to participate in the S.S.Y.R.A. program and it really was a great ego booster and motivational event in their lives. Over half of the students who qualified for the S.S.Y.R.A. Voting Party (more on this later in the story!) were from Mrs. Gilliam’s class!

Meanwhile, a lot of other students at Metcalfe Elementary School are reading like champions, and celebrating their hard work with some well-earned fun times. We have a school wide theme called Team Read, a reading promo program from Upstart. If they earn 10 - 49 points they are Junior Varsity, 50 -99 are Varsity Readers, 100 - 199 are All Star Readers and 200+ are Hall of Fame-ers. A fun and colorful bulletin board in the library displays their pictures and point totals for everyone to see and share. As an even better incentive, once these students pass a quiz, they get to be television stars. Every Friday our principal, Felecia Moss, goes on Good Morning, Metcalfe -- our morning announcement program on closed circuit television-- and announces the new points for Scholastic Reading Counts! Students are recognized for every 10 points they earn with a pizza coupon from the local Dominos --which has been very generous with free coupons and they get to appear on Good Morning, Metcalfe! The students gather in groups under the bulletin board, looking for their pictures, making sure I have moved them up when they get enough points to make the next team.

The students and teachers of Metcalfe Elementary School in Gainesville, Florida love Scholastic Reading Counts! because it is so colorful and also because there are thirty questions for each quiz so the students can take it over and get different questions. And getting to use computers is quite a bonus. Our students love anything that has to do with the computers, so they have always been excited about getting to use the program!

Scholastic Reading Counts! can help readers at every level. I am extremely proud that some ‘reluctant readers’ who are discouraged because they are not reading as well as some of their classmates can read books on their level and earn points and be rewarded for reading, sometimes outstripping classmates who read at a higher Lexile. It really changes their attitudes about reading and gets them to want to read, instead of avoiding it at all costs because they feel it is something they can’t do. And we all know ‘the more you read the better you read!’ Several of the students have made amazing gains in their Lexile level and best of all, have come to actually enjoy reading. Many of the top point Team Read members started out as ‘reluctant readers’ but being successful with Reading Counts! has really changed that. There is nothing ‘reluctant’ about their reading now! This to me is the real strength of Scholastic Reading Counts! It can give students a sense of real accomplishment at their own level, and change how they think about themselves and about reading.

Metcalfe Elementary School also used Scholastic Reading Counts! quizzes as a way for students to qualify for Florida's Sunshine State Young Readers (S.S.Y.R.A.) Program. Students got to vote for their favorite book if they passed 3 quizzes on titles from the 3-5th grade list. I had 19 students qualify! They celebrated in high style on March 30th with a voting party, featuring the menu from Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech. I brought in 5 whole crock-pots of homemade chicken soup along with orange slices and bread with butter (warm from the oven) and Italian ices for dessert! When the voting was done, their winning book was Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry!

Congratulations to Metcalfe Elementary School for their amazing reading success!

By Rose Wershow
Library/Media Specialist
Metcalfe Elementary School