Purpose: The purpose of the Lower School Reading Challenge is to promote a love of reading good books. It is an investment in the habits and affections we want to see prevail in our school.
Overview: Students start the school year at their designated reading level with book list that specifies point values for each book. Books with more classical Christian value are worth more points to steer students towards selecting those books.
Students read to earn 1) stickers for their reading challenge button and 2) points to be redeemed at the end of the year for bookstore giftcards.
To earn stickers and points, students must:
- Read the entire book (Alpha and Beta must read their books aloud)
- Complete and submit to their teacher a Book Review signed by a parent. Parents may write the students’ words for the student to copy onto the Book Review form for grades K-2.
Button: After submitting their first Book Review, students are given a reading challenge button.
Stickers: After obtaining the required number of points for a level, students are awarded the corresponding sticker for the reading challenge button.
Points: Students may also accrue points for books to be redeemed for a bookstore gift card at the end of the school year. Students may not earn points for more than two levels below their starting level for the year. Books read over the summer also count for the challenge as long as they are on the reading list and a book review is submitted. Students are responsible for keeping track of their own progress. A tracking sheet is available for student use.
Submissions: Book Review forms are submitted to the library inbox. A points keeper (volunteer parent) gives a pass/fail for neatness, spelling, punctuation, and coherency (encourage students to have their forms edited in advance). Students may submit a Book Pass from their teacher for completed book presentations/reports. The points keeper will mark completed books in the Reading Challenge Points Spreadsheet as students submit Book Review forms.
Points System: The points system considers the number of books students read on average each school year. Students will need to read more than average in order to complete a level before the end of a school year. For Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, reading 30 books per year is average (half or one book every week). Alpha-Delta need 600 points to complete a level (one or two books per week). For Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, and Theta, reading 15 books per year is average (one book every 2-3 weeks). Delta-Theta need 300 points to complete a level.