Update on the Iditarod Reading Challenge

Dear Families,
I hope you are all enjoying our time off from school.  I know some of you are traveling to warmer climates....I wish you could bottle up some of the sun and warmth for us here in VT.  Today was gorgeous, however.  If you are still in VT, I hope you had a chance to go out sledding, skiing or skating today.  Nothing beats traditional winter fun!

I wanted to give you all a heads up about our new reading log, starting next Tuesday when we get back to school.  As you might have noticed in your child's Thursday Folder, your child brought home a parent letter explaining our new "Reading Race".  On Team Harmony, we traditionally follow the Iditarod Dog Sledding Race in Alaska.  This year, the race officially starts on March 7th, but we will start our reading logs this upcoming week.  Your child has been assigned a musher, and as he/she races along the trail in Alaska, from Anchorage to Nome, your child will move his/her way along the trail by reading books and writing about them inside our new reading logs.  Your child's homework folder will be the same, however, we will have new reading logs inside it.  Your child will be expected to write about his/her book (or chapters) every night.  In other words, each book (or chapters) corresponds to one check-point.  As children are encouraged to choose "just right" books, some children might choose to read 2-3 chapters for each check-point.  Some children might decide that each check-point corresponds to 15 minutes of reading.  .We will create a reading contract when we return to school on Tuesday and this will be placed inside your child's homework folder so you know what he/she decided.

Please also note that the children do not race against each other; rather, they race along with their assigned musher.  This is a very engaging and highly motivating reading challenge.  I hope your child will embrace this reading task with us.  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Enjoy the last few days of your vacation.  See you next week!
Maria

Here is a copy of the letter that went home:

The Annual Great Alaskan

Reading Event

Welcome to the Reading Event. We will keep track of this at school, but books that children read at home can be counted towards progress in the event. Each child will have an event card and a trail marker, which will be kept in school.

We will be setting reading goals with the children at school.  With the help of a teacher, the children will decide if their goal is to read one book for every check point, read for for 20 minutes, or read a certain number of pages.  Every time they achieve their goal, they will need to write up a summary.  Each correct summary handed in will be recorded on the child’s event card, by the teacher, and the teacher will move the marker to the next checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail.

We want each child to do their own writing when they complete their summaries.  Families can encourage neat handwriting and complete sentences.  We will be talking with your child about the expectation for this project.

Each child must turn in at least 4summaries a week as part of their homework so that they can move 16checkpoints along the trail by March 27^th. A certificate will be given to all children completing the 16 summaries. It is definitely possible to read more than 16 books in a month!

If 20checkpoints are reached (end of the trail) a special prize will be awarded.  The summaries may be filled out for books read at school and at home. We will have summaries available for students to take home.

*Children must choose books that are on their own reading level; Just Right books. For example: a student reading at a third grade reading level may not read The Cat in the Hat. Chapter book reading is highly encouraged for those who are ready. At any time, a teacher or other adult may ask questions about books read to make sure they read and understood the book.

Sample summary:

Title:                               The BFG

Author:                           Roald Dahl

This book was about:      A little girl and a big, friendly giant save the world from bad giants who eat people.

The problem in the story was that there were bad giants who were eating people. Sophie and the BFG had to find a way to stop them.