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7-15-15 — Spiderman Visits Heritage Reading Celebration
July 15, 2015 ~ Scott McFarland has an idea for something that should be added to the principal's handbook, if there is such a document. Be ready to go to great lengths to encourage your students to read — at school and at home. As principal of Heritage Elementary School, McFarland agreed to be duct-taped to the wall if students achieved their goals in the Read at Home / Read at Heritage (RAH RAH) program.
"For some reason, doing humiliating things to the principal is motivating!" he joked. "Last year they got to dunk me in a dunk tank. This year we decided to have students duct tape me to the wall."
McFarland and the organizing committee were right about this stunt motivating students to read. As he was being taped to the wall, McFarland counted 183 students who had achieved their grade level reading goal and earned the honor of applying a piece of tape. This accounted for 49 percent of the student body, a good turnout, but McFarland wants to achieve a higher goal next year.
"The duct tape idea was the first one we had and we went with it," second-grade teacher Becky Arbuckle said. "Students were reminded to turn in their RAH RAH minutes to help Mr. McFarland achieve his goal of being Spiderman! The kids love superheroes so it helps them get excited about reading."
Third-grade teacher Patty Mulligan made sure there were weekly reminders in her class newsletter and homework that her students should record 70 minutes of reading per week.
"Reading at home has a huge correlation to the progress students make in reading each year," she said. "Third-graders also participate in Reading Olympics at the end of the year and this encourages reading at home."
Quarterly celebrations at school are an incentive for students to grab a book and read. Students record their nightly reading and submit forms to teachers each quarter. Each grade level determines the first-, second- and third-quarter celebrations. The RAH RAH event with the principal is for students who met their goal throughout the year. The quarterly recognitions have included a DJ dance party, extra recess with popsicles, game party, bingo, movie, and picnic in the park.
"Reading is integrated into every content area at school," Arbuckle said. "When students continue to read at home, they find greater success in school and we want to support that."
District Library Media Coordinator Lori Franklin is thankful for reading programs like the one at Heritage. She said nationally only one in five parents reads with their child and one out of three parents regularly read bedtime stories to their children, according to a 2013 Harris Interactive Poll. A 2014 report by Scholastic indicates that 41 percent of frequent readers ages 6 to 10 were read aloud to at home, while only 13 percent of infrequent readers were being read to.
"Reading at home programs have multiple beneficial actions for families: they strengthen relationships among family members, promote academic excellence, build upon basic speech skills, encourage better communications, and enhance language mastery skills – all while having fun!" Franklin said. "Heritage sends a clear message that reading at home is both valued and nurtured in the Heritage community."