Bailey Middle School recently celebrated 59 students who completed a ‘Read Across America’ challenge by reading 20 minutes a day for 30 days!
The students marked each day off on their ‘Read Across America’ bookmark. School librarian Laura Garceau oversaw the challenge and handed out ice pops after lunch to those who completed the challenge.
The bulletin board, pictured above, refers to the ELA teachers’ names and the bookmark under their name refers to the students who participated.
WHY READ 20 MINUTES A DAY:
Research shows that reading 20 minutes per day has been shown to have many positive benefits.
Children who read 20 minutes a day/5 days a week are exposed to 1.8 million words in one school year. Compare this to students who read 5 minutes per day – they will be exposed to 282,000 words per school year.
Reading helps foster empathy – a child experiences “walking in someone else’s shoes.”
Children are exposed to different ideas and cultures.
Reading also improves critical thinking.
Reading increases knowledge of correct syntax and grammar, along with robust vocabulary knowledge, resulting in improved writing skills.
Students who read 20 minutes per day score significantly higher on standardized tests of reading.
Click here to learn more about the benefits of reading 20 minutes per day.