Pajama Party Read In Day!

As an incentive for students to actively raise money for our "Fun Run," teachers were asked to set a class goal and come up with a special treat or reward for reaching it. I asked my students for 100% participation - and they complied. So, today we are having our very own Pajama Party Read In! Students get to come to school in their comfy pajamas, robes, and slippers. They are allowed to bring a pillow, small blanket or throw, and a comfort item (like their favorite teddy bear). Then, instead of "school," they may find a place to curl up and relax in the classroom with piles of books to read. I am looking forward to bringing my books and getting some reading done myself. Two things to note: today is an early release, so there is no worry that the students will begin to get restless (additionally, they still have art and a pizza party for lunch). Secondly, tomorrow their 8 book requirement for the 3rd trimester is due. Those students who've been slacking have an opportunity to save their grades, and those who have been going strong can just add more to the list.

I asked my students if they wanted to do the Read In with the other 4th grade class and I received an overwhelming "No!" Their reasons? "They will talk too much." "It will get too crowded and stuffy in here." (Even though we would use both classrooms the students decided the other class would want to be with us in ours.) Etc.

I told my team teacher that my class didn't want to include hers. She responded, "That's fine. I mentioned the Read In to them and they didn't like the idea at all."

This surprised me because I got the complete opposite reaction from my class. Not only that, but her class seems to be more full of dormant readers - those who'd rather be doing something else than reading. Many have already met their 8 book requirement, but then stopped reading after that. I have a chart on the wall in my classroom that shows students their progress. There are 20 squares for stickers, though the minimum requirement is 8. 4 students in my class have filled the chart twice (that's 40 stickers in one trimester) before I stopped tracking on the chart how many books they've read. The highest reader in the other class has reached about 25 stickers.

I will have all of these students again next year as I move on with them to lower middle school's 5th grade reading and English. My goal is to get these dormant readers as motivated to read as I've somehow done with my own students.

Until then, however, I'm looking forward to today's events! Books I'm taking with me? Tunnels (I am really trudging through this one, but refuse to abandon it.) and In the Middle.