The return of a popular Middle School reading initiative puts fun at the center of its goal for each student to read 50 books of their choosing by the end of the year.

According to the NEA, reading is too often tied up in high-stakes testing, which has led many students away from reading as a form of entertainment and enjoyment. A solution to recent studies which describe a decline in reading for fun among young people over the last forty years, is to offer students more opportunities to choose the books they want to read.  

Poly Middle School Reading Challenge is On

Making its return to school after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Middle School Reading Challenge is back. The initiative encourages students to use flexible periods of free time to find and read something that sparks their imagination. To discover the joy of diving into a good book of their own choosing is how students ignite a lifelong love of reading. There are no tests or assignments or directives of what to read. Students have the freedom to explore and choose a book, graphic novel, or audiobook that interests them. The challenge asks them to visualize their school day differently in how they spend their independent time – and to incorporate reading into it. 

Eye on the Prize

In the gamified reading competition, students may receive a total of five bookmarks, each decorated with colorful, graphic markers of their leveled reading achievements. The shiny backdrop of the final bookmark is meant to resemble a Middle School favorite, Pokémon cards, Head of Middle School Dan Doughty shared. Once students finish ten books, they turn in their bookmarks for a new bookmark which records their next series of books and receive a special prize. The challenge has already generated excitement among students. In the MS Reading Club advised by school librarian Samantha Owen, some students have already earned their second and third bookmarks, having read 20 to 30 books since the challenge began less than a month ago. A few students shared that they are holding onto their bookmarks for pride in their progress in the challenge, even if it means delaying getting rewarded with a prize. 

Tips to Accomplishing Reading Goal

Along with the challenge is the Poly Reads: Free Reading Policy, which details daily required reading and how students may accomplish their reading targets. The reading time goals per week differ and increase by grade level. Grade 5 and 6 will read 15 minutes daily, 5 out of 7 days per week and Grades 7 and 8 will read 20 minutes daily, 5 out of 7 days per week. The policy advises students to not only read at night but to also fulfill the requirement by using open periods in their schedule for additional academic support and enrichment such as Extra Help, D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read), and time before and after school. 

Purposeful Practice of Reading for Leisure

Doughty identifies that the practice of daily academic engagement may begin in the morning, even before classes start. What choices are students making as they mentally prepare for the day and what stimuli are they reaching for in quiet moments between the bustle of the school day? It’s important that students associate reading as a source of joy, nourishment, and respite. 

In a recent assembly, the act of reading was explained as “[an] important part of your lifelong journey to understanding yourself, others, and the world we inhabit.” Reading helps introduce different perspectives and how one gains understanding and insight. “Your engagement with a book,” Doughty told students, “its characters and its setting, will spark your imagination and empower you in so many ways.”