READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Reading Promotion Program for Legend High

School
Submitted by Alicia LeRoux, EDSL 530
Schools Mission Statement: To foster students who are curious and
independent 21st century learners.
Reading Promotion Goal: To create a book club that increases reading
comprehension data within the school. When you look at the overall reading
pass rate for LHS, it is 88% for 2012-2013. When looking at the sub-group data,
only 59% of students with disabilities passed. The goal was chosen in order to
decrease the gap and help this group of students achieve more success.
Objective of Reading Promotion Goal: To improve areas of reading
comprehension, paying close attention to lower achieving sub-groups within LHS.
Strategies:
1. The reading program will involve creating a book club. The book club will
be called the READ ALL ABOUT IT!. Since lower areas of reading
achievement are being targeted, reading choices will be considered that
would have high interest and low ability, as well as considering books with
read-aloud capability. Students will choose the books that are read and
discussed. The librarian will provide open-ended questions that could be
used for a variety of materials: such as if you could talk to the author or
main character, what would you talk about and why?
2. The READ ALL ABOUT IT! Club will take place in the library during FLEX
or lunch. An application will be completed so that the librarian knows who
is interested.
3. The librarian will hold this club twice a year. The club should meet for 4
consecutive weeks. Consideration should be given to avoid times when
benchmark or SOL testing is conducted. For the fall semester, midOctober to mid-November would be a suggested timeframe and for the
second semester, February would be recommended.
Timeline for Implementation:
Six weeks before: create all promotional materials, identify target
groups (seek input from language arts teachers and the reading
coach)
Five weeks before: invite students and start taking applications
Four weeks before: applications are due
Three weeks before: hold an informational meeting for those who
completed applications and vote on possible reading materials,
librarian narrows the choices down to three
Two weeks before: book club members are notified of FLEX dates
to attend (try to limit it to a maximum of 12 so that discussion will be
driven by a small group and manageable; since there are 3 sessions
of FLEX and/or lunch times, the librarian could host 3 different
groups concurrently to meet interest if needed)

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One week before: Book club members visit the library and select
one of the choices.
The librarian will lead the program. The reading coach and language arts
teachers will recommend students within the focus group who would
greatly benefit from participation based on SOL scores and other data.
The program is designed for students who receive invitations, but special
consideration may be given to others on an individual basis.
Participants will include: librarian, students (maximum of 12 per meeting)
and the reading coach if available that day. Librarian will serve as
organizer and coach for the program. The reading coach will provide
further assistance, such as mentoring as group, if she is available that day.
Students will participate by following expectations of the program (see
below).
The program will be implemented by:
a. Choosing a low-achieving reading group from previous years SOL
testing data and/or by looking at other data areas such as SRI
scores.
b. Invitations will be given to the low-achieving group. Language Arts
teachers will help distribute. An information session will be held and
at that time, students will be asked to complete an application that
includes parent permission. On the application, students will be
asked to give reading preferences. The librarian will narrow it down
to three.
c. The librarian will collect applications and then notify club members
of the reading selections and have them come to the library and
check them out. Students will be given a reading timeline as well as
meeting dates.
d. During the meeting time, the librarian will form three groups, one for
each book. Students will be given a list of open-ended questions to
discuss. Students will be informed what the expectations are for
participating: no wrong or stupid answers, always show respect, one
person speaks at a time, new questions are welcome, read the
material!, eat while you talk. Participants who meet the
expectations will be allowed to write a commentary on the book that
will be placed on the student section of the Library Blog. The
librarian will circulate to each group, interjecting as necessary, and
often times being a good listener. If the reading coach is available
that day, her help would be provided as well.
The last session will conclude with blog entries and a celebration with a
cake or something similar. Students will also complete an informal survey
on Survey Monkey.
Communication tools needed: invitations, applications, student blog
section on the library page
The program will be evaluated two ways: 1) did the overall SOL score
change for the targeted group? (note: this may not be applicable if the sub
group was marginally represented) And 2) Each student who attends will
have the individual data recorded including SOL reading score and current
SRI score; when new SOL tests are taken and SRI is updated, the data will

be compared to see where progress was made or where improvements are

needed. Also, an informal survey will be given to members of the READ
ALL ABOUT IT club and their teachers to see how the program helped
and/or how can it be improved. The librarian will complete a data chart to
compare/contrast scores to see if improvement was made.