Rebecca Caudill

Reading Challenge
Submitted to: Helping Hand Grants

Date: March 2, 2015

Lindsay Zucker
School Librarian
Meridian Middle School
2195 Brandywyn Lane
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
847.955.3500

Rebecca Caudill Reading Challenge

Need
Meridian Middle School, in Buffalo Grove, IL, is requesting $1,500 to purchase books and
other materials to support a Reading Challenge for the 2015-2016 school year to benefit all
enrolled students, grades fifth through sixth, to increase their reading skills across a variety of
content and instill a love of literacy.
Impact
Meridian Middle School has a population of 495 students. (from www.illinoisreportcard.com)
o 14% are special education students
o 6% are English language learners (ELL)
o 8% are gifted and talented students (GTE)
o 13% come from low income families
All students will benefit from the implementation of a Rebecca Caudill (RC) Reading
Challenge because the reading levels/interest level of the books on the list vary from fourth
grade to eight grade. This allows all students to feel successful and choose a book or books
that are appropriate for them. The RC list has all types of genres from poetry to informational
text.
Design
The curriculum standards addressed are:
o LA.1 Asks and answers questions to demonstrate understanding in literature.
o LA.2 Use reading strategies and key features to comprehend informational text.
o LA.5 Apply word analysis, vocabulary, and phonics skills to read fluently.
o SEL.2 Use communication and social skills to build and sustain positive relationships.
o 4C.2 Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a
variety of digital environments and media.
o All data via D102 curriculum guides found at www.d102.org
Evaluation: Each of these components will be measured by a survey at the end of the year.
o Between 10% and 15% of the total student population participate in the RC reading
challenge.
o 100% of all Meridian students to read/listen to at least one book from the RC list during
the 2015-2016 school year.
Management Plan
Faculty Meeting in September
o During this faculty meeting, the competition will be introduced to all staff members.
Copies of the 2015-2016 RC list will be distributed. The eight sets of RC books will be
distributed to each team of teachers (four sets to 5th grade, four sets to 6th grade) to
share amongst their team. The librarian, using her own budget, already purchased two
sets of books from the RC list to house in the library.
o A recommendation from the gifted teacher and the grant coordinator will be made in
regards to a good book for a read aloud to get the staff started.
o Dates and information will be given to staff about upcoming classroom visits to share
the program with students.
Classroom Visits (September-October)
o Teachers will schedule two 30-minute blocks where the grant coordinator will be
visiting classrooms with the gifted teacher to explain the program. In our first meeting,
we will give information to the students about the program, how to participate, and

important dates. Students will be able to sign up for a team during these meetings, or
until the deadline of mid-October. We will provide team sign up sheets during these
visits. In the second meeting, we will book talk the books on the list. Various checkins will be made in the upcoming months to remind students how much time is left until
the competitions will begin.
Voting (February) & 20 Club
o All students who read at least 3 books off the RC list will be invited to vote for their
favorite book.
o Students who read all 20 books on the list will be invited to take a quiz (prepared by the
grant coordinator and GTE teacher) to become a member of the 20 Club. Students
with a 90% or higher will pass.
The Competition (March)
o All teams will be placed in a single elimination style bracket. Competitions will be
scheduled throughout the day and should last between 15-20 minutes. There will be
three teams that will move onto the final competition that will take place in the gym
with the whole school invited to watch. All competitions will take place during school
hours.

Personnel
The gifted and talented (GTE) teacher will work with the grant coordinator to run and support
the program in our school.
The grant coordinator will be working with 5th and 6th grade classroom teachers (total of 20
teachers), two special education resource teachers, and one English language learner teacher to
help them use the RC books as read alouds and help get students involved in the program.
Promotion
The GTE teacher and grant coordinator will plan classroom visits at the beginning of the
school year to promote the program and introduce it to the students. We will introduce each
book off the list and explain how the program will run.
The winning team members will each receive a $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.
Students will be taken out of school in order to spend their winning money one day in April.
Ribbons will also be given for the 20 Club participants to wear during our Final Competition
and will be recognized at the assembly in front of the whole school.
Displays in the library and throughout the school will promote the different books on the list
and other events taking place.
o Sign up to participate (September-October)
o Posters for individual books (August-March)
o Voting for favorite book (February)
o Promoting the 20 Club (February-March)
o Competitions (March)
Videos on the morning announcements (made by students) will introduce the book titles and
give general reminders of dates to the school.
Sustainability
The RC list will be used each year because the books are current, quality literature, and
recommended by parents, students, and teachers.
This grant will be used in order to kick-start this program for the 2015-2016 school year. The
principal at Meridian Middle School agreed to provide a budget for this program for the 20162017 school year and beyond.

Publicity/Press Release
Meridian Middle School in Buffalo Grove, IL, will receive $1,466 in grant monies from
Helping Hand Grants to improve school literacy by implementing a reading competition for the 20152016 school year. The librarian, Lindsay Zucker, and the gifted and talented teacher, Stacy Lipshutz,
have created a program that involves students reading 20 books off the Illinois Rebecca Caudill list
and participating in a Battle of the Books style competition. Students will have from August to
March to create teams with their peers and prepare for the competition. The final three teams will
compete in front of the whole school in March.

200 Ribbons would be purchased for $0.38 a piece.

These ribbons will be awarded to any student who is in
the 20 Club. The year was left off in order to
continue to use ribbons in future years.