Promoting the PA Young Reader’s Choice Award at Middle School

Carol Kennedy, Retired

The Challenge:1. Getting the teachers hooked

2. Getting the kids hooked3. Integrating with the zillion and one

other things that are going on already at school

Getting the teachers hooked, 1

• If you can, offer a class that teachers can take to earn “flex credits” and Act 48 credits during the summer. I called mine “PA Young Reader’s Choice Award: Presenting the Books”.

• Each teacher who signed up for the class read one of the books on the list, then made a slide about it.

• I required that each slide should include a picture of the book and a picture of the teacher.

Getting the teachers hooked, 2

• In September, I got all their slides together and made them into a Power Point.

• I had each teacher read his/her script into the mike attached to the Power Point slide.

• I did not put too many restrictions on the slides. Teachers’ slides were all different in style and format.

Getting the teachers hooked, 3

• Because my school relied heavily on Accelerated Reader tests, I made sure to buy or create AR tests for all the books on the list (ready for the first day of school in September).

• After orientations, I showed the PP to every single English class in the school (early October).

• Some teachers gave extra credit to students who read from my list.

Getting the Kids Hooked

• I included all the books on the summer reading lists.

• I showed the PP to all the kids in the school (every English class) and put a link to it on the library web site.

• I also used Dottie Delafield’s excellent video about the books with all the classes.

Getting the Kids Hooked, 2

• In Library Club, I read excerpts from each of the books while the kids listened and snacked or doodled.

• In Library Club we discussed the books.• In Library Club, we played charades and

other games based on the books on the list.

Getting the Kids Hooked, 3

• The Library Club made posters promoting PAYRCA and their favorites. They posted them all over the school.

• The Library Club made PP slides about books. I put these together into a PP slide show, and printed out the hand-out. Those little square pictures were posted around the library on the shelves by the books.

• In February Library Club made posters about voting and did morning announcements.

Integrating into the zillion …

• I kept promoting PAYRCA throughout the school year.

• Some teachers gave extra incentives for the kids to read these books … extra credit, etc.

• The fact that my core of 15 teachers had read at least one of the books during the summer really helped!

Integrating into the zillion … 2

• We kept voting open in the library for an entire week (the first week of March).

• We allowed students to vote in their English classes as well.

• We gave out trinkets to those who came into the library to vote.

• We announced our school’s vote, and the PA vote, in the morning announcements.

Integrating into the zillion … 3

• I encouraged parent volunteers and my staff to read from the list as well.

• I got multiple copies of the books whenever possible.

• Some teachers purchased classroom copies of the books through Scholastic and other vendors.

Integrating into the zillion … 4

• I worked with the youth librarian at the public library to promote PAYRCA as well.

• I had a quarterly “Lunch in the Library” that kids could sign up for, and often we discussed the books from the PAYRCA list.

• I invited the youth librarian from the public library to the “Lunch in the Library” each time.