Reading Challenges at St John’s

"When I say to a parent, "read to a child", I don't want it to sound like medicine. I want it to sound like chocolate. " — Mem Fox.

During the school holidays I had the chance to catch up on some of my reading pile, finally reading many of the books my friends have recommended to me, as well as some of the new releases we've just added to the school library collection. As the pile of books on my bedtime table grew, I wondered how I could model my love of reading to the students at St John’s. I saw an Instagram post from another librarian which inspired me to action. My reading challenge this year is to read my height in books! This week the Year 1 students helped me make a ruler to stick to the library door to help me measure my pile, and then measured themselves, wondering how many books they would have to read to do the same challenge. Year 6 students helped me figure out how many more centimetres I have to go, and worked out with me how many centimetres I would need to read each day. Students from all years enjoyed guessing how many books I would have to read, and suggested strategies on how I could achieve my goal. 

Over the next few weeks, I am working with students to set their own reading goals. Some of the goals I suggest are: read all the books in a series, read a book from each genre, and read 30 books for the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge. It is my personal goal for this year to help all students complete the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge. Next week I'll be showing the students some fun ways to choose books to read, such as book bingo. This year, I'd like all students at St John’s to view themselves as readers and library borrowers. I will continue to work closely with children to choose great books to read, and would love your support in helping them to remember to bring their library bags (or any small bag) to school regularly so that they can borrow books to read at home.

Now for my stats... my challenge started on the 15^th December 2023, and I will finish on the last day of term 4 this year. I am 162cm tall, so will need to read an average of 0.44cm per day. I am currently at 42cm, and have 120cm to go! My rules: I can read any book for the challenge (including children's novels and graphic novels), but will not include picture books.

Happy reading!
Emma Alcock