Unwrapping the Gift of Literature

“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.” — Roald Dahl

Beloved children’s author and renowned storyteller, Roald Dahl, painted this picture of books as the key to unlocking creativity and imagination – and that experiencing the magic of literature is a gift like none other.

At Quad Prep, our teachers understand that every student’s relationship with books is different; literature may be a gift, but the wrapping comes with infinite variations. Our teachers think outside the box to provide students with opportunities to explore literary worlds and discover their personal relationship with reading in an engaging and supportive way.

This year, one of our fourth-grade teaching teams invited students into a love of reading head on, creating a book review challenge that would encourage literary discoveries, provide an opportunity to practice writing skills in a passion-driven way, and build not just a class, but a tight-knit team of readers.

"That is what makes this project so special. To see a previously unmotivated reader pick up books and have a hard time putting them down is just incredible.”

Nicolette Carbonetto , Lower School Head Teacher, and Alyssa Talamo , Upper School and Lower School Learning Specialist, were the masterminds behind the Book Review Challenge in the fourth-grade Quasar classroom.?

“The students are confident in taking risks with their education. They come to support each other,” says Alyssa. Nicolette agreed, saying, “They’re in it together.” With this in mind, the Book Review Challenge – an inclusive, collaborative class project – was born.

In October, the students were challenged to read thirty chapter books as a class. With just ten students in the class, this would mean everyone should read two books…but then how would they finish those final ten books to make it to thirty? This is where the class’s collaborative spirit and supportive nature was essential – and the students fully embraced it, recognizing immediately that it would take everyone working together to reach their goal. “We weren’t sure if it would take off, but once the ball was rolling, the kids all jumped in and really wanted to do it. By making thirty books the goal, it added a layer of flexibility so that all of our readers could feel successful and challenge themselves,” says Nicolette.

While Nicolette, Alyssa, and the Lower School Librarian, Abbey, guided the selection of books for each student, their goal was simple – to help each student find a spark of connection and excitement around the books they chose to read. A student wants to read manga? Cool! Another student wants to read a hefty sci-fi novel? Great! The selections that some students made even surprised their teachers, taking it one step further by creating their own goals to read every single book by a specific author. “We had a lot of students who didn’t gravitate toward books at all, but as we exposed them to books that were tailored to their interests and some genres we thought they might enjoy, they became motivated to read. That flexibility really drew them in,” says Alyssa. Quasar student, Hugo, was so eager to participate in the challenge that he said, “I feel excited and it makes me want to read a lot!"?

Once a student completed a book, their next step was to write a short book review with their thoughts about the book or particular themes that they found interesting. Each completed book review was prominently placed on the wall for the entire class to see, and a sticker was placed on their Book Review Challenge tracker. “Once they do the review,” says Nicolette, “it goes on the wall and they are so incredibly proud of themselves and of each other. They really feel the sense of accomplishment every step of the way.”

But wait, there’s more! This challenge directly integrated with the Lower School-wide PBIS (positive behavior integrations and support) program called Quad’s Quest, which promotes positive experiences for the full community. Through Quad’s Quest, students have the opportunity to earn points each week based on their positive interactions and behavior during the school day. As their points accrue, they can purchase exciting prizes, such as video game keychains, student artwork, and even Quad Prep apparel. If the students completed this Book Review Challenge, they would each receive 300 points – which is two full school weeks worth of points! The addition of this Quad’s Quest component brought the students’ motivation and camaraderie to a new level – including for one particular student, who was going to drop everything and read eight books accompanied by eight book reviews in one day to reach the goal!

“I wasn’t anticipating the students creating such a deep sense of community around this project. The students wanted to help each other to get the reward, but we also noticed that they genuinely enjoyed the sense of community and peer-motivation that they were creating all on their own,” says Alyssa. One student, Max, even went out of his way to say, “The points are good, but helping my class get them is even better.”?

“This project gave me confidence that group initiatives can work, and they truly do bring out the best in the kids."

In the classroom, this team project was clearly having a positive impact on their sense of community, but the pleasantly surprising outcomes stretched beyond what Nicolette and Alyssa had even planned for. One student was surveyed at the beginning of the school year and declared that he hated reading. However, before the winter break, he approached Alyssa and said, “I think I’m okay at reading now. I can do this.”?

“That was so rewarding to hear,” says Alyssa. “And even more so, the increase in his reading scores in the middle of the year blew me away. That is what makes this project so special. To see a previously unmotivated reader pick up books and have a hard time putting them down is just incredible.”

Just as the students were gaining confidence in their reading and writing skills, Nicolette found renewed inspiration as an educator alongside them. “This project gave me confidence that group initiatives can work, and they truly do bring out the best in the kids. I’m sometimes nervous to do this kind of project – will they work together? Will they buy into it? This was unexpectedly, undoubtedly amazing,” she says.

After the exuberant responses that Nicolette and Alyssa received to the Book Review Challenge, the students are continuing to open new literary gifts through the school year as the challenge end goals become bigger and the rewards become sweeter. And what reward is sweeter than a supportive team of enthusiastic, blossoming readers? ?