A reading initiative at a Toledo charter school was launched last year with the aim of helping students discover reading can be fun.
Horizon Science Academy Springfield started each school day with a 20-minute, uninterrupted block of reading time called the Focused Reading Opportunity for Growth (FROG) program. During that time, all members of the school community — from the youngest students to the school’s director — stopped and read books of their choosing.
Those at the school spent a total of 1,131,000 minutes reading during the school year, which translates to 18,850 hours, 785 days or 2.15 years.
“We had been thinking for a while about how to get students focused and ready to learn in the mornings. They come in and they are kind of chaotic. We thought it would be a good time to use as a reading focus,” said Instructional Coordinator Erin Schreiner.
“All the educational research shows the more you read, the better you read. Too often students are reading only things that are assigned to them. By letting kids pick their own books, it shows reading is something fun and enjoyable you can do.”
The program has been a hit with students, Schreiner said.
“The kids will talk about how they are reading a really good book and another student will ask if they can borrow it when they’re done,” Schreiner said. “That’s a kind of dialogue we wouldn’t have had before and that’s the way we want kids to be talking about books.”
Stephanie Sweat, head of the school’s English department, noticed the new interest as well.
“As soon as one student is done with a book, someone else wants it. That’s a new phenomenon this year. I haven’t experienced that in the past. I’m always on the hunt for books,” Sweat said, adding that students in an after school movie club she has hosted for three years started asking about reading the books movies are based on this year.
Parents have also noticed a difference, Schreiner said.
“One parent said his son never used to read for pleasure. He was always playing video games. But now he’s seen him kind of switch and sees reading as something he does as a leisure activity,” Schreiner said.
Eighth-grader Chase Keeler said he likes being able to choose his own books and thinks FROG has improved his reading skills.
“It helps you learn new words,” Keeler said. “I read a lot faster than I did at the beginning of the year.”
Seventh-grader Jacob Wolfe said he enjoys FROG because it helps him discover new books.
“The teacher will have books we’ve never heard of and we get to see what other people read, too,” Wolfe said.
Eighth-grader Isis Walker said FROG rekindled her interest in reading. “I used to like reading, but didn’t do it all the time. Since FROG, I’ve had a lot more chances to read and I’m a lot more into it than I used to be,” Walker said.
Sixth-grader Taylor Kelley said she likes books better than movies.
“Books have a lot more detail than movies, so it’s a lot better,” Kelley said.
It’s too early to tell if the program will improve grades, but improving reading skills tends to improve performance in other subjects as well, Schreiner said.
“Reading is not just a stand-alone subject,” Schreiner said. “To do well in science, you needto read; to do well in social studies, you need to read. Even math. The ability to comprehend the written word is important.”
Horizon Science Academy Springfield, located at 630 S. Reynolds Road, enrolls students in kindergarten through eighth grade and plans to continue FROG next year.
For more information, visit www. horizonspringfield.org
