Kimmy Kunz has always liked to read. But during the last school year, the Monroe Middle School pupil participated in a program that helped her appreciate reading even more.
The program is Rebecca Caudill Reading Counts, known as RC.
Kimmy, 12, a 7th grader, was one of several pupils who won the program’s top reading prize last year.
“I think it’s a lot of fun,” she said of RC. “It, like, really got me reading a lot of good stuff. And after the contest was over, I still wanted to read the books I hadn’t read.”
The program was created at Monroe Middle School, 1855 Manchester Rd., Wheaton, by learning-center director Susan Luehring, 6th-grade language-arts teacher Mary Clare O’Grady and 7th-grade language-arts teacher Chris Jameson. It was first used last school year.
RC combines age-appropriate titles with computer-based quizzes furnished by the Scholastic Reading Counts! program. The pupils who read the most books and successfully pass the quizzes win prizes.
About the books
The books come from a list supplied by the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award, which was created in 1987 to encourage children to read for satisfaction.
“Every spring this organization develops a list of 20 books selected to appeal to children in Grades 4 through 8,” O’Grady said.
“What we’ve found generally is the books on this list tend to be of very high interest to these students. They’re ideal for our 6th- to 8th-grade students.”
Pupils in the program nominate books, from which a master list of 20 titles is created and sent to participating elementary and middle schools and libraries for the coming school year.
The pupils read the books during the year and vote for their favorites. The title receiving the most votes is announced each March, and the author is presented with the award.
The state program is sponsored by the Illinois School Library Media Association, Illinois Reading Council and Illinois Association of Teachers of English.
The award is named after Rebecca Caudill (1899-1985), who lived and wrote in Urbana for almost 50 years. It recognizes her work and the appeal of her books to children and young adults.
Popular choices
Luehring, O’Grady and Jameson wanted multiple copies of the 20 books on the 2004 Rebecca Caudill list, as well as the Reading Counts! software for the quizzes, so they applied for a grant from the 200 Foundation, which supports Wheaton-Warrenville Community Unit School District 200.
Because the $500 grant paid for only four copies of each title and the quizzes, they turned to alternate sources, including the school’s PTA.
Their efforts paid off: The library ended up with 10 copies of each book.
Even that wasn’t enough, Luehring said, because the books were almost instantly popular.
At the beginning of the year, one classroom of 6th graders taught by O’Grady and one of 7th graders taught by Jameson were introduced to the titles. Discussion groups were created that included 6th and 7th graders.
After the first quarter, the books could be used by other classes, and they soon were in demand by those pupils.
The reading program caused a surge in circulation in the learning center, O’Grady said. Interest was so high the school couldn’t keep up with the demand for the books.
Stickers for reading
The RC program builds on the Reading Counts! software the school began using the 2001-02 school year.
Before the pupils begin RC, they take tests provided by Reading Counts! to determine their reading ability.
There’s a significant benefit to pupils reading at appropriate levels, O’Grady said.
If pupils try to read books substantially more difficult than their comprehension levels, they can become frustrated and have difficulty recalling details. On the other hand, if they read too far below their reading ability, they don’t show growth.
After pupils read the books, they take computer quizzes specific to the titles.
Each pupil received a sticker for reading a Rebecca Caudill book and correctly answering at least 7 of 10 questions on the follow-up Reading Counts! quiz. The stickers were collected in sticker books that Luehring maintained in the library.
Pupils earned a prize for accumulating three stickers, got another after six stickers and another after nine.
A handful of pupils, including Kimmy, collected 12 stickers and won the top prize: a pizza lunch with O’Grady and Luehring.
“One of the things that made it nice was that Sue [Luehring] would have a conversation with the student after he or she had gotten 7 out of 10 right and gotten the sticker,” O’Grady said.
“They see in that way that reading is not just an academic activity, but a social activity.”
Crossing gender lines
One of the surprising outcomes of the first RC program was that a number of books appealed to boys and girls alike.
Administrators found that titles they thought would interest only boys attracted girls and vice versa.
An example was “Stormbreaker” by Anthony Horowitz. In this fantastic tale, a 14-year-old British boy is recruited by MI6, the spy agency made famous in the James Bond books.
“We knew this would be a book appealing to reluctant readers, many of them boys,” O’Grady said.
“But we found really avid readers among our female population liked the book as well.”
“Stormbreaker” received the most votes, and Horowitz received the 2004 Rebecca Caudill award.
The school has taken the reading portion of its RC program one step further.
“We have an adult book club–a staff book club–in which staff members read adult best sellers. We’ve been doing that for several years,” O’Grady said.
“But beginning last summer staff members participating in our book club were reading books from the same Rebecca Caudill list that the pupils were reading from. It really provided some positive interaction and created a literacy community here in the school.
“It let the kids see the adults in a totally different light, [realizing] we do things other than sit at this desk.”
Janet Kunz read some books that her daughter, Kimmy, was reading and gave them high marks.
“The fact we read together made it a good conversation thing,” she said. “The books were good. They talked about children’s character in a positive way.”
Kids now look for good reads
The program has made a significant difference in pupils’ attitudes toward reading, Luehring said.
“They want to know what a good book is and don’t want to waste their time with fluff,” she said. “That’s something I’ve never had before. They always want to know what a book’s about before they agree to read it, and that’s keeping us on our toes.”
O’Grady also likes the results.
“I think it’s proven to classroom teachers what they’ve suspected for a long time,” she said. “And that is kids are more interested in reading and [are] reading more than children five years ago.
“I think when they’re encouraged and supported, they will see reading as a viable leisure activity.”
That leaves one question:
Is Kimmy looking forward to this year’s RC?
“A lot,” she said.
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For more information on the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award, visit www.rcyrba.org.
