Building Excitement for Reading 
By:  Sarah Lema

Project at a Glance :

This project is designed to build excitement for reading and plan an EPIC March is Reading Month!  The project includes investigating roadblocks to a strong reading community and ways to overcome these roadblocks to get students more excited about reading.  
       
 
Driving Question:

How can we build excitement for reading at Oakwood and plan an EXTRA special March is Reading Month?​             

Standards:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1
  
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4
  
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7
  

Team / Culture Building:

• Creative DNA​
• Collaborative Tower​​

• Bug List

Entry Event:

• Students engaged in a Lockbox challenge using Breakoutedu.com's library themed escape room activity.

Stakeholders:

• School Librarian
• Reading Specialist
• Principal
• School staff
• Students

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholder Map​ ​

• Empathy Maps

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Students interviewed the school librarian to gain insights about the challenge.​

Incubation:

• Students used the Crazy Eights protocol to brainstorm potential solution ideas.​

• Idea Quota
• Rule of Thirds​

• Comb-Ide-ation

​​Checking in:

• Think-Pair-Share
  
• Pluses and Deltas
  
• Who, What, When protocol

---

Solution Building:

• Students used the NUF test and Dot Voting to narrow down solution ideas.

Critique and Revision: 

• We invited Gwen Luban and Jennifer Mendes to participate in the Critical Friends activity to provide feedback to students.

Authentic Audience:

• School Librarian
• Reading Specialist
• Principal - Gwen Luban
• Dean of Students - Jennifer Mendes
  

Final Presentation:

• Students pitched their ideas to key stakeholders involved in planning March is Reading Month which included our librarian, our media specialist, and our principal. They received feedback and look forward to regrouping in a few weeks to implement their ideas and follow through on next steps.  

Click here​ for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:
Sarah Lema teaches 5th grade at Oakwood Intermediate in Allendale Public Schools. 

     "Engaging students in PBL and design thinking fosters creativity, critical thinking, and real-world problem solving skills. It is so rewarding to empower students to collaborate, embrace challenges, and be change makers while preparing them for the future and cultivating a lifelong love of learning!"