It’s time to celebrate our love of books and reading together! We will kickoff our annual two week Reading Challenge on November 18th. Students challenge themselves to participate in a literacy activity every day during our annual Reading Challenge from November 18th to 29th. Students will receive a tracking sheet to mark their progress and be entered to win one of several reading celebration prizes when they turn in their tracking sheet by December 6th. Classrooms with 100% participation will also receive a budget for a class party.
Students bring home tracking sheets and an info letter to families with all the details on Read-A-Thon on November 18th, or you can print your own from here.
Community Reading Celebration
This year, Highland Terrace Elementary students, families, and staff will read either Once Upon a Friend or The Midnight Children, both written by local author, Dan Gemeinhart. When we kick off our annual Reading Challenge on Nov 18th, students will receive a copy of one of the books to read and keep in their home library, a gift from the Highland Terrace PTA.
The reading and discussion of our community read books will largely take place at home. Volunteers will be available to read with students at recess during our Reading Challenge. Families will receive a reading guide with discussion questions to support their engagement. Each day, students and families are encouraged to spend 15-20 minutes reading together. Of course, all engagement counts towards Reading Challenge goals, so don’t forget to log it on your tracking sheet!
The Midnight Children Reading Discussion Questions
In Person Author Visit
Highland Terrace Elementary will host a special in person assembly for K-2 and 3-5 students with Dan Gemeinhart on Nov 21.
Reading Challenge Schedule of Events
Special events will occur November 18 – 29 to celebrate Highland Terrace’s love of reading.
Nov 18: Kick-off of our Annual Reading Challenge & Community Read!
Nov 18-29: Reading recess! PTA volunteers reading to students during recess time
Nov 21: Author visit with Dan Gemeinhart
Nov 25: Hats off to reading day! (Hat Day)
Nov 26: Favorite Book Day – Class art activity included!
Nov 27: PJ/Stuffy Day! Wear your cozy jammies for a fun day of reading
Recess Reading with PTA Volunteers
Look for PTA volunteers at recess with a book cart and blankets to share stories together. (Volunteers are needed! Sign up here.)
Mystery Readers
Teachers may share videos during class with a mystery reader sharing a story.
See if you can guess who it is!
More About the Author
Dan Gemeinhart
Dan Gemeinhart lives in a small town smack dab in the middle of Washington state with his wife and three young daughters. He was lucky and grateful to be a teacher-librarian in an elementary school for thirteen years, where he got to share awesome books with awesome kids. He loves camping, cooking and traveling. He also plays guitar (badly) and reads (constantly). His house is always a mess. He is really pretty darn happy.
Questions?
Please contact our Reading Celebration Team at HTReads2024@gmail.com with any questions.