Reading Olympics is a program designed to promote reading, teamwork, self-confidence, and fun! A group of 4th and 5th graders will work as a team to collectively read all 30 of this year’s Reading Olympic titles. Each student will read at least four titles so that they can pool their knowledge during the Reading Olympics competition in the spring. The books range in reading ability from 3rd–6th grade and cover a wide variety of topics and genres. During the competition, teams are asked questions to earn points. The team whispers together to come up with their answers. Points are accumulated to earn gold, silver, and bronze medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. All other teams receive a participation award to celebrate their hard work and dedication to reading!
The program is beneficial to both the young avid reader as well as reluctant and developing readers. Reading Olympics books can be read aloud with a parent, a classroom teacher, a friend or relative, or listened to as eBooks and audiobooks. The object is to have students sample a wide variety of literature and then enjoy the excitement of an academic competition!
Teams will be formed in the fall and will be led by teachers and volunteer coaches. They will meet about twice a month during school hours from fall through spring. Team meetings will take place in the mornings from 8:00 to 8:20 am. At the beginning of February, there will be a practice round to prepare the students for the competition. During late winter and early spring, teams focus on team strategy and look to each student's strengths to help the team as a whole. Reading Olympics does not add any additional homework. The time spent reading for Reading Olympics at home takes the place of expected daily reading homework.
Team Requirements
- Participants must read a minimum of four shorter books or a combination of longer and shorter books. The Reading Olympics chart list will note the books that count as two or more due to the length or complexity of the story.
- Complete one of the following to get credit for reading a book:
- Give a book talk to your team at one of the meetings.
- Have a conversation about the book with your coach(es) or Mrs. MacPherson, school librarian.
- Complete a question and answer sheet (found in the library near the Reading Olympics materials) and turn in to your coach(es) or Mrs. MacPherson.
- Complete a graphic organizer (found in the library near the Reading Olympics materials) with details from the book.
- Show-What-You-Know in some other way.
Students should be able to easily read four or more books before the spring competition. However, if you are reading a really long book, just talk to your coach(es) so that they know you are working towards a big goal.
Additional Information