22 West Students Complete Reading Challenge

You may have noticed West Elementary students with their noses in a book this school year. That’s because West Academic Interventionist Emily Schaefer challenged students to read 1,000 minutes on their own time, and 22 students did just that!

“Fluency is one of the five foundational reading skills that is essential to becoming a successful reader,” Schaefer said. “Fluency is accurate reading at an appropriate rate. When students read fluently, they better connect to ideas and comprehend information in the text. Not only does fluency help develop comprehension, but it also boosts confidence and exposes students to a larger variety of rich vocabulary.”

Participating students read a total of 34,065 minutes total on their own time. They not only discovered some good books along the way, but increased their fluency rate as well. 

Schaefer said third graders who completed the challenge increased their fluency rate by over 30 words per minute over the course of the year. In fourth grade, students who completed the challenge increased their fluency rate by 20 words per minute.

“Fluent readers can cover more text, which results in significant improvements in reading vocabulary. Fluent students spend more time reading to learn vs learning to read,” she said. “Fluent students connect emotionally with the characters and their experiences, making reading more enjoyable. In the end, the hope is that our students in Ozark become lifelong readers!”

Schaefer said she plans to offer the Reading Challenge to West students again next year.