Do something different and win £2,000 worth of reading materials for your school
Take up the 2008 National Year of Reading Autumn Challenge to schools.
Primary and secondary schools, are you ready to take the 2008 National Year of Reading (NYR) Autumn Challenge? Make the most of the cooler months of 2008 and develop reading for pleasure in your school by taking on our Challenge and you could be in with a chance of winning £2,000 worth of Oxford University Press reading materials for your school.
The Autumn Schools Challenge is being run by the 2008 National Year of Reading and supported by the National Literacy Trust. All prizes have been kindly donated by Oxford University Press.
What’s involved?
How to enter to win prizes
A raft of prizes to be won
Support materials from Reading Connects
Why not use the NYR monthly themes for inspiration?
Checklist for entering the NYR Autumn Challenge
Oxford University Press is a leading publisher of primary, secondary and further education resources including everybody's favourite reading programme Oxford Reading Tree; Read Write Inc. synthetic phonics; Ox-Box and of-course the world-renowned Oxford dictionaries. Oxford Children's Books publish a wide array of popular titles to keep children of all ages entertained for hours - from unforgettable classics to delightful picture books. Oxford University Press prides itself on producing titles which not only teach children how to read but also motivate them to want to read and keep on reading.
What’s involved?
When planning activity, make sure you promote wider types of reading materials, as well as fiction books. Recent research by the National Literacy Trust (Self-perception as readers, 2008) showed that outside of school pupils most enjoy magazines and on-screen reading, as well as fiction. Running sessions and activities which promote a wide range of reading materials is vital if we want all children and young people to enjoy reading. Most importantly, please involve the pupils themselves in the planning and delivery of activity.
How to enter to win prizes
When you have developed an idea, activity or project, write it up and add it to the NYR’s Wikireadia to enter the competition. The Wiki is worth a visit anyway, as it is another source of ideas in planning your reading activities. Entering an article on Wikireadia could not be easier. You just need to sign in, enter the title of your proposed article, type your article and click save to make it live. Also, make sure you start your article with the words "Autumn Challenge" so we know that you are submitting an entry to the competition. All entries must be submitted by 20th December 2008.
Find out what makes a good Wikireadia article before you make a start on yours here.
A raft of prizes to be won
At the end of term, a panel of judges from the National Literacy Trust, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), and the NYR team will judge all the entries. The primary and secondary school that have run the most innovative activity will each win £2,000 worth of reading materials. But, frankly, you all deserve rewards, so there will also be a spot prize of £500 for one primary and one secondary school picked at random from all entries that fulfil our entry requirements. So you’ve got nothing to lose by submitting a Wikireadia article!
Further support materials from Reading Connects
Reading Connects, a DCSF-funded initiative for schools delivered by the National Literacy Trust, has lots of practical ideas and resources (including NYR resources) for developing activity promoting reading for pleasure. Reading Connects supports schools in building whole-school reading communities and is free of charge to join. For more information visit www.readingconnects.org.uk.
Why not use the NYR monthly themes for inspiration?
See below for suggested practical activities for each of the remaining monthly themes, all promoting a wide breadth of reading materials. I'm sure you will have many more ideas.
September - you are what you read
October - word of mouth
November - screen reads
December - Write the future
September – you are what you read
How does reading make you feel? (primary and secondary)
How does reading make you feel? Ask pupils to write or draw how they think reading makes them feel and affects their life, whether it be happy, sad, fun, adventurous or a combination of all. You can download a supporting NYR resource for this activity from www.readingconnnects.org.uk.
Words and texts that changed your world (secondary schools)
Run a session where pupils discuss texts that have influenced them or changed their world. Look at why these texts were so influential.
Google and me (KS2 and secondary schools)
Encourage children and young people to discuss what Google means to them. Activities could include: looking yourself up on Google, looking at how you search for information, discussing how to create a positive online profile.
Family history project (primary and secondary)
Families are often interested in finding out about their own past. For a longer term project, organise a history detective quest, giving families the opportunity to explore their family history on the internet or in local archives. Run a storytelling session in school to give families the opportunity to recount what they have learnt to each other. There is a wealth of information on starting family history projects at www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory.
How advertising shapes our world (secondary)
Look at the adverts in magazines and newspapers and, as part of a reading club or a class session, discuss with pupils how they think adverts influence them.
Celebrating song lyrics (primary and secondary)
Encourage pupils to identify their favourite song lyrics and explain why they like them. Make a display of all the extracts somewhere prominent in the school. You could hold a whole-school quiz or a karaoke session event to celebrate the school community’s love of lyrics. Your pupils could enter the National Year of Reading's lyric writing competition (ages 13-18).
October – word of mouth
Practical ideas for developing peer-to-peer recommendation (primary and secondary)
The Reading Connects website has a wide range of practical ideas to give pupils the opportunity to recommend great reads to each other. Visit www.literacytrust.org.uk/readingconnects/pracpeer.html.
Storytelling traditions for Black History Month (primary and secondary)
Explore the tales and stories related to key events and figures in black history. Display these stories in school to raise the profile of Black History Month.
Stars read posters – developing reading role models for all pupils in the school (primary and secondary)
RED Culture have teamed up with the National Literacy Trust to produce an eye-catching set of posters featuring reading role models from black and minority ethnic communities. Why not display these posters in school and then promote their reading messages around school. Visit www.starreads.org.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Wrestlemania 25 Reading Challenge (primary and secondary)
The WWE and Reading Champions, a National Literacy Trust project, are running their reading challenge again this term. To enter pupils must persuade a wrestler to read their favourite book. Why not ask pupils to present their entries first of all to other pupils and explain why they have chosen their titles. For more information visit www.readingchampions.org.uk.
Poetry slam (primary and secondary)
Hold a poetry slam on National Poetry Day, Thursday 9 October 2008. This involves pupils reciting their own poems, lyrics, riddles or rhymes. Get the pupils to vote for their favourite performance.
National Children’s Book Week (primary)
Hold a day during National Children’s Book Week when everyone in the school dresses up as their favourite book character. Award prizes to children with the most imaginative costumes.
“Do something different in libraries” (primary and secondary)
During the last two weeks in October, public libraries will be running lots of fun and creative activities, encouraging children and young people to read for pleasure. Why not link up with your local library and see if you can work collaboratively on organising and delivering activity during this period.
November – screen reads
Film vs the book debate (primary and secondary)
The book vs the film is a fun way for pupils to compare and review a book and the film that was made from that book. Reading Connects has produced a downloadable resource to accompany this activity. Visit www.literacytrust.org.uk/readingconnects/resourcesnyr.html.
Reading zone (primary and secondary)
Does your school have a school website? If it does, why not develop a reading zone area as part of the website? In school you will probably have some pupils who have the skill to develop some fun interactive elements on the website, including games, puzzles, as well as book reviews and reading recommendations.
Groupthing.org (secondary)
Groupthing, which goes live in November, is a new website developed by The Reading Agency. It gives teenagers the tools and space to be creative about reading online. They can upload images, create new cover art, storyboard favourite animations and write lyrics. They can form groups and clusters, chat to authors and blog, slam and download serials on their phones. Why not encourage students to form their own group on the website. Students can join for free. Visit www.groupthing.org.
December – write the future
New Year reading resolutions (primary and secondary)
What would pupils like to read in 2009? Do they have any interests they would like to explore further? My 2009 reading resolutions is a perfect way of tying in the end of the year with the season’s activities and getting pupils to pledge to read more in 2009. Reading Connects has produced a resource to accompany this activity. Visit www.literacytrust.org.uk/readingconnects/resourcesnyr.html.
Reading into the future (primary and secondary)
Develop a reading display featuring books, short stories, magazine and newspaper articles and graphic novels set in the future. For example authors, Ray Bradbury and Aidan Chambers work well in secondary schools. Dr Who is a popular hook for many primary and secondary school pupils.
Text speak in the future (KS2 and secondary)
Text speak evolves very quickly. Get children and young people to discuss current and potential future trends for texting. Can they think of some new words or abbreviations? With older students this might be a good warm-up for a discussion about the impact of text speak on communication in society.
Reading and writing in the future (primary and secondary)
How we communicate, including how we read and write, has changed greatly over the last 15 years. Discuss what has changed and challenge the pupils to describe what communication will be like in ten years’ time. You may want to keep the most interesting ideas and see if they turn out to be accurate.
Checklist for the 2008 National Year of Reading Autumn Challenge for Schools – what are we looking for?
All submitted entries on Wikireadia will be assessed for their success in the following elements
- Celebrating/exploring broader forms of reading
- Involving students in the creation of the activity
- The outcomes of the project against expectations
All entries must be received by the 20 December 2008.
The judge's decision is final.
There are no cash alternatives to prizes.
Winners may be asked to take part in publicity in connection with the Autumn Challenge.
Winning entries will be informed, and results published at www.yearofreading.org.uk, in early 2009.
top
