What is the Racine Reads: Dream Big! program?
Racine Reads: Dream Big! is a community-based initiative designed to encourage K-5 students in the Racine Unified School District, and parochial and private schools in the Racine area to read one million books in the 2011-2012
school year.
How did you come up with up with one million books as a goal?
It’s a big goal, but we wanted to set the bar high to get the attention of students, teachers, parents, and the entire community.
How many books is that per child?
There are more than 10,000 children in grades K-5 in Racine’s parochial, private, and public schools. So if you do the math, it’s about 100 books per child! But don’t worry. We are going to help them reach those numbers.
How will we reach the goal of reading one million books?
We are all going to have to work together to reach this goal. We have activities and events planned throughout the entire school year. In the coming months we will be bringing authors and community volunteers in to meet and read to children. One book read aloud to a class of 30 students qualifies as 30 books read.
Who are the program partners?
Program partners include the City of Racine, Cops ‘N Kids, Family Literacy Council, Girls Inc. of Racine, Racine Civic Centre, Racine Literacy Council, Racine Public Library, Racine Public, Parochial, and Private Schools, and SC Johnson.
How do I register my classroom for participation?
Visit www.racinereads.org and click on “register.” Create a user name and password. Your request will be forwarded to the program administrator (Racine Public Library) for approval. You will receive a confirmation email, with a link to start logging books. Each time you log in, you will be able to see totals for your classroom and for the school. Principals can also register on the Racine Reads website, and will have the ability to view book totals for each classroom in their school, and for the entire school.
What are the program dates?
The official launch of Racine Reads: Dream Big! was October 1, 2011. Reading reinforcement messages continued during the first week of October with performances of the Max & Ruby Bunny Party and Charlotte’s Web. Your classrooms received credit for the books read during those performances, which were logged by the program administrator (Racine Public Library). The program runs through the end of May 2012.
Can classrooms receive credit for books read prior to October 1?
Yes. While the official launch of the program was October 1, 2o11, you can log the number of books your students have read since the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.
Which schools are eligible to participate?
The Racine Reads: Dream Big! program is for K-5 students in the Racine area. Visit our website for a complete list of eligible schools.
How do I log books?
Go to www.racinereads.org and sign in by entering your username and password. If you forget your password, the system will prompt you to reset your password. Enter the number of books your students have read each week. The system will automatically tally the cumulative number of books read.
How often should I log books?
We recommend that you log books weekly to ensure you are reaching your milestones at the right pace.
How will you identify the winning school?
Based on the data teachers enter in the system, the program administrator will determine which school reads the most books per capita giving all schools an equal chance to win the school library makeover.
Who will track the number of books read at my school?
Principals will receive a school record that can be used to post the total number of books read by the school using the data teachers enter in the system. Your principal will be able to log in and view classroom and school progress. It is important to reach the 5,000 books number because it qualifies the school and classrooms for many incentives.
What are the program incentives for classrooms?
Classrooms can win everything from pizza parties to iPads. The winning school will win a school library makeover valued at $100,000. See the Program Incentives document for more details.
How can we ensure program integrity?
This is an honors-based program. We are relying on parents to help students complete reading records, and teachers to accurately record data in the system.
How will my classroom be notified once eligible to receive an incentive award?
The program administrator is automatically notified when a classroom reaches a key milestone. Teachers will receive an email with instructions on how to receive a classroom prize.
What other ways can I motivate students to read?
We have provided a number of tools in this kit to help you keep students motivated. Visit us at www.racinereads.org, or www.facebook.com/racinereads for new ideas and a calendar of events.
Can’t find the answer to your question?
Contact Darcy Mohr at the Racine Public Library
racinereads@racinelibrary.info
(262) 636-9247
