Middle Gate Students Patch Together New Reading Patterns

By Tanjua Damon

If you are not familiar with a genre patch, then you are out of the loop, particularly if you go to Middle Gate School.

What is a genre patch? It is the reward for students at the school who read five books in a particular area.

Many Middle Gate students stepped up to the reading challenge over the summer when they were asked to read for 20 minutes a day for 50 days. The program entitled GENRE (Generate Excitement Now, Read Everyday) got children to read. Over 1,000 patches were awarded to students who participated in the summer program.

Teachers at the school came up with the summer program idea. Over half the school participated in the program with an average of 31 books read per student.

 “Our goal is to encourage children to read every day, not only so that they become more fluent readers but so that they will want to read a variety of books for their own information or just for the fun of it,” Middle Gate Principal Judy Gallo said. “We also wanted to go beyond previous years’ programs that offered incentives based on the number of books read. We found that kids were focused more on how many books than on the subject matter.”

Now the reading initiative has taken off for the school year. Students are gearing up to get as many different badges as they possibly can by reading books in genres they like and by reading books in genres they are not sure if they like.

Lauren Busser, 10, has earned herself 15 badges in various genres from humor to poetry to science fiction to biographies. She describes herself as a read-a-holic.

“I basically experiment with all kinds of books,” Lauren said. “I really like books about animals and historical fiction.”

Teachers and parents are always encouraging children to read to better. Middle Gate student Gretchen Carey has heard the message loud and clear. She has achieved four badges so far.

“Our teacher always tells us writing helps your reading and reading helps your writing,” ten-year-old Gretchen said. “I love to read. I’m planning on getting another fantasy badge.”

Tom Mortensen admits the summer requirement to read for 50 days, 20 minutes each day was not something he thought would be easy, but the smile on the ten-year-old’s face tells all. He earned the Star Reader badge because he took on the challenge.

“Not a lot of people got that. I thought it was going to be hard to go so I did it,” Tom said. “I really like things that take place in the future and are adventurous.”

How often do you hear from children that reading is fun? Erik Dreher describes reading exactly that way.

“I thought it was fun. You could show off the badges to your friends,” he said. “They are cool badges. I like them and want to work for more.”

Nick Ciarelli is not too shy to mention that his parents and teachers simply want him to read, but Nick has no trouble with that. He has earned three badges and looks forward to earning more since it is not too hard to achieve.

“You take a slip, write down the books you have read, then have your parents sign it,” Nick said. “Then you go to Ms McGough [school media specialist] and she’ll give you a badge. You have to read five books per badge.”

Not only are books fun to read for these youngsters, but there are other benefits.

“It helps you learn more stuff,” Stefan Toi, 11, said. “Stuff you haven’t known before. My parents always told me it would help me with future assignments and everyday life.”

Although Kathleen Brown could not explain her love of reading, she did enjoy the summer challenge and the books she read. Her plan of attack was to play during the day and read by night.

“I love to read. I read at night,” she said describing why and how she read. “It really depends on what book you are reading whether you like it or not.”

“It might sound hard to imagine that a simple patch would generate much excitement. But I cannot tell you how enthusiastic and highly motivated the children are to earn more,” Ms Gallo said. “The bottom line here is that with some excitement at school and consistent support at home, children will want to read and will love to read.”