Swigert Summer Reading Challenge

How does it work?

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Sign up.

Complete the form below to sign up to participate. Your student should set a goal for the total number of hours to read over the summer. Parents, pick a pledge amount/hour your child reads to donate at the end of the summer for completed reading hours. **Donations are encouraged but not required to participate in the program. All participants receive recognition and a goody bag regardless of donation.

Swigert Summer Reading Challenge Sign Up

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Track your reading.

This year we have two ways to track your reading. Select whichever one works best for your child. Only one option per child.

  1. Option 1: Print out the reading log below to help record your progress. We recommend you laminate it and keep it in a place where your child will see it and remember to record their hours. At the end of Reading Challenge, submit your student’s hours in the Submission form.

  2. Option 2: Print out a BINGO board. We recommend you laminate it and keep it in a place where your child will see it to help motivate them. At the end of Reading Challenge, submit your student’s number of BINGOs in the Submission form.

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Win cool prizes.

All participants will receive a prize bag and are invited to attend a special Reading Celebration assembly in the fall. There will be a raffle drawing for prizes like a VIP Book Fair experience, Kindle Paperwhite, gifts cards, and class pizza/Popsicle parties!

Summer Reading Hours Submission (at the completion of the challenge)

Swigert Summer Reading Challenge Details

Objective:  To help motivate students to read over the summer while also raising money to support the school. 

Why a reading challenge? It is common for students to have some loss of their knowledge and learning skills over the summer, something commonly called the “summer slide”. Programs like this have been proven to help students retain more of their skills over the summer and start the school year better prepared for learning at the next grade level. 

Why fundraising? With anticipated budget shortfalls due to limited DPS funding, additional fundraising is necessary. By combining student reading with pledge donations, we hope to continue to fund the programs we value so strongly at Swigert like IB and support for paraprofessionals. **Please note that pledge donations are encouraged but not required to participate in the reading challenge. 

When: The program runs from the first day of summer to the last day of summer. 

How it works:  Students/parents will complete the form above and commit to the number of hours the student will read or BINGOs they will complete over the summer. For those tracking minutes, a goal of 40 hours would average to 30 minutes a day of reading. Help your student pick a goal that is challenging but attainable. Families will have the option to pledge a dollar amount to donate to the school in recognition of their student’s efforts. For example, if your child commits to reading 40 hours over the summer and you pledge to donate $1 per hour of reading, you would donate a total of $40. If your child commits to getting 3 BINGOs and you pledge $5 per BINGO, you would donate $15. Get creative with who can help support your student with a pledge. This is a great opportunity for grandparents and friends to get involved! 

The student reading log can be printed here: Summer Reading Log and the BINGO card can be printed here: Summer Reading BINGO card. Students should record their minutes read each day and total the hours for each month. At the end of the summer, parents complete the Submission form above.

Prizes: For each 10 hours spent reading or for every completed BINGO, your student will receive one raffle prize entry. For example, if your student reads 50 hours total over the summer, they will receive 5 raffle entries. 3 BINGOs would equal 3 raffle tickets. A BINGO Blackout is worth 12 tickets! There is no limit to the number of entries your child can have. Raffle drawing and recognition for all participants will happen during a special assembly at school in the fall. Raffle prizes will include: VIP Book Fair Experience, Kindle Paperwhite e-reader, $50 Amazon gift card, $50 GameStop gift card, $50 Tattered Cover gift card, a class pizza party, a class popsicle party, and the opportunity to throw a pie in Mr. Fisher’s face! All participants will receive a certificate of recognition and a goody bag. 

Resources for books: 

Have questions? Email SwigertSummerReadingChallenge@gmail.com