Reading Rodeo kicks off at Langston Elem.

The Langston Elementary School Stallions have created a specialized reading program for their school, and they’re calling it the Reading Rodeo.

The school originally tried a different reading program, but it didn’t work for its students, said Media Specialist Melissa Lane.

“We decided to form a team and create our own reading program. There are three parts: The first is a reading incentive with a reading log, and after a certain time period, students turn it in and get a reward. We also have a book of the month where a parent can donate a book to the student’s class, and the last part, which will start in January, is book clubs,” she said.

A group of 12 educators got together and started tossing around ideas to make reading more exciting and fun for the kids, Lane said. Sara Dean, an ESOL teacher at the school, had the idea of reading clubs, and then the rest of the group took that idea and started building off of it to create the program the school has decided to implement.

“I believe having students in groups to do reading would improve reading and encourage reluctant readers to pick up a book,” Lane said. “I’m

hoping it will improve reading levels as well.”

Lane said that many children don’t know exactly what they’re interested in, so teachers did surveys with their classrooms to gauge interest in different topics. Kindergarten through second grade students will do the book clubs with their peers while third- through fifth-graders will mingle with one another in their clubs.

“We are grouping according to interest, not reading level. We formed groups based on those sheets, and we also had a place where you put your reading level. It’s not based on that, but we did it so we could modify for students who need extra help,” Lane said.

The book clubs will be held Friday mornings in which the school will go on a modified schedule. The school-wide event will take place at the same time for all students.

Lane said for the third through fifth grades, almost all of the adults in the school have been enlisted to help with the book clubs.

“We’re pulling pretty much everybody that we can, all special teachers — PE, music, art, some of our administration, our councilor and any staff that is support staff,” Lane said. “They’ve all gone through an understanding of what it is and what they’re doing. We are doing a survey for teachers to fill out and all adults to let us know what their interests are, but the main key is for the students, so they may or may not get their choice.”

Lane said the main goal is to instill a love for reading, and even if that means some adults may have to read books they may not enjoy, they will do that for the students.

The groups to which students are assigned will remain the same for the rest of the school year, and while this school year only has the third and fourth nine weeks left, the next school year will start with the book clubs immediately.

To announce the new book clubs to students, the school held two separate pep rallies — one for the kindergarten through second-graders and the second for the third- through fifth-graders. The pep rally included cheerleaders, football players and band members from Perry High School and an encouragement to read from a student from each high school group as well as Lane, Principal Dr. Elgin Mayfield and the student body president.

“I hope that it will encourage kids to read. If the program isn’t instilling a love for reading, it’s no good,” Lane said. “Adults will choose good books for them to read, and it may be more meaningful for us as adults. I’ll get more joy out of it than our kids will.”

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