Read all about it – students read 10 million words in five months

A GROUP of students in St Aidan’s Community School are crafting their very own epic story by reading 10,000,000 words in the past five months.

The mammoth word count was reached by first and second year students who engaged in the Accelerated Reader programme in the Brookfield school.

Running in St Aidan’s for the past four years, Accelerated Reader aims to improve the literacy and reading age of students, motivating them to read independently and for fun.

Students engaging in the programme spend one hour each week in the school library, where they choose a book independently to read.

Books chosen by students are logged onto the Accelerated Reader programme, which monitors word count and also quizzes students on their comprehension when they’re finished each book.

In order to successfully reach 10,000,000 words and progress, a 90 per cent pass rate on quizzes is required, with students passing 2,248 book quizzes in the past five months.

Teacher Shane Casey with students choosing books to read in the school library

English teacher Shane Casey, who co-ordinates Accelerated Reader in St Aidan’s CS with invaluable support from JCSP librarian Martina Flynn, congratulated students on their achievement.

“We’re all so proud of the students, it’s such a big deal, and we held an event for them in the school [last Friday],” Mr Casey said.

“This is the highest word count we’ve had at this stage.

“Literacy and reading are so important…and students are really engaging.”

He added: “Accelerated Reader is great for engaging young people and it also helps the reluctant reader due to the quiz element, it’s a bit of fun.

“There’s also been a massive increase in young people’s reading ages.”

Author Alan Nolan with students Kyle, Joel and Carla

On Friday, February 4, the achievements of students were celebrated through an event in the library.

The event was attended by author Alan Nolan, whose books, which are being read by students, include Animal Crackers and Conor’s Caveman.

Alan Nolan is also working with a team of first year students on a project that involves writing a novel.

According to Mr Casey, the students are reading so much, and learning what makes a good story, that writing their own novel is a perfect fit.

“We’re trying to create readers for life,” Mr Casey said.

First year student Kyle Boylan Forrester is part of the Accelerated Reader programme in St Aidan’s CS.

Commenting on the programme, Kyle said: “Accelerated Reader is a programme we use to motivate students to read more.

“It allows us to gain more knowledge from the amount of books we are reading, and it’s been very beneficial to me”.

Mr Casey also wished to highlight the support Accelerated Reader receives from all English teachers in the school, and Principal Kevin Shortall.