At KAI, we want all of our students to become millionaires. Millionaires in reading, that is! Statistics consistently show that reading volume matters - for students' fluency, comprehension, success in school, and overall enjoyment of reading. The more you read, the more you know. Every Innovator has a goal of reading one million words a year.

We do several things to support our students on the road to one million words:

• Classroom Libraries - We work hard to stock our classroom libraries with "just right" books. Our students have a variety of interests and reading levels, and it's vital that students have books that help them fall in love with reading. 

• Monthly SWAG (Students Who Achieve Goals) Parties - Every month students who reach their monthly goal for reading get to attend a celebration. These celebrations range from video game trucks, ice skating trips (in L.A), house parties, movie nights etc.

• Perseverance Celebrations - Last year we wanted to make sure all students got rewarded for their hard work. We held a special celebration for students who were struggling in reading but worked incredibly hard both increase their reading level and meet their monthly word goals. That group of student got a special trip to Sky Zone. 

• Reading Benchmark Rewards - At every major benchmark on their way to five million we give our students a prize. As students read more and more, the value of the prizes increase. When students get to a million, they get a shirt commemorating their accomplishment. When a student gets to five million, they get their own Kindle. 

• End of the Year Field trips - We also do a top ten contest. Each grade level keeps track of their top ten readers and at the end of the year we take those readers to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

As you can see, we enjoy celebrating and encouraging our students's hard work. However, as our school grows, we have less money to spend on these events and prizes. Our budget for reading incentives has been cut significantly. With your help you will be able drastically increase the chances that ALL students will have a positive experience. Your money could help fund a video game bus OR take our 5th grade team ice skating OR you could even help take our "Top Ten" readers to Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Anything you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

The KAI 5th Grade Team

For more information on the importance of reading volume, please check out these wesbites:

• http://edublog.scholastic.com/post/what-research-says-reading-volume#
• https://www.engageny.org/resource/the-importance-of-increasing-students-volume-of-reading
• http://balancedreading.com/Scholastic_reading_facts.pdf
• http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1053794.pdf

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