Host an Epic Reading Marathon!

Reading Marathon is the equivalent to Rex Manning Day. If you weren’t a teen in the 90s, or you’ve never seen Empire Records,  it simply means that it’s the VERY BEST DAY OF THE YEAR and should be highly anticipated and celebrated with great fanfare and flourish!

Here are some tips and ideas to make your Reading Marathon Day a memorable one for the ages:

•Start building anticipation weeks ahead of time. Put it on the calendar and draw a giant heart around it. Trickle bits of information as the weeks go on so that students are dying to know more about it.

•Send a letter to parents. Decide if you want to welcome guest readers and/or permit e-readers and edit letter accordingly.

•Allow students to start planning their Reading Forts and brainstorming materials a few days ahead of time.

•If desired, line up guest readers to come in periodically during the day. These could be parents, school staff, or members of the community. Likewise, invite other adults (or perhaps younger classes!) to bring a book and find a spot in the room to read independently alongside your students. It’s also fun to turn guest readers into mystery readers and provide clues for students to guess who is coming.

•Be a reading role model! Make a fuss about all the awesome books you can’t wait to plop down and read yourself during Reading Marathon.

•Choose a handful of favorite picture books, jokes, or funny poetry to share with students at various points throughout the day to break up any monotony.

•Because students will want to spend all day fiddling with their reading forts, Fort Readjustment Times (or FRTs) are built into the Reading Marathon schedule.

Lay the ground rules at the beginning of the day. Here are some possible items to go over before starting:

When forts may be adjusted (my students may only adjust during FRTs and it’s hands-off at all other times, even if they collapse!)

Reminder that the teacher must be able to see into students’ forts

Reminder that students are responsible for returning furniture and other materials to their original location at the end of the day.

Independent reading time expectations

Buddy reading time expectations

Flashlight expectations for reading in the dark

Reminder of the ULTIMATE GOAL of the day: To spend as many minutes as possible reading and talking about BOOKS.

Optional treats to pass out along with “I Survived Reading Marathon” certificates:

yours in reading,
rawley