To tie in with World Book Day celebrations, staff at Longbenton Community College arranged an interesting-sounding activity. Drop Everything And Read!
Students were told that at some point during the week, a bell would ring, as a signal for both students and teachers to drop everything they were doing, pick up their books and start reading! Loads of students really enjoyed it – so much, in fact, that many classes carried on reading past the bell telling them to stop!
School librarian Mrs Roberts explained the importance of reading initiatives such as DEAR, “Reading is such an important skill. We aim to foster an environment where reading becomes an everyday part of school life.”
Year 7 student, Mathew Brown, told us about why he enjoyed DEAR, “I enjoyed drop everything and read because I was reading a book I really enjoyed. Even though at first I liked the novelty of it, I started really enjoying my book and that’s why I didn’t want to stop!”
We also interviewed Joseph Bingham, who said, “I really enjoyed DEAR because I love reading and it was relaxing and fun.”
Finally, we asked Chloe Cowley, in year 8, why she thought DEAR was fun. She said, “I liked DEAR because a) I love reading and b) I found that just sitting a reading for a while was really relaxing.”
Although reading is definitely enjoyable, important skills such as independent thought, creativity, spelling and vocabulary can also be supported and developed by reading regularly. These skills are also developed through regular reading in form time and as homework in English, too.
As you can see, Drop Everything and Read was very successful, and has encouraged many students read more for pleasure! We look forward to the next DEAR!