Congratulations to reading teams @ Highland Park, Concord

April 4, 2008 5:53 pm
|    Comments Off on Congratulations to reading teams @ Highland Park, Concord
 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Seattle Public Library managers just announced that eight teams of fourth- and fifth-graders citywide have made it to the finals of the 2008 Global Reading Challenge, an event set for 7 pm April 22 at the downtown library. Among those eight teams are the “Flaming Reader Raiders” of Highland Park Elementary School and the “Concord Cougars” from Concord Elementary. Here’s the full announcement:

Eight teams of fourth- and fifth- graders from Seattle Public Schools will compete for the top spot in Seattle at the city final of the 2008 Global Reading Challenge at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave. , Microsoft Auditorium, Level 1.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m. Parking in the Central Library garage will be available for a special event rate of $5.

The winning team from the city final will go on to face the top teams from Kalamazoo , Mich. and Frasier Valley, British Columbia and Coquitlam, British Columbia at 10 a.m. Friday, May 9 in the Video Conference Final at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 Third Ave. S. in Seattle.

The eight top teams in Seattle are “The Winners” from Bailey Gatzert Elementary School, “Concord Cougars” from Concord Elementary School, “The Penguin People” from Green Lake Elementary School, “Half ‘n Half Hansons” from John Hay Elementary School, “The Page Masters” from Kimball Elementary School, “Flaming Reading Raiders” from Highland Park Elementary School, “Super Sonic Global Readers” from Stevens Elementary School and “The Fast and Furious Readers” from Van Asselt Elementary School.

More than 2,000 fourth- and fifth- graders from 40 Seattle Public Schools studied 10 books (see page 2 for list of books) to prepare for Global Reading Challenge. The annual contest, now in its 13th year, is sponsored by The Seattle Public Library and Kalamazoo Public Library in cooperation with their local public school systems.

Mary Palmer, children’s librarian at The Seattle Public Library, said the Global Reading Challenge is modeled after a former weekly Chicago radio show that tested children’s knowledge of books. On the radio program, aired more than 60 years ago, questions about characters, plots and settings were answered by teams representing different public elementary schools.

According to Global Reading Challenge rules, questions are read and repeated once. Teams have 30 seconds to write down the answer to a question.

“The purpose of the Global Reading Challenge is to promote the love of reading and to have fun,” Palmer said. “This program introduces children to a wide variety of literature and multicultural reading materials and provides a recreational outlet for readers. It makes it possible for students of all reading levels to participate in a public library activity that promotes reading as a pleasurable lifelong experience.”

2008 Global Reading Challenge titles

* “The Year of the Dog” by Grace Lin
* “How Tía Lola Came to (Visit) Stay” by Julia Alvarez
* “Half and Half” by Lensey Namioka
* “A Single Shard” by Linda Sue Park
* “Chasing Vermeer” by Blue Balliett
* “Hannah West in the Center of the Universe” by Linda Johns
* “Dave at Night” by Gail Carson Levine
* “The Warriors” by Joseph Bruchac
* “Everything on a Waffle” by Polly Horvath
* “The Liberation of Gabriel King” by K.L. Going

Looking for more info on Concord or Highland Park, or any other West Seattle school? Check the links on the WSB Schools page!

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