Annual Reading Challenge – 2022 #TLchat

We’re already a month into 2022 but I finally got our annual reading challenge for the year set up. This is something I do for staff every year. Students of course are more than welcome to participate but I have found that staff are the ones that really engage with it.

2022 Ridgemont HS Reading Challenge

Better late than never, right?
Starting in 2017, each year, we have created a Ridgemont reading challenge of 12 books in 12 months. Since Ms. Wheeler didn’t get this out until February, we’re modifying this year to be 11 books in 11 months.
Building on the equity work we’ve been doing in our own lives, and professionally here at school, I’ve chosen to focus on a variety of author backgrounds. Some might be trickier to find than our usual fare. But the effort will be worth it I hope.
Wheeler will endeavour to make a list of books we have in our library that fit the various criteria to help you out.
Pro tip: some folks like to write the name of each book right on their bookmark to help keep track.
We hope you’ll consider participating in reading some books that fit the list, even if you don’t think you’ll complete the challenge.

The list for this year is as follows:

A book …

• from the school library
• by an Indigenous author
• by a Muslim author
• by a Syrian author
• translated from arabic
• by a Black author
• by an LGBTQ+ author
• by a Somalian author
• by a Nepalese author
• by a neuro-divergent author
• featuring a prominent character with a physical disability

I make a bookmark (you can see both sides of it in the above image) to put in each staff member’s mailbox. I’m always looking for suggestions of criteria I can use to build next year’s challenge. Have a good idea? Let me know in the comments below!

– Laura Wheeler (Teacher @ Ridgemont High School, OCDSB; Ottawa, ON)

RHS Reading Challenge Bookmarks #TLchat

Short & sweet.

As promised, here are the bookmarks I made to hand out to staff for our 2021 Reading Challenge now that we are back in the building.

The file is here in case you would like to copy & edit for your use.

– Laura Wheeler (Teacher @ Ridgemont High School, OCDSB; Ottawa, ON)

Annual Reading Challenge List – 2021 #TLchat

Our 5th annual Reading Challenge is ready to go! I was a bit late with it this year as I somehow missed migrating the task forward to my January to-do list in my Bullet Journal. But a colleague that participates each year reached out to ask if it was coming back which jolted me into action!

It’s usually just staff that participate, but even if students don’t complete the challenge I hope it gives them some ideas of what they could read this year. I have some friends and colleagues that have expressed an interest in reading more lately so perhaps this list can be the motivation to do so for them.

Once we’re back at school and I can hand them out I’ll make the bookmark version of the list to give out to folks. They get laminated to last. I noticed many staff write the title of the book they read next to each challenge so I’ll try to incorporate a space explicitly for that into this year’s bookmark.

What’s the prize? The glory of reading 12 books 🙂
I share out the accomplishment of each challenger on our school conference so we can all cheer them on.

What are your reading goals for this year?

The list in text form:

Check off after you have read a book that is …

1. a prequel or a sequel
2. in the Fantasy genre
3. by an author from the continent of Africa
4. in audiobook format (you must listen to the audiobook version) Ottawa public library offers audiobooks you can download to your phone Libro.fm has a program that sends educators free audiobooks each month & you can listen using their app on your phone: https://libro.fm/alc-program 
5. a cookbook; read it cover to cover
6. about a hobby (non-fiction)
7. manga
8. written FROM a TV show or movie TV shows made into books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_series_made_into_books movies made into books: https://onedio.co/content/22-popular-movies-that-were-turned-into-books-for-some-reason-12834
9. written between 1900-1950
10. one you are re-reading
11. by a Canadian author
12. non-fiction about anti-racism

– Laura Wheeler (Teacher @ Ridgemont High School, OCDSB; Ottawa, ON)

Annual Reading Challenge – 12 Books in 12 Months

In 2017, I stumbled across the idea of a book reading challenge – formatted as a bookmark. I no longer remember where it came from, where I heard about it or how much I adapted that first list:

But I sent it along to our teacher-librarian and she liked the idea too. So she printed them up, laminated them & distributed to interested staff & students. She’s kept it up each year, with a new list each time:

This semester we are sharing the teacher-librarian role as I transition into it & she back to the classroom. So it was my turn to create the new list for the 2020 reading challenge. Here’s what I came up with (with thanks to folks on Twitter & my colleagues for their suggestions):

I’ve printed the bookmarks up on coloured paper, added a short poem about reading to the back, laminated them & have put them out for teachers & staff alike to grab one.

Do you have suggestions for my 2021 list of challenges? Leave them in the comments below!

As always, if you’d like to take the file & edit the bookmarks for your own use, here they are.

– Laura Wheeler (Teacher @ Ridgemont High School, OCDSB; Ottawa, ON)