Last week, Strayer Middle School hosted the Bucks County Intermediate Unit Reading Olympics. The “games” hosted 12 teams from across Upper Bucks County, including Strayer's "Fiction Addiction" and Sixth Grade Center's "Story Squad."
What is the Reading Olympics?
The Reading Olympics is a program designed to cultivate teamwork, creative discussion, and the joy of reading. Teams of 8-16 students worked together over several months to learn the ins and outs of 25 titles! The program culminated this week with an evening celebration, where teams answered questions in a three-round competition about the books they’ve read, and all participants were rewarded for their amazing efforts.
How Did Our Teams Prepare?
Students began meeting with their coaches—Mr. Michael Murphy of Strayer and Mrs. Julie DiGiacomo of the Sixth Grade Center—in November. Tasked with reading and knowing the details of 25 books, the teams divided and conquered. Each student read a few on the list, and some read almost all! Then, they reviewed, discussed, and quizzed each other, answering questions in the 20-second time frame used in the competition. Students practiced Blookets, Gimkits, Kahoot!, Quizizz, and Quizlet to prepare. As each finished reading a book, they would share a summary of the story, a rating of the book, and write one question about the book. Students then used a Google Sheet to stay organized and ensure each book was read by at least two of their teammates.
Both teams represented the QCSD well! They were positive, encouraging, and respectful to the judges and are looking forward to next year’s competition and new books to read.