By Michael O’Brien
Special to the Voice
May V. Carrigan Intermediate School won 3rd-place — in the nation — in The 2022 Great Reading Games hosted by Learning Ally. Students at Carrigan achieved a score of 1,881,011 with a total of 165,504 pages read.
“I am so proud of our school and our students for such an outstanding accomplishment in such a challenging school year,” said Jaclyn Cincotta, Carrigan’s Reading Consultant. “Keep up the great work Carrigan!”
Learning Ally is a free reading app/program that allows students to download and listen to age-appropriate texts. It has been shown to be effective for students who otherwise don’t have access to grade level literature due to a reading disability (dyslexia) or other impairment. It has helped to keep all of Carrigan’s 5th-and 6th-graders engaged in more reading.
Carrigan began The Great Reading Games challenge at the end of January and competed nationwide with other schools in its bracket [middle school]. The classroom teachers sent home flyers to families with usernames and passwords and hyped up the challenge with students in their class, encouraging them to use the program in school and add books to their bookshelves. Teachers made Learning Ally an option for “listen to reading” station during Daily 5.
Below is a breakdown of how students earned points:
~~ 100 points for every day a student read 20 minutes on a weekday;
~~ 50 points for every day a student read 20 minutes on a Saturday or Sunday;
~~ 10 points for every page read;
~~ 1 point for every student you have reading