Klager & Riverside launch a Million Minute Reading Challenge

submitted by Julie Charney, principal of Riverside Intermediate and Klager Elementary Schools

During the COVID-19 shutdown, teachers are striving to stay engaged with their students and to help students engage in enrichment activities.  Luther C. Klager and Riverside Intermediate Schools have launched a Million Minute Reading Challenge to help students engage in at least 20 minutes of reading per day.  The goal is over a 6 week period to have students log in and document their minutes.  If each student participates and reads at least 20 minutes per day hitting the million-minute mark should be easy.  A link for the Million Minute Reading Challenge is available on Klager and Riverside’s websites in the latest newsletter.

This challenge correlates with research that states that if a child reads 20 minutes per day they are exposed to 1.8 million words per year.   They will have read for 851 hours by 6th grade and on standardized tests, they will likely score better than 90% of their peers.  This is a small way to keep kids engaged in learning during the shutdown.  The Manchester District Library and many other sources have free e-books.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.