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Reading in Aurora, Colorado. Montview Elementary School's students in Aurora, Colorado, of whom three-quarters receive free or reduced-price lunch, flourish in the Balanced Literacy Program, a year-round schoolwide program. Although transiency, poverty, and the number of LEP students have increased over the past two years, Montview's program has allowed students to achieve tremendous success in reading, writing, spelling, listening and speaking. During daily two-hour blocks of time, students schedule literacy activities, such as spelling, peer revision of writing samples, paired reading, cross-grade-level reading buddies, sharing published works, spelling, and listening to teacher readings. Montview has received support from state colleges and universities as well as the local community. Family literacy nights are held regularly, and parents are given learning activities to use at home. "Book It" and "October Read Aloud" further encourage reading as does a book giveaway, organized by senior citizens to help build home libraries. Achievement for all students is increasing, with 83 percent of Title I students reaching proficient levels in reading and 92 percent in math.
Reading in Rockford, Illinois. The City of Rockford and the Rockford Public Schools have signed on to the President's "Call to Action for American Education" and will focus on improving the reading skills of elementary school students. They have launched a campaign to organize more than 1,000 volunteers and pair them with children to spend the summer reading. The Rockford effort, which is built around the America Reads Challenge and it companion summer program, READ*WRITE*NOW!, will match students in grades 1-3 who are not reading at their grade level with an adult tutor who will read with them for one hour, one day a week, at specific school libraries or branches of the Rockford's public libraries. Participating students also will be asked to read 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, and to obtain and use a library card.
