Alice Harte second and third graders kicked off the Read to the Final Four citywide competition on Thursday with some very special guests.
Cheerleaders and female basketball players from Tulane University and University of New Orleans joined the students for a pep rally in the gym before engaging them in some basketball activities and classroom reading time.
Second and third graders at all InspireNOLA schools will participate in the challenge.
Read to the Final Four focuses on increasing literacy in second and third graders by incentivizing students and teachers to log reading times. Each week, schools will face off in a March Madness bracket to see who has the most logged time, until the Final Four winners are identified.
“The hope is that students find reading enjoyable and meaningful,” said Dimitra Johnson, InspireNOLA Charter Schools’ Network ELA Content Specialist and event co-organizer. “The more our scholars are reading, the higher the probability that they will improve their ability to retain information read, increase their ability to transfer information, increase their ability to comprehend information, and overall improve their reading performance.”
The competition coincides with the Men’s Final Four tournament in New Orleans.
Johnson said she hopes students get excited about improving their reading skills through the competition.
“Improving reading and literacy abilities is much like being great at a sport,” she said. “It will take practice and self-discipline.”