What has novel balloons, conflict posters, narrative quilts and is READ all over? Dumbarton Middle School’s Strive for 25 kickoff celebration!

On Monday, October 10, by participating in various reading-oriented activities in their language arts classes, students began the yearlong goal of reading and summarizing at least 25 books by the end of the school year. To improve achievement for all students, the program is inspired by the Baltimore County Public Schools Blueprint for Progress.

At Dumbarton, STRIVE stands for “Success Through Reading is Visible Everywhere.” As teachers in every content areas sported stickers declaring that they, too, “FEED the NEED to READ,” the school showed true STRIVE spirit. Students summarized their favorite books and shared the summaries as they celebrated the joys of reading. Sixth graders created “novel balloons” or “soaring summaries” to display and share on their hallway. Seventh graders identified the characters, settings, plots, and themes of their favorite novels on quilt squares to create a massive literary quilt wall. Eighth graders identified important themes and conflicts as they created book jackets and posters for display.

And of course, everybody read.

Story and photo by Briget Koch, English Teacher and Good News Ambassador, Dumbarton Middle School