Science Reading Challenge

This could be a whole year group, one class or groups within a class, a science or book club.

This could be the school library, local library (the Dewey Decimal Library classification number for science books is 500), children’s books from home, the Royal Society’s Young People’s Book Prize.

These websites provide lists of excellent science books:

• Young People’s Book Prize
• Teaching science through stories

Bookmarks, passports and certificates could be used and can be downloaded from RESOURCES.

You could choose a theme such as astronomy, the environment, electricity, etc., but this is not necessary. Indeed, children may respond enthusiastically if they are free to pursue science topics of interest to them personally.

The purpose of The Launch is to catch the children’s interest and get them excited about the reading challenge to follow. The focus should be to make a connection to reading science books. For example, if you start with a science show, ask the demonstrator to refer to science books in the presentation. Possible launch events could be: Wacky Science Day, Science Show, visiting scientist, science-related story-time, science-themed dressing-up day, science treasure hunt, an educational visit to a science-related site. More details of these and others can be downloaded from RESOURCES. Many schools take advantage of British Science Week or World Book Day to launch their science reading challenge. It is good at this stage to introduce children and parents to the breadth of what is available on your challenge. You could invite the press to your launch event.

It is good to have a time-limit and a planned final event to celebrate science reading.

Passports for the challenges can be given out to the pupils to record their science reading and you may want to offer stickers for specified activities as well as reading a book. Stickers could be awarded for the successful participation in the activity and also for reading the book. An example of this is, having decided to award 8 stickers: children are encouraged to read 4 science books (1 sticker awarded for each book read), children select their favourite book and working with classmates who also enjoyed that book, they produce a video to ‘advertise’ that book to other classes (4 stickers awarded).

You could use a science-themed class display, for example the number of stars in the sky, the temperature on a thermometer.

Examples could be: fascinating fact-finders, science quizzes and games, practical science activities and investigations, drama and role-play, art and craft (including paper engineering), pupil book presentations, reading buddies. More examples and details can be downloaded from RESOURCES.

Remember, some of the activities you may plan will require risk assessments to be undertaken in advance. School policy and practice will apply to ICT-related activities including video production.

Children who are reading science books and engage in related activities should be praised for their achievements. Encourage those who have done so to continue to learn about science through books. Consider inviting a special guest to award certificates to the children who have completed the challenge and share the event with parents.

You can ‘cut your coat according to your cloth.’ There are some unavoidable costs in producing the bookmarks, passports, stickers and certificates, though you can cut costs by producing your own. However it’s probably true that the better the quality, the better the product, so it could be a false economy to do this on the cheap. There may be costs associated with the launch event, especially if you opt to buy in something like a science show presentation. If there is money that can be invested in the purchase of some up-to-date children’s science books, the benefits will outlast the reading challenge. A financial contribution could be sought from the PTA or from local sponsorship or from organisations or companies which are favourable to supporting science-related enrichment programmes.

Teachers have told us that book-stock was an issue that they needed to consider. We do advise that you don’t try to do the Reading Challenge with more children than is wise in the light of the supply of books available to choose from. The Reading Challenge provides a good opportunity to take a very rough inventory of the science information books in the school, whether in class libraries or in the school library. It takes time to build up book-stock so this is something to keep under review. In our experience, the Schools Library Service is very helpful and knowledgeable and should certainly be consulted for advice and to ascertain if they can assist with increasing the book-stock. We are often asked by teachers where they can find out about children’s science books and the best place we know is the list of the winners and shortlists of the Royal Society’s Young People’s Book Prize.

Teachers have told us that the Reading Challenge works well for boys: ‘It was pleasing to see some of the boys extremely interested,’ and the librarian in one school noted the boys’ enthusiasm compared with the customary male attitude. Another teacher and science coordinator felt the Challenge worked for both boys and girls: ‘It has really inspired our girls – who sadly often don’t see themselves as scientists, and our less able readers, particularly our boys, who have produced some of the finest pieces of associated written work.’ Boys find they get enjoyment and learning from books, possibly related to the fact that they do not have to read a book from cover to cover and that assessment is not part of the Challenge. Boys especially seem to like to pick up interesting snippets about science that they can pass on to their friends. Making a link from science information books to practical science has also been shown to appeal to boys.

It could indeed be thought that children may engage with the Challenge, not because they want to find out about science, but because they have a competitive spirit, or from a sense of obligation to the teacher, or because they like collecting stickers and getting a certificate. It’s true that teachers have found that their children’s enthusiasm for these motivational elements is greater than expected but of course it’s also the case that aspects of the Challenge will only be effective if they exert a strong appeal which becomes a positive impetus to increased reading. We are strongly of the opinion that using the Reading Challenge to promote science non-fiction to young people is a necessary strategy if their beliefs that these books are boring, difficult, or not for them are to be overturned. It is a means to and end, namely, that many of the children will discover the intrinsic value in reading science information books – and fortunately we gathered quite a lot of evidence that this was so! We would want to stress the importance of the activities during the Challenge and of teachers proactively boosting enthusiasm and interest. The launch / passports / stickers are hooks to lure the children to science books in the first place, but the goal of the Challenge is for engagement to pass to the books themselves and their content, so that children form an approving image of themselves as science readers.

It’s great to find ways for parents to share in the excitement about science! One school in the original Project 500 allowed parents to help their child to earn stickers in two ways. Either they could carry out an experiment at home from a list of simple experiments using household products, or they could read a science book that had been chosen for them by their child. Another possibility would be to invite a parent to class or to an assembly to talk about science and about a science book that they had read.

Keep in mind that the overall aim is for a child to find out something about science from a book and for it not to be ‘unpleasurable’ to do so. The whole book does not have to be read. Although it’s important to respect the child’s right to freely choose a book and to choose what he or she would like to read in it, some guidance and encouragement may help with this. Any accompanying activities that they do should make them feel I can do this and I want to do this. You may want to modify the challenge or how stickers are earned as appropriate for individual pupils. Have another look at the section on reading buddies and reading mentors as this is relevant to your question. Also look at the earlier section on ‘pupil book presentations’ as it explains how this may be an appropriate strategy for weaker readers.