Ready, Set, Read!

While March Madness bubbles around Bridge Boston, a much more competitive competition rises …

The Literacy Task Force’s March Reading Challenge!

I Feel the Need... the Need to Read!

Weekly themes… dress-down costume days… friendly competition… what more could a BBCS scholar ask for? In the BBCS March Reading Competition, Week 1’s theme was Mystery, which included flashlight reading and dressing like detectives. Week 2 includes all things fantasy and fairy tales, including extra pages for creative writing submissions and reading with a dragon (a Bearded Dragon, that is).

After just one week of reading, the competition is already tight! The standings at the end of Week 1 are:

• First Place: 4th Grade with 14,253 pages
• Second Place: 5th Grade with 14,121 pages
• Third Place: 1st Grade with 12,542 pages

Watch the introductory videos from our Literacy Task Force: “Detective S” needs BBCS students' help to find the stolen trophy! Reading extra pages gets extra clues.

We Love Literacy!

Engaging our students in creative literacy has never been more important. At Bridge, we know our students are particularly vulnerable to literacy loss. Many of our students at Bridge face barriers to learning. Our school is designed to serve the needs of at-risk children, all of whom possess great cultural capital and resilience, to not only meet expectations, but greatly succeed.

Because of this, Bridge Boston formed our Literacy Task Force. This grassroots force of teachers were trained in the Science of Reading on their own, saw impressive results in their classrooms, and were elevated into leadership positions to train the whole school. Our Literacy Task Force has committed Bridge to the Science of Reading & providing our students with the appropriate, rigorous curriculum to achieve on grade level & beyond.

Reading: it's Science!

The Science of Reading especially employs 4 components:

• Comprehensive screening
• Early intervention
• Structured literacy practices
• Small group instruction & intervention

Bridge scholars in pre-k through 3rd grade receive over 100 minutes of literacy education per day, including intervention time. When intervention in literacy education is applied early, generally less intervention is required & students are less likely to struggle later on.

The Science of Reading is a data-driven practice. According to DIBELs, or Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, our educators saw at least a 40% increase in individual student performances across grade levels. We know our intervention efforts are effective at reaching and uplifting our youngest scholars.

In addition to DIBELS, BBCS uses iReady, a national assessment assisting teachers in making informed decisions about reading instruction. Each year iReady predicts the year’s growth for each student, evaluating students where they are, instead of where they “should” be according to their age or grade level. If a student learns at an average rate for the year, they earn 100% growth. In the 2022-2023 school year, we are proud to share that as a school Bridge Boston students averaged 119% growth in reading!

Our March Reading Challenge is just one Bridge Boston Tradition that promotes fun & literacy for students in all grades!