Roosevelt Middle School’s ATP conducted a School Planner Scavenger Hunt with all sixth graders and their families.  The school’s Summer Used Book Exchange aimed to encourage students’ reading for pleasure and helped put books of interest in students’ hands who may not have had them during the summer.

Blaine, MN

Back Row: Nicole Magaard, Dana Palmer, Tashana Bennett, Molly Moskalik

Organization Matters

At the start of the school year, the ATP conducted a School Planner Scavenger Hunt with all sixth graders and their families.  Students reviewed their Planners in their advisory class.  Planners include a student handbook and guidelines on how to be well organized about schoolwork, homework, and lockers at school.  The students took home a Scavenger Hunt activity to complete with a parent so that everyone would be familiar with the middle school Planner and its purposes to help students organize their work.

The ATP continued the Student Organizational Help activity that was reported in the 2010 book of Promising Partnership Practices.  This year, steps were added provide a weekly progress report for parents of struggling students and for the grade-level Assistant Principal.  The weekly report indicated whether and how much the student mastered the organized use of the Planner and other aspects of life in middle school.  When students demonstrated good organizational skills, parents receive a final report on their completion of the monitored program.  New students who struggle to succeed in school are added as needed.

Summer Used Book Exchange

Research shows that students who read for pleasure are more likely to achieve in reading.  Also, students with more books in their home libraries are more likely to read more than other students. At Roosevelt Middle School, the Summer Used Book Exchange aimed to encourage students’ reading for pleasure and helped put books of interest in students’ hands who may not have had them during the summer.  Parents and high school student volunteers collected donated books and set them up for a book fair.  Each book cost 25 cents, but students who could not afford books were given coupons.   VIP tickets to pre-shop the sale were given to students who donated three or more books.

Books remaining after the fair were given to a local Girl Scout troop for a book exchange at a feeder school.  Profits from the sale were used to purchase new books for the media center for all students to borrow and enjoy.