Activity Idea: Reading Relay
Get kids up and running with the Reading Relay!
How does it work?
Collect a stack of
newspaper or magazine articles. Separate the articles
from the
headlines and place them in two piles on opposite sides
of your play
space. Divide kids into teams and create a race to
match the headlines
with the articles. The first team to match the articles
with the
correct headlines wins!
The Reading Relay is
suited for children in grades 3-5, or as a motivating activity for
low-achieving readers in higher grades. Older kids should
be challenged
with other activities, or given high interest magazines
such as Sports
Illustrated for Kids, etc.
The Standards Connection
Reading Content
Standards for grades K-4 state that, “by grade 4 students read one-half
million words annually including a good representation
of narrative and
expository text appropriate for each grade.” (Expository text includes
magazines and newspapers.) By grade 8, students are expected to read
one million words annually. So, anything to get kids
up and reading is
good!
Skills to support the standards state that students
in grades 3-5 should:
- Use titles to locate information in the text
- Use guide words
- Scan to locate information
- Read to find new information
Special thanks to
Fran Chamberlain of the Developmental Studies Center
for submitting the
Reading Relay and Pam Brasher of Santee School District
Project Safe
for her input on Content Standards.
