Why Can’t I Skip My Twenty Minutes of Reading Tonight?

This was shared with us at the beginning of our faculty meeting tonight by Cathy Roth (Literacy SIS). I thought it was something to ponder!

Let’s figure it out—mathematically!
Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week;
Student B reads only 4 minutes a night…or not at all!

Step 1: Multiply minutes a night x 5 times each week.
Student A reads 20 minutes x 5 times a week = 100 minutes/week
Student B reads 4 minutes x 5 times a week = 20 minutes/week

Step 2: Multiply minutes a week x 4 weeks each month.
Student A reads 400 minutes a month.
Student B reads 80 minutes a month.

Step 3: Multiply minutes a month x 9 months/school year.
Student A reads 3600 minutes in a school year.
Student B reads 720 minutes in a school year.

Student A practices reading, the equivalent of ten whole school days a year. Student B gets the equivalent of only two school days of reading practice. By the end of 5th grade, if Student A and Student B maintain these same reading habits, Student A will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days. Student B will have read the equivalent of only 12 school days. One would expect the gap of information retained will have widened considerably and so, undoubtedly, will school performance. How do you think Student B will feel about him/herself as a student?