Card-carrying readers

Reading teacher Kathy Eppley’s little brainstorm was to ask all students and adults at Hernando Middle School in Spring Hill, Florida, to wear cards around their necks with the titles of the books they're reading. The idea turned out to be so elegant, and apparently so original, that national reading experts are vowing to steal it. Linda Gambrell, president-elect of the International Reading Association, said she loved the idea. She said many incentive programs discourage less fluent readers or encourage students to read below their ability in order to rack up points. But Eppley’s idea, she said, promotes the opposite: genuine discussions and excitement about reading. “What that idea does is it simply shouts, ‘I am a reader, I enjoy books,’” Gambrell said. “It’s not a competition.” Read the article from the St. Petersburg Times website.