Blog Post Author: Veronica Stevenson, school librarian

Remember the classic movie Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory where a Golden Ticket was the required pass that allowed the holder to get into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory?  Remember how, in the movie, there was this BIG mad dash of parents and children around the world to purchase Willy Wonka Chocolate Bars, all with the hope of finding just one of 5 of the lucky Golden Tickets?

Well, here at The Vision International School Library, 1st and 2nd Grade Classes were all buzzing with excitement for our latest Reading Initiative entitled:  Will You Find The Golden Ticket?  As with the classic movie, Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, each student hoped they too would find the lucky Golden Ticket.  From November 5th thru December 7th, students had the opportunity to discover a lucky Golden Ticket that was secretly hidden within selected books.   With every Golden Ticket that students found, in addition to the Golden Ticket (which they got to keep), they also received something special:

For Finding                                   Reward

For finding 1 Golden Ticket          Earned a Bee Ticket

For finding 2 Golden Tickets        Earned a Bee Ticket and “extra” book checkout

For finding 3 Golden Tickets        Earned a Bee Ticket and a super reader prize

For finding 4 Golden Tickets        Earned the GOLDEN TICKET READER CERTIFICATE

 

Reading Initiatives come in many shapes and sizes, with the aim of spicing up literature, giving children an incentive to open a book, and hopefully creating life-long readers.  Reading for pleasure is identified as a key area for developing a student’s academic reading skills.  Studies have shown that reading for pleasure makes a big difference to a student’s educational performance. Likewise, evidence suggests that students who read for enjoyment not only perform better in reading tests than those who do not, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge, improved communication and language skills, and a better understanding of other cultures.

 

Vision International School Library runs many initiatives like Will You Find The Golden Ticket throughout the Academic Year to encourage reading for pleasure.  At the conclusion of the Reading Initiative, 145 Golden Tickets had been found, and several students received extra special rewards for finding multiple Golden Ticket Books.  In addition to all the excitement built around the hopes of finding The Golden Ticket, we educators know that reading can be a fun and imaginative time for children, which opens doors to all kinds of new worlds for them.