The last letter in the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading’s value statement (I CAN READ) stands for diligent.
Diligent means that the Campaign is dedicated to being actively engaged, putting forth a constant effort to provide impact beyond action. That’s accomplished by remaining diligently focused on the key solution areas that help all children read at grade level by the end of third grade – school readiness, attendance, summer learning – are the primary solution areas that are supported by parent engagement and health.
In everything we do, we are diligent in addressing our work and our challenges by aligning partners, consultants, and volunteers to achieve maximum impact while utilizing resources in a cost-effective and responsible manner.
In much the same way, young readers must be actively and diligently engaged in reading as parents, teachers, and other caring people ask them questions about what they are reading. Why do you think the narrator did what she did? What could her reasons have been? What do you think will happen next because of her actions? Have you ever felt this way in your own life? Did you do what she did?
Making strong connections between reading and “real life” is an essential activity for reading success. And, when children are actively engaged by asking and answering questions about what they’re reading, they are much more likely to remember what they read and do better on reading tests.
Just having a child read a book is an action. Having a child apply critical thinking skills to the reading experience is creating impact beyond action.
“Diligence is the mother of good luck,” said Ben Franklin. Children are not lucky when they pass a test or advance a year in reading. They have been diligent, not lucky.
If you have been following these blogs about the values statement of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, you may have noticed the diligence applied to every value statement and its connection to the others. Integrity, community, ardency, nimbleness, result-oriented methods, enduring partnerships, authenticity in all we do, and diligence are connected, feed and sustain each other, and serve as engines for a movement that will have impact long after its actions are completed.
photo credit: 137 – Look up! via photopin (license)
