For the past few years, 2nd and 3rd graders have come to the library every first Wednesday of the month to answer questions about a book they read and earn tickets to buy prizes. This year, in order to allow more kids to join, we created separate programs for 2nd grade and 3rd grade, each with its own booklist and its own dates. 2nd graders come every 1st Wednesday of the month and 3rd graders every 3rd Wednesday.

We still have spots! Even though I gave enough flyers to schools for every 2nd and 3rd grader in Pasadena, I’m not sure people got them because we have spots… If you’re interested, stop by the Children’s Desk at Central Library.

Our Info Night was one big happy family of 2nd and 3rd graders and their families though, as each child got to hear about the program, check out a book, and take a pretest. The pretest is something new we started just this year. Kids read a passage from a book and answer four questions about it. The test is available in English and Spanish. Kids who joined after Info Night can come anytime to the children’s desk to take a pretest.

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After I scored all of the pre-tests, I sent parents an email letting them know how their kids did. I categorized the questions according to whether they dealt with basic plot, plot prediction, vocabulary, or interesting details. Then I was able to give recommendations to parents on what to focus on asking their kids about when they are discussing the books at home.

Here are some photos from our Info Night on 9/6/17: