Reading Railroad

A Library Reading Program for Second and Third Grade Students

New to Highland Park in 2008, Reading Railroad is a reading program designed to allow students to practice the library location skills they have learned in their library classes. It also helps to diversify the interests of students by introducing them to a wide range of books in their reading levels.

Students receive a Reading Railroad bibliography booklet where they can record the books they have read and receive train stamps from their teacher for completing a category.

In second grade, students practice alphabetizing and using the author's last name to locate books in the library's fiction section. Using their bibliography booklets, students explore different genres of literature by reading four books of their choice in each of five genres.

Fiction genres include:

• Mystery
• Historical Fiction
• Animal Friends
• Fantasy
• Family and Friends (Realistic Fiction)

In third grade, students add Dewey Decimal skills, putting numbers in order to three decimal places and locating books in the library's nonfiction section. Using their bibliography booklets, students explore different areas of nonfiction by reading four books of their choice in each of eight categories.

Nonfiction categories include:

• Astronomy
• Biography
• Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians
• Mammals
• Our Earth
• Poetry
• Prehistoric Times
• Your Body

Please ask to see your child's Reading Railroad booklet during this approximately six-week-long project. Parents, teachers, and the library can all help to get children "steamed up" about reading!

 

 

The Reading Railroad program is based on a program of the same name used at Childs Elementary and created over 25 years ago by retired librarian Ann McIntosh. Many thanks to Ms. Judy Williams for permission to recreate this program.