Read to Feed®

Read to Feed® is a reading incentive, global education and service-learning program. Students obtain sponsorships from parents, friends and relatives, based on the number of books they read. At the end of the program, the class pools its funds and donates them to Heifer International.

The Read to Feed program encourages reading skills, while teaching students how they can empower families around the world with the gift of livestock, heightening awareness that their actions are making a difference in the lives of others.

Objectives

• Build reading comprehension skills and develop an array of strategies to interpret and understand a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts
• Read books about life in other regions of the world to acquire an understanding of, and respect for, the world’s cultures
• Examine sustainable development and the diversity of people and environments of the world and how human actions impact those environments
• Empower students to participate actively in civic life and realize that their actions can affect their communities
• Utilize an array of mathematical concepts in a “real life” context

National Standards Addressed

Geography
Students will:

Identify and compare the cultural characteristics of different regions and people

Describe and compare patterns of culture across the world

Language Arts
Students will:

Read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of the texts themselves and of the world’s cultures

Read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to trigger an understanding of the multi-dimensional human experience

Mathematics
Students will:

Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates

Apply and adapt appropriate problem-solving strategies

Communicate mathematical concepts and ideas to others, clearly and coherently

Procedure

As a group, view the “Everyday Heroes” video and follow up by reading the book that introduces Heifer's mission and the concept of sustainable development. (All these materials and more are available to you free in our Lesson Plans area.) Help students satisfy their curiosity by supplying books about life in other regions of the world, environmental issues and sustainable development. (See Resource Library for recommended books)

Have students start reading and participating in group discussions about hunger, world population, global food distribution, cultural diversity, sustainable development, the environment and other important issues. Additional ideas and variations on the Read to Feed program can be found in the Action Ideas section below.

Action Ideas

Educating the public about sustainable development is an important goal that fits naturally with Read to Feed.

When students talk to adults about sponsoring reading progress, have them take the time to educate the adults – parents, relatives and family friends – about how Heifer International’s model of sustainable development works, what type(s) of animal(s) the class is hoping to donate and how this particular type of livestock animal can make a dramatic difference in the life of a family. Though incorporating donations when teaching students about Heifer’s mission is always optional, it is a great way to teach students about giving.

Here are some ideas for educating students and others on sustainable development:

Share Knowledge

• Have students write about the ways in which a livestock animal can help a family flourish and enrich the environment
• Have the class identify important presentation points and practice giving a short presentation on the subject
• Invite parents to a kick-off presentation to educate them about sustainable development where students offer their presentations. You may consider showing the video, “Everyday Heroes”. Also pass around copies of the book(s) included in this packet, so parents can peruse their contents.
• Have students write a story for the school newspaper, the school newsletter or the school’s website or create a video segment for their school’s news program

Create a Reading Buddies Program

• Pair older students with younger ones who are learning to read, e.g., 5th-grade students with 1st-grade students
• Have the pairs of “Reading Buddies” meet once a week throughout the school year. The older students help the younger students learn to read, either by reading aloud to them or by helping them decipher words and sentences. This relationship provides younger students with mentors and gives older students an opportunity to feel that they are making an impression on the younger students’ lives.
• Ask adults to sponsor every book (or every 30 minutes) the buddies read together
• Hold beginning- and end-of-year ceremonies of “Passing on the Gift.” At the beginning of the year, the older students pledge to pass on the gift of reading, while at the end of the year, first graders pledge to pass on the gift of reading to younger children
• Hold a Read to Feed Reading Buddies party at the end of the year. Announce how much money was raised for Heifer programs. Be sure to print out certificates of participation for all students.

Partner with a Local Senior Citizens Center

• Create a buddy system with a senior center; match a senior citizen with a younger reader
• Arrange for the buddies to meet on a regular basis so the young reader can practice reading aloud to the senior citizen
• Give certificates to participating seniors for “Passing on the Gift” of reading. Also, have the students create “thank you” gifts for their senior partners
• Choose books that center on a theme of animals or sustainable development. A fundraising component could be incorporated here

Note: Due to logistics of transporting students to and from a senior center, this program may work best for extracurricular groups.

Create Audio Books for Charity

• Using whatever technology is readily available to you and to your chosen charity, have students record themselves reading their favorite books aloud. The books they read could be any of their choosing, or could be based on a theme such as “children around the world” or “animals helping people”
• Donate the books and the audio recordings to a charity where children are helped. Possible charities include:

       Children's hospital

       Women's shelter

       Childcare center in a low-income neighborhood

       Have students ask for pledges for the number of books they record.
       The funds raised could be used to donate an animal through Heifer International

Fundraising Ideas

While most activities can be performed without collecting money, all of the activities above have simple fundraising components if you choose to incorporate them. For example, decide on a unit of measurement you will use to solicit pledges (i.e., number of pages read or number of minutes read), and then have students consider how much money they think they will be able to raise, and what type(s) of animal(s) they would like to donate. Set a period of time for your fundraiser and let the fun and learning begin!

Read to Feed® is a great way for students to practice their math skills.

Students can:

• Estimate the number of pages, minutes, etc., they can read during the fundraising period
• Calculate their pledges per unit of measurement to estimate a total amount the class may be able to raise
• Compute different combinations of Heifer International animals the class may be able to purchase, based on funds raised
• Create a graphic display of the money the class hopes to raise, or how many units the class hopes to read, filling in the graphic display as the fundraising period progresses