How many words in this story? Read on

Seattle's public schools and libraries are teaming up on a new campaign to encourage people to read a million words per year.

Seattle Public Library City Librarian Deborah Jacobs and Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson kicked off the campaign, "Read a Million Words, Seattle!" Tuesday morning at Dunlap Elementary School in Southeast Seattle.

The concept of the campaign is to read a million words per year from books, newspapers, Web sites and other sources.

The program is modeled after a similar campaign in the Denver Public Schools in 1992. Research demonstrates that achievement levels for students corresponds with the amount of out-of-school reading students do. According to a 1988 study, students in the 90th percentile of achievement read an average of 40 minutes a day — about 2.3 million words a year — while students in the 10th percentile read an average of two minutes a day — 50,000 words per year.

The Seattle school district's Web site includes a guide about how to estimate words based on minutes or pages of reading. To find the page, go to www.seattleschools.org, select "academics" and then "Read a Million Words, Seattle!"

Reading to the end of this story racked up 202 words. Only 999,798 to go.