If you like Sprints, we think you'll love Lift Off, our new four-week, choice-based reading journey that combines the best of Reading Sprints with the motivational elements students love. Reading Sprints will be phased out in summer 2024.

Reading Sprints are 3 or 6-week programs that boost reading growth. They are an excellent resource for teachers and students. But what happens if students don't complete the assignment before the 3 or 6-week period is over?

If you are new to Reading Sprints on Zinc, please take a moment to read our help article concerning how Sprints work and how to assign them. If you are already familiar with Reading Sprints and would like to learn how to complete Reading Sprints after the 3 or 6-week period is complete, this article will help.

We understand that every classroom is different. Some classes will have plenty of time to utilize Zinc each day, while others work under tighter constraints. There are calendar considerations, such as holidays and spring break. Of course, unexpected events can also affect how much time students have to work on their Reading Sprints.

Teachers may think they need to "pause" Reading Sprints over a break, or they might think students need to start Sprints over if they don't finish within a 3 or 6-week time limit. Don't worry, because that is not the case. We encourage classes to use Zinc tools like Reading Sprints at their own pace. Teachers can decide when a Reading Sprint should be completed.

Students will grow used to seeing Reading Sprint assignments on their Zinc Dashboard. When new assignments stop appearing, students might believe they can no longer complete their work. Fortunately, this is not the case.

To access past Sprints, students just need to select the drop-down to the right of the Reading Sprints heading. The necessary menu can be seen below.

By default, the drop-down menu reads "Active Sprints." By selecting it, students can choose to view "Past Sprints." At this point, any previously assigned Sprints will appear.

There is an exception to what we've just discussed. If a student never took a Level Placement assigned by the Sprint, then Zinc could not create the appropriate assignments. If this is the case, students will see this error: "The Pre-Sprint Level Placement was not completed so no activities were assigned in this Sprint."

If the teacher would like a student in this situation to complete a Reading Sprint, they will need to assign them a new Sprint individually. It will begin the three or six-week process based on their selection. Unless students have taken a Level Placement, that will be the first part of their Sprint. Teachers may also manually assign a Level Placement and then articles appropriate for the student's reading level.

We hope this clarifies how students can complete Reading Sprints. If you would like to learn more about how Sprints work or how to assign them, please read this article. If you would like to know more about using Reading Sprint Reports, here is the article for you. For information about accelerating growth with Zinc Ignition, here is what you need. Thank you for using Zinc and Reading Sprints to achieve your goals.