Saturday, January 18, 2014

Spark Student Motivation-Reading Counts

Saturdays are SUPER because we get MOTIVATED together!
I am a HUGE fan of Reading Counts! I think it's such a great incentive to get kids excited about reading and a quick check for teachers to see if their students are comprehending what they're reading. We have a new leader board at our school this year...notice the name on top??!! This is actually very stressful! LOL!

 

Our media specialist updates these boards every couple weeks and my class waits in anticipation to see if they are still on top of the list...above those 5th grade classes! Some weeks it's so close! Yikes!
This board has increased the level of competition at our school because it's displayed on the front windows of the media center at the entrance of our school for everyone to see!
(You could do the same idea for individual students in your classroom.)
 
I keep track of my students progress on this Reading Counts Bulletin Board-my favorite part...it's vertical and takes up little space! Different designs available. :)


Every student has made it to the 50 point club and I have six students who have made it past 300! The one at the top had 560 points and is working towards the dinner prize with me! :)
 
I offer my students incentives for different point clubs (they helped with the list).
 
 
 
I love this quote and couldn't agree more! Although I love rewarding my students for their hard work, I think the biggest reason they love reading so much is because of the literature I share with them. My heart smiles when my students ask me to pick out a book for them! I'm very fortunate and have an extensive library in my classroom, so I've never had a student say, "I don't have anything to read." or "I don't like any of these books."
I try to get them hooked on a series or an author and then they just take off!
My students who didn't like reading end up loving reading and my students who already loved reading, love it even MORE! The prizes are just an added bonus!
What do you or your school do to promote reading?
 
**I have another incentive for Reading Counts I am introducing to my class this week and I will share with you next week! :)
 
I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!
Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!
Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!


15 comments:

  1. Is Reading Counts a program like AR or something? Love your prizes...no homework for the rest of the year must be VERY motivational lol!

    Jessica
    Literacy Spark

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your prizes! My highest student is in our 200 point club, which is amazing for him because last year he ended the year with 45! Do you have a required number of points for each quarter? I'm always curious how other schools run their program.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great program. Your prizes are fantastic - I want to win too! I love sharing books with my students too in the hopes that my love will rub off on them too. I love seeing how excited they are when I put out new books. Looking forward to next week's post too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the quote, and I completely agree! I like the way you and the school are displaying the students' progress. I think healthy competition is a good thing.

    Mary
    Fit to be Fourth

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm not familiar with Reading Counts. Is it like Accelerated Reader? Isn't it amazing how a little competition can bring out the power reading? I love it!!

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

    ReplyDelete
  6. We do Reading Counts with our Read 180 Library. I have always kept track of the word count and not the points, but I think we might start keeping track of the points too. I like the 200, 300, and 400 Point Club idea:).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations on holding strong to that top spot! This is the kind of competition that makes me really competitive because it's win-win. Even the class with the least amount of minutes is probably reading more than those not involved. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Reading Counts! I used it for aeons when it was a stand alone program on a computer. When it went online and there was a yearly fee we just didn't have the money to support it. I LOVE how you have your whole school involved. I was the only one who used the program... sigh! You've motivated me to give it a try again. Our teachers are a bit more interested in technology NOW. LOL! Maybe I can get them on the bandwagon. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I really appreciate you posting the points and rewards - that helps me gauge my own!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love that the leader board lists classes that are in the lead. Talk about collective motivation!

    Tara
    The Math Maniac

    ReplyDelete
  11. You KNOW I love this! Our Media Specialist puts photos of the kids that have read one million words on the wall in the Media Center, but I like this idea too. I have a student that is already up to 500 points in AR...I'm wondering if he is going to make it to 1,000! That's always super exciting. I should try something like your reward system in my room...I just do my chart evey week on the board and that seems to motivate them, but this might do even more!!!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think this is the most motivating reading post I've ever read. I need to do more research on this Reading Counts program because I've never heard of it! I need to do something to get my students reading and actually FINISHING the books they choose.
    Theresa
    Pinkadots Elementary

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kids Reading is also of most valuable terminology that students must needs to regard about because these are generally regarded to be of great value that is required to be present there. statement of purpose for internship

    ReplyDelete
  14. Is this program free? I went to the site and can't get it to work. Needing something for independent reading accountability....

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great thanks for sharing this article post. Really thank you! Keep writing. chen zhi price group

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...