Do you use this at your school? I'm really interested in using this in my class for next year. What incentives do you give, and at what point levels? Have your students made a lot of gains? Is it appropriate for 1st grade? :thanks:
This is a school wide program in my school. In first grade we do not start using it until January. I have a special section in my classroom full of reading counts books. The kids love it. We have a school wide assembly in March and May, when the kids will get prizes based off of the points they earn. For every ten points they get a prize. It is amazing to see their growth. I motivates them to want to read more. All they want to do is read so they can go on the computer and earn points.
Studies have found that rewarding kids with incentives for reading does not create life-long readers. I think if you create an exciting literary environment in your room, why do you have to bribe kids to read? When you pick up a book to read now, as an adult, do you ever do it to earn points?
I have mixed feelings about incentives vs. love of reading. For first graders, reading is work and I think it is okay to reward them for working hard. Also, not every adult likes to read. It is the same with kids. My husband reads a lot of newspapers and magazines but does not like to read books. I think kids can be the same. We do Accelerated Reader at our school. Is that similar to Scholastic Reading counts? We have been debating on how much we should use the AR program with first graders.
