Straight up, this wasn't my idea. In my summer scrolling last year I found this article about gamifying reading. Don't ask me where that article is now, because I have no clue; just a disclaimer that I am not the one who came up with this wonderful idea. Onto my excitement. This past year I tested out gamify reading with my 6th grade class. Some students really took to it, others did not, but it was year 1, now I am getting ready for year 2. Last years' poster is shown here on the side. It was completely teacher made, and the students didn't have a say into what rewards they got or when they got them. As I said before, this worked well for some students, but I am concerned about the ones it didn't work for. So it was back to the drawing board. I knew I wanted to add more levels, as my avid readers busted past the 12 books, some going into 2 punch bookmarks. But the question then became "how do I get those that don't want to read." The answer came to me when I was chatting with one of my edtechs at the end of the year. She told me that when her son was little she would have him choose what reward he would get for doing what. She gave him ownership and choice. How many times have we talked about how we need this in the classroom??? So that is my goal. I have a list of rewards that I am going to have them rank. The thing that they want the most, will be the hardest thing to get. Hopefully, fingers and toes crossed, this will motivate them to read more. It also doesn't hurt that I have cute little bookworms to mark their progress as the move up the continuum. These posters will be laminated and then the rewards will be expoed on once the students have ranked them. I recommend that if you don't have a reading system in place with your students to try something like this. Before I punch their bookmark, I ask them a comprehension question or two just to test and see if they actually read the book and to help them with their comprehension skills. So here is to a new school year, and a hopefully better system in place! I will let you know how it goes.
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AuthorMy name is Jessica Meservey and I am a 6th grade teacher. There is no level that I would rather be teaching and learning with. I currently teach in rural Maine. I love to integrate technology into my classroom as we are 1:1. Find me on Twitter at @MsMeservey. ArchivesCategories |