Contributor:
Maggie Poling
Have at least 75 books for the appropriate age of your children, a timer, 3×5 index cards, and an alphabetized index card box.
Give the students 100 points at the beginning of each grading period. Have the students put their last name, and first name, at the top left, on the line, of the index card. On the first line, have them enter the current date and beside the date, put the title of the book they have chosen to read. They refile the card and don’t pull it until they give the book up due to having finished reading it or after three chapters they didn’t like it.
The teacher puts the new current date and gives the book a star if the student read and liked it and a down arrow if the student didn’t like it and didn’t finish reading it. If a student reads the whole book and just thinks he has read much better books, then just put the teacher’s initials. Set the timer each day for at least 15 minutes, and the student can do nothing but read.
Take away 1 point as a warning if off task, and if you have to address them being off task a 2nd time, take 5 more away for a total of 6 points in one day. A 3rd time warrants a referral to the office because they are also causing others to not read by paying attention to the off-task student.
The teacher must also read something for fun while the students are reading. This is a great model to use for the students, and it WORKS!! They’ve seen tears come to my eyes, a giggle, an “oh, no,” and other expressions we use while reading for pleasure.