Reading Trap #2: Buttons > Grades

My friend JoAnn suggested I think of the "free" in "free reading" as a verb. YES! Let's free reading from the shackles of grades, quizzes, vocabulary lists, and all those ways we try to justify giving kids time in class to read.

I do not attach a grade to independent (free) reading because

• I don't want the power and pleasure of reading to be married to grade-grubbing.
• Each student is at a different point on the avid-reading continuum. How do I grade the kid who reads a book every three days and the kid who finally finished his first book since 6th grade? Both are awesome. The student who is reading-resistant needs my support more than any of them--not a failing grade.
• I want to minimize opportunities for students to lie to me. If a student isn't liking a book, there is no loss in switching it out for another. 

Some might wonder, if we are not reading for grades, why are we reading? The answers (for pleasure, to be connected to other readers, to personally grow our stamina and knowledge) rise to the top once the grade is removed--and these are motivators that last long beyond the window of the current grading term.

That said, I'm not above using gimmicks to build a reading-happy culture and community in my room. This means celebrating the reading/sharing of books in ways that encourage students to join in.

One of my favorites is buttons.

Two Bee-a-Reader buttons on my lanyard.

I started giving BEE A READER buttons several years ago when my students finished their fifth book. I've since added buttons for the10th, 15th, 20th and 25th book of the year. If they read more than that--and some do!--they have to start over.

Buttons are inexpensive at about 25 cents each, and I love seeing them on my students' book bags. They say "I'm a reader," which is the identity I want them to embrace. I make a deal (not TOO big a deal) when a student earns a button: "Hey guys, Brynna just finished her 15th book!"

I have a buffet of gimmicks, and I'll explain more in future posts. In the meantime, I'd love to hear some of the ways you build reading culture in your classroom and reward reading without grades. Please comment!