Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Get Them Reading: Weekend Challenge

Last Friday when 13 of my 22 students in third-period Eng 9 signed on for my Weekend Reading Challenge, I tweeted my delight:
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I have been asked to explain what my Weekend Challenge is, and I'm happy to oblige. Independent reading is not graded in my classroom, but I honor 10 inviolable minutes of SILENT reading at the beginning of every class. We set the timer, sink into our books, and read. It is by reading daily that kids keep their momentum, keep their plots moving, and--often--keep their interest high enough to motivate reading outside of class as well. (But I'll save all that for another blog--)

The Weekend Challenge started spontaneously when I noticed kids with 30 or 40  pages left in their books and asked them if they thought they could finish over the weekend. That's it. Kids love a personal challenge, and I've only rarely had a student reject my challenge. My prizes for finishing the book vary, usually pushing the limits of the Healthy Kids Act. 

But last week when I began asking kids if they could finish over the weekend, hands kept popping up. Before I knew it I had ten volunteers, some with hundreds of pages to read! I told them I'd never had that many before, and announced that if ALL TEN met their challenge, we'd have breakfast pizza. At that point three more kids jumped up to join the team. (Funny that by joining they actually lowered the chances that all would finish...but the idea of being part of a group earning the class a treat outweighed their mathematical reasoning.)

We then set up a group text and email contacts to use for reminders and motivation. I also emailed the parents and told them that their children had accepted a weekend reading challenge and would need a reminder and a quiet place to read.

All 13 (plus I) finished books by Sunday night. I'm always looking for ways to high-five my kids for reading. I'd love to hear ideas from the rest of you!