Reading Assignment Accountability
Linda Means Golomb, a third and fourth grade teacher at Cedar Creek School in Canyon County, California
In elementary school when students are learning to read, the more practice they can get, the better. I give a nightly reading assignment and provide a parent sign-off sheet in their homework folder in order to document completion of the assignment. Many students - too often the ones who need the extra reading practice the most - simply did not bother to do their nightly reading. Then I came up with the 'Reading Roundup Chart.' Using the last few inches cut from a white incentive chart I simply color in a square for each reading group which has 100% nightly reading signed each day. Each group has its own color and they watch the progress of their group with much anticipation. The best part is, I don't have to say a word; peer pressure takes over. No one wants to be the person in their reading group that keeps them from 'getting a square.' The first group to fill in its row across the chart (it usually takes a few months) gets to have a pizza lunch with the teacher, or whatever incentive you want to use. Since establishing this 'competition' I have extended it to include not only signed reading but also having their materials for reading (e.g., their book and homework folder). It works like a charm.
In elementary school when students are learning to read, the more practice they can get, the better. I give a nightly reading assignment and provide a parent sign-off sheet in their homework folder in order to document completion of the assignment. Many students - too often the ones who need the extra reading practice the most - simply did not bother to do their nightly reading. Then I came up with the 'Reading Roundup Chart.' Using the last few inches cut from a white incentive chart I simply color in a square for each reading group which has 100% nightly reading signed each day. Each group has its own color and they watch the progress of their group with much anticipation. The best part is, I don't have to say a word; peer pressure takes over. No one wants to be the person in their reading group that keeps them from 'getting a square.' The first group to fill in its row across the chart (it usually takes a few months) gets to have a pizza lunch with the teacher, or whatever incentive you want to use. Since establishing this 'competition' I have extended it to include not only signed reading but also having their materials for reading (e.g., their book and homework folder). It works like a charm.
