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From: "Dennis M. Wade" <dmwade@eonet.com>
In our district there are four elementary school, and I'll paste below what
I described to another person asking for AR information. I'd recommend very
little in the way of rewards other than positive feedback to the kids.
-elem. bldg. 1: This school started first and has run for two years. They had
kids tests in their own rooms with the LMC machines also being available.
Teachers basically ran the program except the LMS did the reward system -
names posted on the wall, rewards at a certain point (X amount of points for
lunch in the LMC, 5 names drawn out of the hat for ice cream, etc.) The
program is running well at this school. Parents are highly motivated to help
their students as well (top social-economically stable group of families).
-elem. bldg. 2: This school set up both classrooms and the LMC for testing
and allowed students to test the first hour of the day as well as recesses.
Few teachers tested in the rooms. The LMS posted awards on the wall. Program
is moderately successful.
-elem. bldg. 3: This school is pretty much like the second school. There were
only slight increases in checkouts.
-elem. bldg. 4: This is my school, the poorest one in the district. I asked
for a committee to discuss AR and how we wanted to implement it in our
building. On the committee were two classroom teachers, a Title teacher with
previous AR experience, and myself. It was decided that we wanted to be able
to keep track of student testing, which wasn't possible past a year with the
program being loaded on machines in the room, so testing would take place in
the LMC. This took a lot of time, so Title would furnish help during the
testing time - every morning for an hour and a half. Students would show
their progress by making their own fish to stick on the walls, and the
bubbles would indicate their progress - first bubble at one point, next at
five, then ten, fifteeen, etc. Each quarter the color of the bubbles would
change (white, light pink, light blue, and light yellow). A teacher
volunteered to paint water on the walls to give the impression of the ocean.
Teachers did nothing with the points this first full year, and students
still made terrific gains. The teachers think we're wonderful, the kids love
reading, and our circulation has more than doubled.
So my advice would be, consider what will work in your building. (My
principal is convinced that teachers will not have the time and energy to
deal with the program, so he wants us to continue on the same way even
though the rooms are being networked as we speak. I'd love to have that time
not scheduled, but I also saw wonderful results come about because students
received at least two positive comments before returning to their rooms. I
believe that's half of our success. They can also immediately get their new
book.) Ask for a small knowledgeable group to help you make the decisions,
and play down the rewards. Students actually started commenting on good
books and looking for the same author. It was no longer a chore to read. Oh,
and one last idea, we made a bulletin board showing students holding their
favorite book. When a student told us what a good book it was, we took their
picture (QuickTake camera) and had them tell us a little about it and why
he/she liked it. We then mounted and posted it for all to see (Raving Reviews).
--------------------------------
From: booknut8@atchison-net.com
--One idea that I am going to use is for me to offer a home packed lunch
and "winner" can eat with me in the library.  fun stuff like frozen
grapes, peanutbutter sandwiches with different fillings on it./  Bring a
"teacher" lunch to share.---something like that.
read to the Kindergartners or pre-school.  wear a special hat for the
day.  etc.
---------------------------------
From: Colleen Small <csmall@minnetonka.k12.mn.us>
I am a media specialist in Minnesota.  I have started a list of
instrinsic incentives.  This is what I have so far:
I have a bulletin board called "Groveland's Reading Galaxy".
On this board, I post the incentives.
(the points may change)
Shooting Star 15 - take a digital picutre of the student and post on a
paper star and place in the galaxy.
Astroid 25 - the student is featured on our morning news show
Super Nova 35 - lunch with the teacher of your choice
Little Dippers 45 - a 15 min media center pass
Big Dippers 55 - a 1/2 hour visit to the classroom of your choice
Cosmonaut 65 - lunch with the principal
75 - ????? This is where I am still looking for ideas.HELP>

***************************************************************************
Pat Pickard, Coordinator            Phone: (404) 325-3011  Ex.236
Dept. of Educational Media          FAX:   (404) 728-1977
DeKalb County Schools
2415-C N. Druid Hills Road, N.E.    E-mail:
Atlanta, Georgia  30329-3210         pickardp@dekalb.k12.ga.us

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