I did not use rewards in my classroom and also had over 90% of the students complete their homework daily. I believe children need to do things for the reward of learning, not for a prize. My goal for reading every night was for them to love reading. They loved to share what the read the night before. We built a community of learners who learned just as much from me as they did from their classmates. Discussion and sharing was a big part of the day.
Jan You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. -Albert Einstein "*If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.*" Albert Einstein On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 4:04 PM, Thoma, Janelle <[email protected]>wrote: > I had a similar problem with a similar reading log schedule. After > only 30% of my kids were completing their weekly home reading log > assignments, I decided to start reward those who completed their work. > I wouldn't give out a reward each week, but random weeks and random > awards. Homework passes, free books, lunch with the teacher etc. A > LOT more kids decided to complete their reading logs and once they got > into the habit of completing it, my completion rate went up to almost > 90% each week! > > Good Luck! > ~Janelle Thoma > > > > On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 11:02 AM, jayhawkrtroy fredde > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I think one thing to try is have them turn it in weekly. I will save > > you the task of looking at it daily as well. Encourage them to read > > the same books at home as they read during independent reading in > > class. They need to go to the library more often than every 2 week, I > > think also. > > > > On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 11:21 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> Hello, > >> > >> I would greatly appreciate your thoughts about the use of reading logs > in my sixth grade reading/writing workshop. My homework policy is that > students read 30 minutes 5 nights a week or 150 minutes a week. They are > free to read any book they choose. I give students a reading log, due every > Monday, that asks them to document the minutes they read nightly, I ask them > to write about their independent reading weekly, based on the strategies and > or elements of literature we were studying. I maintain a classroom library > and students have access to the school library every 2 weeks. My problem is > that my homework completion rate is TERRIBLE. Rather , I should say that > fewer than 50% of my students regularly turn in their homework. Atwell, > Miller, and many, many other language arts teachers consider reading at home > an important part of their reading program. I am tempted to drop the the > reading log requiremnent, but I don't want to "dumb down" my expectations > for my students who are predominantly blue collar and poor. I want students > to have some accountability, but at the same time I don't want to make the > homework process so cumbersome that it turns my students off to reading > independently. What are your experiences and insights that can help? Thank > you. > >> > >> Darlene Kellum > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Mosaic mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > >> > >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > >> > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Troy Fredde > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > [email protected] > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > > > > > > > -- > Janelle Thoma > Juliette Low School > 1530 S. Highland Ave. > Arlington Heights, IL 60004 > 847-593-4383 > > The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, > the more places you'll go. > -Dr. Seuss- > > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message is intended only for the > person to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or > privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or > distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, > please contact the sender and destroy all copies of the original > message. > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
