Chapter I Teaching Concepts that Work - part 2

1. Reading is the Heart of Education
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2. Teaching English

English classes are so difficult to teach because of the material which is required (such as vocabulary, grammar, analogies, literature, spelling, writing, speaking, and reading.)

Therefore, to build enthusiasm for such a difficult subject I implemented a reading contest to be included in the English curriculum. Here’s how it works:

Increasing Student’s Concentration
Each day for three weeks, students come in, sit down, and begin to read for the duration of the class period. Because concentration is one of the “key factors” in the contest students may not talk or leave the room from bell to bell. If they do, one hundred pages are deducted from the class total that day. This helps everyone so much (especially the students who have a difficult time concentrating.) Students may read books of their choice from the library, their homes, or my classroom, and must turn in a “framed paragraph” over each book read during the three week period. This requirement is short and simply documents the books. I do not like “book reports” because I feel they are sometimes a “threat” to students I just want them to enjoy the books and not dread the end of one!

Reading Log
Each student has a “Reading Log” on which he/she records beginning pages, ending pages, and total pages read each day. I also walk around the room and take page numbers at the beginning and end of each class period. At the end of three weeks, pages read by each class, are totaled and all notes for outside reading are added to these totals. The totals are divided by the number of readers in the class so an average is obtained.

Pizza Field Trip for Winning Class
The class which has read the most pages per reader (average), wins the contest and gets to take a field trip with free pizza. I use an average because I have low readers, fast readers, small classes, and large classes, and the average is the fairest way to determine the winner.
I give no vocabulary, journals, or homework during reading contests because I want students to read on the bus, at home, on activity trips, in spare time during the school day, and during my classes!
Try a reading contest. Some kids told me they had never read a book until now! It works!