Reading Incentives
In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released a shocking study about reading and literacy in America. It was titled Reading At Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America. The study revealed that literary reading is in dramatic decline with fewer than half of American adults reading literature of any kind. Even more frightening, the study reported drops in all age groups studied, with the steepest rate of decline—28 percent—occurring in the youngest age groups.
Incredibly, the study also documented an overall decline of 10 percentage points in literary readers from 1982-2002, representing a loss of 20 million potential readers – that’s larger than the population of the entire state of New York! The rate of decline is increasing, and according to the study, has nearly tripled in the last decade.
With the proliferation of the Internet, video games (PlayStation, Xbox, etc), and cable TV, kids are spending even less time nurturing their relationships with books and reading. Clearly an intervention of sorts is needed, and thankfully, many school districts and libraries have begun to engage in reading incentive programs and have been thrilled with the results.
Children begin to exhibit certain reading behaviors – behaviors that can often stay with them for life – at a young age. By understanding, nurturing and rewarding these behaviors, teachers, librarians and parents can make reading fun and motivate youngsters to put down the remote control and pick up a book.
A recent national survey conducted by http://www.positivepromotions.com, revealed that educators agree that reading incentives work and are thankful for the motivation it provides young students – especially those students reading below-grade-
“Our ultimate goal is to get the kids hooked on books forever,” explains Kelly Hess, principal of the Clark Elementary School in Erie, PA. “If an incentive can start this love of reading, it is well worth it.”
Marcia Darney, a reading specialist at the Victory Villa Elementary School in Baltimore, MD continues, “Reading incentives and giveaways motivate children to work hard, try something new, and persevere. They make them feel good about their progress, and help their challenges look attainable.”
For these educators, experience has shown them that providing extrinsic incentives can build a love of reading that lasts a lifetime. It can also open the door to better parent-teacher communication.
“It’ is my job to conduct parent workshops on the topics of helping your child to read, helping with comprehension, etc. for our school,” says Rebecca Woodcock, literacy specialist at the carpenter Elementary School in Cary, NC. “Any good resources on these subjects that can be given to parents help with attendance and understanding, and will therefore have a direct impact on children’s amount of reading at home and achievement.”
One of the great aspects about http://www.positivepromotions.com/
Ideas for incentive usage abound. “We have reading party at the end of the school year if our students meet their point goal,” says Chris Draves, librarian at the Jean McNair Elementary School in Winnebago, IL. “This year our theme was Reading Rocks and we gave bracelets to the kids at the kickoff assembly…they loved them…a great incentive!”
The specific incentives that Mrs. Tretow, Mrs. Draves and the other educators reference can be found at PositivePromotions.com, a company that specializes in creating fun and exciting incentives for reading programs. The company has established a loyal customer base by continually updating and innovating its reading incentive products. They even have a forum on their website where teachers can share incentive and program ideas.
Don’t let another school year pass by without implementing a reading incentive program of your own. They’re fun, rewarding and will leave a lasting impression on the future readers of America!
http://www.positivepromotions.com is a promotional gift company based in Hauppauge, NY that specializes in serving the educational/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
