Quizzes
Scholastic Reading Counts! quizzes are the most crucial part of the student
component of the program. When students finish reading a book, they log in
to SRC! and take a quiz. If the child has read and understood the book, he or
she should be able to pass the quiz. Successfully passing the quiz encourages
students to keep reading and achieving—the clear objective of Scholastic
Reading Counts!
1
4
2
3
1 Each Quiz includes 5–30 items selected randomly from a set of up to 30.
No two quizzes are alike. Educators can specify the number of questions
that will appear. The default is 10.
Highlighted
answer choices let students be sure of their answer selec2
tion before moving on to the next question.
3 Quizzes are cheat-proof because each quiz is made up of a randomly
selected set of questions from the 30-item database, which means that no
two tests are alike.
4 The varied quiz formats include embedded cloze, modified cloze, and
direct questions, preparing students for what they’ll see on standardized
tests.
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FEATURES
Scholastic Reading Counts! quizzes are automatically scored by the
program software. When students pass, they are rewarded with a personal
congratulations screen and move on to the Read-O-Meter™ (see page 64),
a tool that allows students to rate the books they’ve read. If they fail, students
are encouraged to try again after rereading or reviewing the book, thereby
providing students with multiple opportunities to succeed. All quiz results, both
successes and failures, are recorded in the Scholastic Achievement Manager.
You can share with students, parents, and administrators quiz results and
other pertinent information, such as books read, using SRC! reports, such as
the Student Reading Report.
Student Reading Report
STUDENT: CHO, HENRY
School: The Lincoln School
Teacher: Sarah Greene
Grade: 5
Class: 3rd Period
Group: Tigers
PROGRESS
MONITORING
Time Period: 09/01/04 – 02/02/05
Lexile®: 820
Points: 29
Goal Progress: Points
Current Annual Goal
Progress Toward Goal
75 Points
33 Points
Total Points Earned (YTD)
33 Points
Avg. Attempts per Book
1.8 Attempts
BOOK
AUTHOR
LEXILE®
READING
LEVEL
09/16/04
Stone Fox
Gardiner, John Reynolds
550
3.2
P
90%
3
09/20/04
Stone Fox
Gardiner, John Reynolds
550
3.2
P
60%
0
8,850
09/22/04
Elaine and the Flying Frog
Chang, Heidi
540
2.9
O
80%
3
6,364
09/26/04
Elaine and the Flying Frog
Chang, Heidi
540
2.9
O
60%
0
6,364
09/27/04
DATE
GRL SCORE POINTS
WORDS
READ
8,850
Help, I'm Trapped in the First
Day of School
Strasser, Todd
590
5.1
Q
90%
6
09/26/04
Help, I'm Trapped in the First
Day of School
Strasser, Todd
590
5.1
Q
50%
0
20,661
11/12/04
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Blume, Judy
470
4.9
Q
80%
7
23,394
11/14/04
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
1020
6.3
R
80%
10
41,588
11/19/04
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
1020
6.3
R
60%
0
01/24/04
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
1020
6.3
R
60%
0
0
01/26/04
Cat's Meow
Soto, Gary
640
4.2
N
100%
4
8,534
685
(AVG.)
4.6
(AVG.)
74%
(AVG.)
33
145,266
TOTALS
20,661
0
Using This Report
Purpose: This report provides a comprehensive summary of an individual
student’s participation in SRC! It summarizes the student’s progress toward
his or her goal and includes key information about each book the student has
read.
Follow-Up: Review the data points on the report for indicators of low
performance and intervene accordingly.
Printed by: Sarah Greene
Copyright © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
Page 1 of 1
Printed on: 2/2/2005
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Student Recommended Reading Reports
As part of the quiz-taking process, students are given the opportunity to
generate customized reading lists, which can be printed immediately for
students to use as a guide for further reading. (Note: All book titles that appear
on students’ lists are books for which you currently have installed quizzes.
Students can thus also use their lists as guides for further quiz choices.)
Students can generate their reading lists either before or after they take a quiz.
Before they get a reading list, students are given the opportunity to select book
interests that will guide book selection. Hitting the Choose Reading Interests
bar on the What would you like to do? screens will bring up a book interest
screen on which students are allowed to make up to three choices among
genres such as “Mystery” and categories such as “Nature & the Environment.”
SRC! offers three levels of book interest screens—elementary, middle school,
and high school—with the genres and interest categories appropriately
tailored to each developmental level.
If a student has a Lexile score recorded in the Scholastic Achievement
Manager, that score is also used by the program to generate the list, providing
titles that are within the student’s targeted Lexile range. If a student does
not have a recorded Lexile score, book interest and grade level are used
to generate the list. Students are allowed to generate reading lists without
choosing book interests. In this case, grade level alone is used to generate the
reading list.
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FEATURES
Recommended Reading Report
STUDENT: KIM, JULIE
INSTRUCTIONAL
PLANNING
School: The Lincoln School
Teacher: Sarah Greene
Grade: 5
Class: 3rd Period
Group: Wolves
Time Period: 09/01/04 – 02/02/05
Julie, here are some great books at your reading level.
READING INTEREST
Mystery & Fantasy
Heroes & Courage
People from Around the
World
TITLE
AUTHOR
LEXILE®
Ella Enchanted
Levine, Gail Carson
670
Hired Hand
San Souci, Robert D.
670
Picture in the Dark
Cross, Gillian
640
Split Image
French, Michael
670
All About Sam
Lowry, Lois
670
Dinner at Aunt Connie's House
Ringgold, Faith
640
General Butterfingers
Gardiner, John Reynolds
610
Bite of the Golden Bug, The
Barthe, DeClementis
660
Boat to Nowhere, A
Wartski, Maureen Crane
650
Caged Eagles
Walters, Eric
650
Scholastic Reading Counts! Installed Quiz
Read 180 Title
Using This Report
Purpose: This report provides an individualized recommended reading list for
students, based on their reading interest choices.
Follow-Up: Help students acquire the titles recommended, and suggest other
related titles for students’ reading enjoyment.
Printed by: Sarah Greene
Copyright © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
Page 1 of 1
Printed on: 2/1/2004
Note: Student reading lists, as well as student book interest choices, are not
saved by the program. Students must choose their book interests and/or
generate their reading lists each time they log into the program.
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Read-O-Meter
When students pass a quiz, they use the Read-O-Meter to give a personal
rating of the book. The Scholastic Achievement Manager records these student
ratings in the Book Frequency and Rating Report. Teachers and library media
specialists can use this report to track students’ favorite books, make book
recommendations, and guide their library purchasing decisions. Students
may consult the report prior to selecting a new book to see what their peers
recommend.
1
2
1 Title of the quiz the student has just passed.
2 Students rate books using the Read-O-Meter scale.
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FEATURES
Book Frequency and Rating Report
CLASS: 3rd PERIOD
INSTRUCTIONAL
PLANNING
School: The Lincoln School
Teacher: Sarah Greene
Grade: 5
Time Period: 09/01/04 – 02/02/05
POINTS
QUIZZES
PASSED/
TAKEN
Chang, Heidi
540
3
7/10
5.0
Elaine and the Flying Frog
Stone Fox
Gardiner, John Reynolds
550
3
4.7
Help, I'm Trapped in the First Day . . .
Strasser, Todd
590
6
6/7
4
4.6
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Blume, Judy
470
7
11/12
5
4.5
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
1020
10
8/9
6
4.5
Mummies, Tombs, and Treasure
Perl, Lila
1090
6
7/9
7
4.3
Cat's Meow
Soto, Gary
640
4
5/7
RANK
AVG.
STUDENT
RATING BOOK
1
5.0
2
3
AUTHOR
LEXILE®
8/10
Using This Report
Purpose: This report ranks books according to how students rated them
during a selected time period. It includes the Lexile level and point value for
each book.
Follow-Up: Use the report to guide students' independent reading selections.
Encourage students to choose other books on related themes or by the same
authors as the most popular books.
Printed by: Sarah Greene
Copyright © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
Page 1 of 1
Printed on: 2/2/2005
The Book Frequency and Rating Report encourages students to share and talk
about what they’ve read.
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Points
Points are an optional motivational feature of Scholastic Reading Counts!
Setting reading goals based on the number of points earned and rewarding
students for reaching a designated point level motivates students to read
more. Not only do points help motivate students to read, but they also make
students conscientious about and accountable for what they read. Because
each SRC! book is assigned a point value based on its complexity and length,
the more difficult the book, the more points it is assigned. Thus, a student is
discouraged from selecting too easy a book, because that reduces the number
of points the student can attain.
The point system can be easily turned off by adjusting the SRC! settings in the
Scholastic Achievement Manager. However, if you choose not to use points,
remember to adjust student goals—also by adjusting the SRC! settings—to
“Books Read” instead of “Points.” As long as students are recognized for their
reading achievement, it doesn’t matter which measurement you use.
To make all students winners, adjust the number of points a student needs
to earn or books he or she needs to read to be recognized. You can also give
selected students, groups, or classes double or triple the normal point value
to help everyone succeed. Adjust the Point Multiplier feature in the SRC!
settings to multiply the point value of each book a selected student reads by a
number that will place him or her on par with the rest of the class. In addition,
you have the option to use the SRC! settings to directly set the point values
assigned to titles. Note: It is strongly recommended that you record the original
point values for reference.
Acknowledging reading achievement on a regular basis is crucial:
Scholastic Reading Counts! allows you to do so in a variety of ways.
See the Scholastic Reading Counts! Software Manual for detailed instructions
on how to adjust point values for books.
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FEATURES
Certificates
The Scholastic Achievement Manager has a Certificate Manager feature that
allows you to print certificates to award students for excellent achievement,
reinforcing reading success and building motivation and momentum for further
progress.
Scholastic Reading Counts! has two types of certificates available. One is a
generic “Congratulations!” certificate that you can print and, if you wish, handcustomize. A second certificate also includes a text box in which you can type
a personalized message to the certificate recipient.
Rebekah Morgan
July 11, 2005
Great job, Rebekah!
You've passed another quiz!
Happy reading!
July 14, 2005
You can base your certificate use on the SRC! award system (see the table on
the next page and the explanation of the Award Report on page 36). Or, you
can issue certificates based on your own judgment of student progress.
Remember: You decide when and how to use the certificates. You may
wish to present certificates
• at weekly, monthly, middle, or end-of-year SRC! ceremonies;
• at student/teacher conferences;
• to share student progress with their families;
• to reward a student for achieving his or her personal reading goal;
• to acknowledge class- or schoolwide achievement;
• whenever students need a boost of encouragement.
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Preset Award Levels
Gold Star
500 points (50 books)
Silver Star
250 points (25 books)
Bronze Star
100 points (10 books)
Red Star
50 points (5 books)
Blue Star
25 points (3 books)
Note: You can change all award-level requirements by adjusting the SRC!
settings in the Scholastic Achievement Manager.
Scholastic Reading Counts! Incentive Packages
Scholastic Reading Counts! offers incentive packages that can be redeemed
for points or given based on the number of books read. These items include
SRC! pens, highlighters, sticky notes, squeeze bottles, T-shirts, trophies,
ribbons, and other items students are sure to appreciate. Posters and banners
are also available to generate district- and schoolwide excitement. All of these
incentive products can be purchased through the Scholastic Reading Counts!
Awards and Incentives catalog, which can be requested by calling 1-800-2686871.
Of course, you don’t need to limit yourself to concrete rewards. Some of the
most successful SRC! classrooms or school libraries use a wide variety of
fun incentives to motivate reading success. You will find a number of ideas
beginning on page 77, and your students are sure to come up with a few of
their own!
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Managing Scholastic Reading Counts!
You will find hundreds of ways to adapt Scholastic Reading Counts! into
your current teaching strategies, whether on a district, school, individual
classroom, or library media center level. Every administrator, teacher, library
media specialist, reading specialist, and school manages Scholastic Reading
Counts! differently. This section of the Educator’s Guide is intended to provide
an introductory overview of some successful management strategies. Keep in
mind that there are no mandatory guidelines to follow. You can easily adapt
any of these ideas to create an innovative and effective reading program.
MANAGEMENT
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MANAGEMENT
Role of School or District Administrators
Scholastic Reading Counts! is enhanced with features that enable
administrators at both the district and school levels to supervise and monitor
program use and student progress to whatever degree suits their individual
needs. Use the following suggestions as a starting point for your administration
of SRC!
Manage
• Make sure the program is set up properly for use throughout the
district. Speak to the technical coordinator about any issues arising
from installation. After the program is up and running, contact teachers
and library media specialists about how you can help them implement
and facilitate successful use of the program. Contact your Scholastic
representative and visit the Scholastic Reading Counts! Web site to
keep abreast of training and professional development opportunities,
quiz-matching options such as the MyLibrary service, and special quiz
purchasing initiatives designed to foster community involvement such
as the Scholastic Adopt-a-Quiz program.
Monitor
• Monitor program usage and student progress by regularly reviewing
the special administrator-only reports available through the Scholastic
Achievement Manager. The Participation Summary Report provides data
on student enrollment and the number of quizzes taken and passed for
schools in a district and for grades within individual schools. The Books
Read Summary Report and the Points Summary Report provides—for
schools in a district, grades within a school, and for individual
teachers—data on number of students, average books read/points
earned per student, total words read per school, grade, or teacher, and,
when appropriate, average student Lexile and average book Lexile.
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Books Read Summary Report
Participation Summary Report
GRADE: GRADE 5
DISTRICT: DISTRICT TWELVE
School: The Lincoln School
MANAGEMENT
PROGRESS
MONITORING
Time Period: 09/01/04 – 02/02/05
Time Period: 09/01/04 – 02/02/05
Schools: 4
Teachers: 64
Students: 1,354
Teachers: 4
Students: 80
TEACHERS
STUDENTS ENROLLED
QUIZZES TAKEN
Quincy School
SCHOOL
16
320
South Middle School
16
336
3,483
3,559
Taft School
17
374
3,623
QUIZZES PASSED
3,302
The Lincoln School
15
324
3,300
3,105
TOTALS
64
1,354
125,965
124,628
3,089
3,302
STUDENTS
AVG.
STUDENT
LEXILE®
AVG. BOOK
LEXILE®
AVG.
BOOKS
PER
STUDENT
TOTAL WORDS
READ
Maglari, Thomas
720
22
620
640
10.0
365,933
Greene, Sarah
700
20
600
620
11.0
280,125
Bentley, Elizabeth
680
20
650
600
8.0
Velasco, Juan
650
18
610
610
10.0
261,440
80
620
(AVG.)
617.5
(AVG.)
9.75
(AVG.)
9,682,771
TEACHER
TOTALS
NUMBER OF BOOKS READ
687.5
Using This Report
Using This Report
Purpose: This report provides data on the number of points earned by a
district, school, grade, or class.
Purpose: This report provides data on the number of books read by a district,
school, grade, or class.
Follow-Up: Identify groups that are performing less than optimally in the
SRC! program and intervene accordingly. Congratulate and offer further
encouragement to groups that are doing well.
Follow-Up: Identify schools or classes that are not participating in the
program according to expectations.
Printed by: District Administrator
Copyright © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
Page 1 of 1
Printed on: 2/2/2005
Printed by: District Administrator
Copyright © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
Page 1 of 1
275,273
Printed on: 2/2/20045
Motivate
• Use your position to help motivate students to succeed in SRC!
Possibilities include acknowledging student achievement by making
regular announcements regarding the program over the school PA
system, issuing “administrator challenges” to selected students or
groups of students in which you offer a special reward for a designated
level of quiz success, offering to host end-of-year celebrations in which
overall student success is highlighted.
“Tricia Melgaard, our school librarian, has used Reading Counts! as a
way to draw in even the most reluctant reader. Each month, she and I
deliver the students’ reading awards—accompanied by a giant candy
bar—to their classrooms. Mrs. Melgaard uses the Reading Counts!
data to dazzle the students with the number of words read and other
fun facts that keep the fires of reading burning! We’re thrilled with the
success of our Reading Counts! readers!”
—Amy Fichtner, Principal,
Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
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MANAGEMENT
Role of Library Media Specialists
The following are strategies a library media specialist can use to implement
Scholastic Reading Counts! effectively. Choose those strategies that work best
for you. You may also wish to review the Role of Teachers/Reading Specialists
section beginning on page 73 for further ideas.
Maintaining an Effective Library
If you are thinking of expanding your library, Scholastic Reading Counts!
features can help.
• The Book Frequency & Rating Report (indicating class favorites) can
help you decide how many of each title you need.
• Book Expert can help identify books that will broaden your library to
include a full range of genres, reading levels, curriculum themes, and
cultures.
• The MyLibrary service is a convenient way to have the books you
already have in your library matched with SRC! quizzes—all done
for you by Scholastic Reading Counts! Contact your Scholastic
representative for information on this cost-effective, time-saving
solution.
Managing Your Library Media Center
• Organize Your Library Media Center Use Scholastic Reading Counts!
book labels to identify books in the program. Consider organizing books
by reading level, genre, theme, or topic. See page 83 for more ideas.
• Display Books Creatively Feature SRC! books in a media center
display, school showcases, and other high-traffic areas.
• Establish a Quiz Schedule Allow students to take quizzes at any time
throughout the school day or create a sign-up sheet if necessary. Ask
students to sign up for 3–5 minute time slots for taking Scholastic
Reading Counts! quizzes. (You might suggest that ESL readers or
students with special needs sign up for two consecutive time slots.)
See page 73 for more ideas on organizing quiz administration.
• Update Records Edit MARC records in your online library catalogs to
help students find SRC! titles in the library media center.
• Order Quizzes and Books Use Book Expert to identify books that will
broaden and enrich your holdings. Create your own customized quiz
collection of 30 titles to order. Use Scholastic’s MyLibrary service to
match your existing books to quizzes.
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Supporting Students
• Provide Demonstrations Introduce students to the program through
group or individual demonstrations.
• Set Goals Work with students to establish personal or reading
group goals. Goals can include number of books read, number of
points earned, and, for students also enrolled in Scholastic Reading
Inventory™, progress in moving up the Lexile scale.
• Help Students Select Appropriate Books Use Book Expert to locate
titles that match a students’ reading levels and interests or what they
are studying in class. Encourage them to select their own books, too.
• Acknowledge Achievement Print and display award certificates
as well as SRC! reports that highlight progress and success to help
motivate students. Hold award ceremonies.
• Organize After-School Discussion Groups or Book Clubs Select a
topic of current or seasonal interest and compile reading lists using
Book Expert recommendations. Students might read the same book or
different books on related topics, sharing their reading experiences.
Involving Others
• Keep Teachers Informed Send teachers a full complement of reports
for the classes, groups, and individual students.
• Notify Administrators Send progress monitoring reports to inform
administrators of student progress.
• Develop Scholastic Reading Counts! Campaigns Use SRC! as a way
to get the entire school excited about reading. Create posters, bulletin
displays, or newsletters to get everyone involved.
• Involve Parents Send home reports, such as the Parent Reports,
the Quiz Success Report, and the Student Reading Report, to involve
parents in student progress. Open the library during parent/teacher
evenings and demonstrate the program to parents. Keep a list of the
most popular SRC! books by grade available for parents.
• Involve Parent/Teacher Organizations Contact the officers of your
school’s parent-teacher organization and ask if they would like to make
SRC! one of their initiatives. The organization can buy special “PTA/
PTO” quiz collections for each grade, host SRC! reading competitions,
or help organize your rewards/incentives programs. Ask your Scholastic
representative about using the Adopt-a-Quiz program to generate funds
for purchasing quizzes.
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MANAGEMENT
Role of Teachers/Reading Specialists
Here are some ways you can make Scholastic Reading Counts! an integral and
effective part of your classroom or reading lab. Choose those strategies that
work best for you.
Managing Your Classroom
• Check Software Make sure that Scholastic Reading Counts! is installed
on your system. Check that you have the quizzes you need.
• Order Quizzes and Books Use Book Expert to identify books that will
broaden your SRC! library. Order duplicates of popular titles. Order
preset quiz collections that include 30 titles from the catalog, or order
your own customized quiz disk using Book Expert.
• Set Up a Scholastic Reading Counts! Library Display books by
reading level, genre, topic, author, Lexile, or any way your library is
organized. Create classroom posters to encourage reading. Make sure
you have books representing all your students’ interests and reading
levels.
• Organize Reading Groups Set up student reading groups to target
specific reading goals. Groups might be organized by reading level,
theme, topic, or skill.
• Facilitate Reading Time in Class Set aside time each day for
independent, shared, and instructional reading. Encourage students to
contribute their own suggestions for shared reading activities.
• Encourage Reading Response Provide a variety of opportunities in
which students respond to books read.
Organize Quiz Taking
• Designate certain time periods as those when students are permitted
to take quizzes. You may wish to have one morning and one afternoon
time period for quiz taking. Rotate on a daily basis the period in which
students can take a quiz. For example, students with a last name
beginning with A–L can take quizzes during the morning period on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (as needed). Students with last
names beginning with M–Z take their quizzes in the afternoon on those
days and in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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• Keep a sign-up sheet for quiz taking with five-minute time slots posted
near your desk.
• Allow students to take quizzes in the order in which they hand in their
books to you.
• Be the gatekeeper of students’ passwords (no one knows their own
password). When students want to take a quiz they must have the
teacher or library media specialist type in their passwords before they
can begin. This lets you maintain control of the quiz schedule and
prevents students from taking quizzes for others.
• Depending on your classroom schedule, you may wish to allow students
to take quizzes freely throughout the day.
“Reading Counts! is the #1 reading incentive at our school. Our
students are excellent readers, and they are always clamoring to take
a test when they have finished reading a book. They are so excited
when we receive tests for new books. Students enjoy participating
in Reading Counts! Because of the quick assessment and feedback
it supplies. The faculty appreciates the variety in test questions,
which helps provide test security as well as in authentic measure of
assessment.”
—Lindsey Anderson, Library/Media Specialist,
Woodland Middle School, Brentwood, Tennessee
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MANAGEMENT
Supporting Students
• Set Goals Work with students to establish personal, group, and class
reading goals. Goals can include number of books read, number of
points earned, and, for students also enrolled in Scholastic Reading
Inventory, progress in moving up the Lexile scale.
• Encourage Use of Recommended Reading Lists Make sure students
consult the Recommended Reading Lists they generate during quiz
sessions to plan their future reading choices.
• Recommend Books Use Book Expert to create your own personalized
reading lists for each student, group, or class based on their reading
level. Do “book talks” on books that relate to a curriculum unit.
• Encourage Student Involvement Have students select their own
books, too. Choosing books helps build confidence, motivates reading,
and correlates with reading success.
• Model Appropriate Reading Behavior During instructional reading,
demonstrate reading strategies that aid comprehension.
• Be a Role Model Read the books students are reading, take quizzes,
and talk about books regularly. Display the number of books read/points
earned for each teacher or librarian.
• Motivate Reading Create a motivational corner displaying appropriate
reports, student work, and other reading materials.
• Monitor Progress Use the Scholastic Reading Counts! reports to find
out how students are doing and to provide the support they need. Keep
a reading portfolio for each student.
• Confer With Students Hold student/teacher conferences at
regularly scheduled intervals. Use the reports to discuss and assess
performance.
• Intervene When Necessary Use the Alerts report category to
determine when intervention is necessary.
• Hold Award Ceremonies Plan culminating award ceremonies, parties,
auctions, and book fairs to reward student achievement.
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Involving Others
• Make Library Media Center Recommendations Send the Book
Frequency and Rating Report to the library media specialist to highlight
popular titles. Use Book Expert to suggest books for purchase.
• Notify Administrators Send progress monitoring reports to inform
administrators of student progress.
• Involve Parents Send home reports, such as the Parent Reports,
the Quiz Success Report, and the Student Reading Report, to involve
parents in student progress. During parent/teacher evenings,
demonstrate the program to parents. Keep a list of the most popular
Scholastic Reading Counts! books by grade available for parents.
If possible, post student recommended reading lists on the school
Web site so parents can access the lists online.
• Involve Parent/Teacher Organizations Contact the officers of your
school’s parent-teacher organization and ask if they would like to make
SRC! one of their initiatives. The organization can buy special “PTA/
PTO” quiz collections for each grade, host SRC! reading competitions,
or help organize your rewards/incentives programs. Ask your Scholastic
representative about using the Adopt-a-Quiz program to generate funds
for purchasing SRC! quizzes.
• Encourage the Use of SRC! in After-School Programs Scholastic
Reading Counts! can be a wonderful choice for use in after-school
programs in your school. Students enrolled in your classes or groups
can use their after-school time to complete SRC! activities. Alternately,
students in after-school programs may be enrolled as separate groups
and complete work in SRC! separately. Contact your administrator or
the after-school coordinator to discuss different options for using SRC!
throughout the entire school day.
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MANAGEMENT
Building an Incentive Program
Building a strong incentive program motivates everyone to succeed and
participate in the fun! Involve students, teachers, librarians, administrators,
and parents in the reading excitement. Here are some ideas to consider as you
build an incentive program in your school.
• Acknowledge achievement regularly. Your recognition can be as easy
as printing an award certificate, treating your students to an in-class
celebration, or posting students’ names on a wall in your classroom.
• Keep the momentum going by regularly posting updates of your
students’, groups’, classes’, or school’s point or book accumulation
in a place where everyone can see. Update the point or book status
on a weekly basis, announce it over the PA system, or include it in a
Scholastic Reading Counts! newsletter.
• Plan schoolwide incentives (if your entire school is participating in
SRC!). Hold a competition between classes and announce winners at a
school assembly.
• Plan a special end-of-the-year treat and hint at what it might be to
motivate students to read.
• Do not require students to redeem points for every incentive.
• Use incentives to foster a sense of teamwork and cooperation between
students in reading groups and classes, or a school. Challenging
another school in your district to an SRC! competition is a good way to
build school spirit.
• Ensure that all students achieve some measure of success. Adjust
award levels so all can partake in the fun of the rewards. Additionally,
reward students for different reading accomplishments, such as
reaching a reading goal, writing a quiz, reading from multiple genres
and about various topics, demonstrating mastery of reading skills in a
written or oral response to a book, improving the most as a reader, or
acquiring new vocabulary words.
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• Balance the incentive program with material and non-material rewards
(activities, ceremonies, hallway displays, and so on).
• Create a theme or slogan that adds to the excitement of participating
in Scholastic Reading Counts! For example, you might use the slogan
“Reading Across the Country” and tailor your use of the program to the
slogan. (You could then create a hallway display that begins with your
state and continues through the rest of the fifty states. Students gain
entrance to each state based on the number of books read or points
earned, with each state being “worth” a certain number of books or
points.) Plan further activities that support or build on the slogan or
theme.
• Invite students to come up with incentive ideas of their own. Adjust and
use those you feel are appropriate.
• Motivate all school personnel and the community to get involved. Ask
community businesses and organizations to donate services or goods
for rewards.
“Area businesses sponsor with the program for the end of the
year activity that we hold for all the students who have achieved a
‘bronze’ medal. We have a carnival with games, food, and prizes
for all the students who have earned the medal. The businesses
donated certificates for free admission to amusement parks, dinner
certificates, games, books, computer software, stationery, and a lot
more!”
— Candy Reyes, Library/Media Specialist,
El Rancho Elementary School, Chino, California
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Incentives
Allow students to redeem earned points for specific incentives, or provide
incentives based on the number or type of books read. Regardless of whether
you choose to use points or not, consider offering some rewards that don’t
require students to redeem points. All of the following incentive programs can
be used independently, or in conjunction with a Scholastic Reading Counts!
incentive package (see page 68).
Motivating Reading
Here are a few motivational strategies you might try. Points are not needed for
most of these.
• Wall of Fame Create a hallway display showing reward levels, with
students’ names listed for the whole school to see.
• Scholastic Reading Counts! Bookshelf Allow students to decorate
a book cover for every book they read, or for their favorite books. Ask
them to include the book title, author, and their name. Post the covers
on a wall display to create a classroom or hallway “bookshelf.”
• Book Club Encourage students to form book clubs to discuss books
read.
• Reader Roster Announce once or twice a month the five highest
achievers or those students who have made the most progress in the
class.
• Raising the “Bar” Compile student results—books read, points
earned, etc.—into bar graphs to post on class bulletin boards or in
hallways.
• Book Preview Have small groups of students work together to preview
a book before beginning their individual reading. Students can make,
then compare predictions about the book.
• Reading Thermometer Indicate each class’s or grade’s progress
toward their reading goal by showing the number of books read on a
large reading thermometer. Continually adjust the “temperature” as
students read more and more!
• Book Reviews on Air Contact your local radio station and request time
for one student per grade to deliver a book review each month.
• Reading Pentathlon Broaden student reading by having students read
books in five categories of your choice (history, science, biography,
etc.). Bronze medalists read one book in each category, Silver medalists
read two, and Gold medalists read three.
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• Extra Credit Provide extra credit to students for surpassing their
reading goal, authoring a quiz, or forming a book club.
• School Prizes Allow students to earn prizes, such as free tickets to an
athletic event, a school play, or the prom.
• Scholastic Reading Counts! Newsletter Have students write a
bimonthly newsletter reviewing books read, listing top performing
readers, announcing incentives, and covering reading or literacy
projects.
Celebrating Results
Plan special ceremonies or activities to encourage student achievement.
• Academy Awards Have students nominate their favorite books and
authors in each genre. Hold a class vote and announce the winners at
the ceremony.
• VIP Lunch Invite students or groups to lunch with the principal, a
teacher, library media specialist, or class parent.
• Read Aloud Day Invite parents, teachers, librarians, the principal, local
authors, or community mentors to read aloud their favorite children’s
book and discuss it with students. Students can also read their favorite
books to the invited guests.
• Book Banquets Reward students with an ice-cream social, pizza party,
or other class event.
• Teacher Challenge Give students a chance to beat their teacher at a
game of their choice (such as chess, checkers, or Trivial Pursuit®). You
might offer an additional prize if they win!
“I kept a chart where I would put stars for every 50,000 words a
student read. It was easy to keep track with the Reading Counts!
program. At the end of the year, all of my students who made the
“million word club” got to enjoy a pizza party during lunch, on me!
The kids were excited to have a goal and I was excited that they were
reading!”
— Cindy Bowers, Classroom Teacher,
McGarvin Intermediate School, Westminster, California
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MANAGEMENT
Redeeming Points
If you are using points, they can be redeemed at any time and in any way you
choose. Here are some suggestions for when and how you can redeem points
in your school. Please note that the suggestions are optional.
When Do I Redeem Points?
• Redeem points as often or infrequently as you choose. Once a month,
every other month, once a term, or once a year to minimize the amount
of time you need to spend organizing point redemptions.
• Try coordinating point redemption with your school’s book fair.
• Plan point redemptions around holidays, vacations, birthdays, or special
occasions.
• Redeem points at the end of an SRC! award ceremony.
• Give students rewards at the end of the day. This prevents them from
losing the rewards or being distracted during the school day.
• Acknowledge student achievement on a more regular basis than
redeeming points. Giving out award certificates, holding reader
recognition ceremonies, announcing students’ names on the PA system,
and posting students names on a “wall of fame”—all of which do
not require points to be exchanged—can be done on a weekly or bimonthly basis.
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How Do I Redeem Points?
• Print the Points Status Report through the Scholastic Achievement
Manager a day before students redeem points to prepare for and
monitor their point redemption. Share the report with students so that
they can see how many points they have earned, how many they have
used, and how many they have available.
• Determine the point value of each of the rewards/incentives. Make sure
that all students can succeed with the point values you choose.
• Invite a parent volunteer or teaching aide to help you with the point
redemptions.
• Redeem points at a “Store” (in the library media center, classroom,
the cafeteria, or auditorium) where you display the SRC! incentives
(bookmarks, sticky notes, key rings, ribbons, trophies, pencils, T-shirts,
etc.) that are featured in the Scholastic Reading Counts! Awards and
Incentives catalog. Students proceed to a “checkout counter” to redeem
their points.
• Keep a display case in the hallway that shows the Scholastic Reading
Counts! incentive items, along with their point values. Have students
submit a piece of paper with their points, the number of points they’d
like to use, the number of points that they’ll have left over, and a list of
the items they’d like to receive a few days before your point redemption
is planned.
• Give students the items at the end of the day in a bag with their name
on it to prevent confusion (regardless of whether you use a store or
display case).
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Organizing a Scholastic Reading Counts! Library
Scholastic Reading Counts! books can be organized any way you choose.
Here are some tips you can consider for either your library media center or
classroom collection. Select those ideas that work the best for you.
• Integrate the books into your main collection (many of the books may
already be there prior to your decision to use Scholastic Reading
Counts!).
• Place the books on specially designated SRC! shelves. Have students
create SRC! signs for the shelves.
• Fill different colored crates with books from your various quiz
collections; label each crate by the books inside.
• Keep a list of SRC! books at the front desk of the library, in a file in the
classroom, or posted on the wall so students can consult the list prior
to selecting a book.
• Use SRC! book labels to identify the books.
• Color code the books to differentiate them by grade.
• Organize books by theme, topic, genre, or author.
• Encourage your students to select both SRC! and non-SRC! books.
The Classroom Library as a Motivational Environment
Generating excitement about reading is crucial in Scholastic Reading Counts!
Consider these tips to help you create a motivational environment that will
foster reading excitement and reading success.
• Display the 20 most popular student-rated books (by class or grade) on
a separate shelf, in a way similar to what you would see at a bookstore.
If you like, post student book rating reports nearby.
• Highlight new SRC! books in the library by leading introductory book
talks with small groups of students.
• Encourage students to write book reviews on the books they read.
Compile the reviews into a Scholastic Reading Counts! newsletter or
make them available in a centrally located file in the library. Distribute
copies of the newsletter and/or the reviews to students.
• Ask students to orally deliver creative book advertisements to their
classmates.
• Help students who need assistance find books that appeal to their
interests and suit their reading level.
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• Ask students for their feedback in expanding the library: which titles
would they like to see, on what topics, by what authors, and so on.
Keep a running list centrally displayed and take it into consideration
before ordering new books and quizzes.
• Host lunchtime book clubs and other fun reading related activities in the
library.
• Decorate the library media center/classroom library according to
different themes that tie into holidays or students’ interests; showcase
a range of books that promote the theme.
• Create a comfortable, quiet environment for reading to take place.
• Promote books that represent all reading levels and interests.
• Post notifications and examples of students’ reading achievement in the
classroom library area.
• Give students ownership over their reading and let them succeed on
their own.
Keeping Track of Your Classroom Library
The following are some suggestions for keeping track of books and making
sure that they stay in circulation.
• Create a “just returned” area for Scholastic Reading Counts! books.
Popular titles will be snapped up before you have a chance to reshelve
them.
• Set up a system to monitor book circulation. Keep a sign-out log or use
an electronic database for checking out books.
• Glue a card pocket in the back of each book. Have students sign their
name to the inserted card and hand it in to you when they check out a
book. File those cards in a file box. When students have completed the
book, they hand it in along with a book summary. The teacher places
the card back in the pocket and crosses out the student’s name.
• Enlist student volunteers to assist in the organization of the library.
Students can help keep track of circulation, and reshelve returned
books according to whatever system you have chosen to display and
stock books.
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