Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Competing to Read
For my multi-genre research paper I am taking a look at reading incentive programs such as Pizza Hut's Book It! program and Accelerated reader. I want to see how these programs promote reading compared to more standard approaches like read alouds in class, reader's workshop, and being read to as a child by an adult figure. I have a personal attachment to this topic because as a child I loved these reading incentive programs mentioned above. I was a very active reader when I was in elementary school. I was also very tall and clumsy with my long limbs. It is because of this that I was not very athletic until junior high so the one thing I did excel in was reading. I loved the incentive programs because it was finally something I was good at and these programs gave me something I could show for it. Now, the question is, was I good at reading and excelled in these programs because my parents always made reading a very important aspect of growing up? I was always read to as a child and it was usually one of my favorite activities. Of course, there are going to be some students who do not excel in these programs and may not like reading because of it. But with that being said, there are some students who do not excel in P.E. or music, but the school district does not do away with those programs. I am not sure what my personal stance is on keeping these programs in schools (I am constantly going back and forth with arguments), but I am hoping my research will form a clear path for me. I am excited to see how my paper comes together!
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I am very excited too! I was also apart of both programs: Pizza Hut's Book It! program and Accelerated reader program. I only wanted the prize and I knew that required reading. But I did not like reading. So I figured out how to only read parts of a book then take the test and guess. In the accelerated reading program the goals was to pick up the book that was the thickest and try to take that quiz. I am glad to hear that you were actually doing the programs as they were intended.
ReplyDeleteBy chance as you stated above you did not excel in sports, but did you play any in elementary?
As a parent, I have mixed feelings. What I don't like about the Book It! program is that it brings an element of commercialism into the classroom. Also, since my kids both love to read, incentivizing something they already do sends a bad message about getting rewarded for something they should be doing anyway. We've had different teachers track for the award differently, but it's always just one more thing to remember to write down or check off at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent of children with food allergies, Book It! was tough. My son can't eat pizza at Pizza Hut, so we had to come up with suitable rewards that he could pay for with his certificate each month. It sounds like no big deal, but it was just one more thing that made him different. Plus, it wasn't really motivating for him to be given something he couldn't use. I realize that this only affects a small number of classrooms, but it's something to consider for the years you do have food allergy kids in your class.
My daughter loves pizza and she loves to read, so a match made in heaven, right? But since her teacher made her keep track of her books on her own she just decided to stop.
From other parents whose kids are not great readers, they tell me that they never worked toward the reading goals with their kids because it was just too hard. The nagging involved to get their kids to read got annoying.
So I wonder if you're finding out that lots of kids are motivated by reward programs or just some of them? I'm looking forward to seeing what you find out. My perspective is limited to the kids we know and the school they go to.
I loved the pizza hut program because I was given a button and special stickers. I agree with Patti on how using food vouchers as a reward restricts some students from their final prize. I didn't have allergies, but my folks were extremely busy. I recall not being able to get my personal pan sometimes because my parents couldn't take me to Pizza Hut before the coupon expired.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't introduced to AR until high school. The librarians offered extremely nice rewards, gift cards to the mall or bookstore. The max you could earn was $200. Then you were allowed to start over as many times as you wanted. Despite the prizes, the librarian told me that very few students did AR because no one had time or interest to read classic books. If people had read a book because of school, they didn't feel like taking the MC test. I do know that there were some students who took advantage of a high-incentive reading program and benefited! Financially, I don't think it is realistic for most schools to give away $5 for every few books read by each student.
Cannot wait to hear what you come up with.
The Pizza Hut deal sounds like loads of fun, but I'm a bit ambivalent about the commercialism as well. I remember the Summer Reading programs at the library that I used to participate in and the Scholastic Books where you would receive incentives like more books or posters. I think I might like these better because the program promoted not just reading but also the Library! I'm a big fan of libraries and they've been under fire for quite some time financially. I guess I would just be more inclined to do an institution based (library, bookmobile)program with my kids than a commercial one.
ReplyDeleteI loved Pizza Hut Book It! as a child because I also loved reading! It was so awesome to get those personal sized pizzas! I always thought these programs were great, however, this last summer I took a class which basically told me my opinion on the incentive programs was wrong! I couldn't believe it! The course I took explained these programs as programs that only benefit children who are already good readers and find great enjoyment in the activity. These programs do nothing for the child that can't read well or find little to no enjoyment in the activity. These children will just choose not to read and the point of the program is to encourage reading. Even though I was shown how incentive programs only benefit the children who really don't need an incentive to read, I still have positive memories from the program!
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