Getting your students to read and a freebie!

Have you ever had a conversation with a colleague where they complained about something, but wouldn't change it?  I probably am guilty of that too, but weekly or monthly reading logs are one battle I hear about but refuse to join.

Maybe it's because I remember signing a week's worth of logs all on one night, knowing that my kids had read.  Maybe not for 20 minutes a night, or whatever the goal was, but knowing that my kids were readers.  Those logs were a pain for me to fill out, and I'm a teacher who loves to get kids to read!  Imagine getting a parent to sign those who doesn't care about whether their child reads at night, or is working, or too busy to do it.  We all have those kids in our classrooms.

I find that meeting with each of my students every week or two teaches me what they're reading, how much they're reading, what their strengths and weaknesses are - we take it from there.  And besides, the kids LOOOOVE meeting one-on-one with me!  They remind me about their appointments every day!

Now that doesn't mean that I don't hold them accountable for reading.  I do.  I just like to find ways that don't feel like such a chore for them.

With this challenge (which can be done in any month) you determine how long you want your students to read to earn a leaf.  My students read for half an hour.  Once they complete the activity on the leaf, they can cut it out, color it, and then glue or tape it to their tree.  There are 18 different activities each child can complete.

When children turn in these logs, usually at the end of the month in my room, we usually celebrate.  Sometimes it's a food treat, sometimes we go outside.

For today and tomorrow only, this product will be offered free on my TpT store!  The only thing I ask if you download it, is that you leave me some love!

Oh, and if you haven't yet joined our linky about healthy breakfasts, go to this post  and join us!

Have a great Friday!