March is Reading Month! Throughout March, reading is celebrated in schools and libraries. Many organizations will promote Reading Month with programs that reward students for reading books.
Take advantage of this opportunity to encourage students’ reading habits and accomplishments! As students are challenged to read more during March, teachers and librarians should also be challenged to practice more student recognition. Recognizing students’ accomplishments can encourage reading during March and beyond.
It’s important to encourage students as they participate in Reading Month and at the conclusion of the program. When students receive recognition throughout the program, they’ll be more motivated to continue with the program and achieve the goal.
Motivate Students during Reading Month
Create your March is Reading Month program with
Tokens of Appreciation and incorporate student recognition and incentives. Customize your favorite token with the school or program’s logo, and design your own incentive structure. As students earn tokens for reading books, they can redeem them for small gifts, such as pencils, bookmarks, and candy. This also helps track how many books each student has finished.
Instead of Tokens of Appreciation, give students a
Milestone charm they can attach to their backpack, key chain, or shoe laces when they meet a program goal. Each time a student earns a Milestone, enter their name into a drawing for a larger prize, such as a gift card or electronic device.
Give Student Recognition at the End of Reading Month
At the end of the month, recognize all the students who participated in Reading Month with a
certificate celebrating the number of books they read. Host your own award ceremony and present the certificates to students. For outstanding achievement, recognize students with a
student trophy. Add the student’s name to the engraved plate and select a reading emblem to make the trophy personal to the student.
To make a big impact on the students, invite parents, friends, and family to attend your award ceremony. The public recognition will reinforce the positive benefits of reading and make students life-long readers!
Recognition reinforces behaviors that you want to see repeated. When students are recognized for their reading accomplishments, they’ll be more likely to continue reading long after Reading Month is over!