Marlton Elementary School's Reading Incentive Program for 2006-2007

Strong reading skills set the stage for your child’s successful education and prepares your child for life long success. Because reading is so important, we are glad to announce that we will continue our reading incentive program this year. The goal of the program is to motivate and reward students for their reading accomplishments as well as make pre-readers eager to begin reading on their own.

Here is how the reading incentive works:

• The state requires every child to read at least 25 books a year. Therefore, every student at Marlton, grades kindergarten – sixth, is required to read books monthly. Since picture books are short in length, students in grades K – 3 are required to read at least 20 picture books monthly. Students in grades 4 – 6 are required to read at least 3 chapter books monthly. Keep in mind that some teachers have set their classroom-reading goal higher than the school’s reading goal.
• At the beginning of the month when a reading goal is met for the prior month, the teacher will give each student a reward. We will kick off the year with a reading challenge. For August and September, students in grades K-3 that read at least 20 picture books and students in grades 4-6 that read at least 10 books, 3 chapter and 7 picture books, will receive a Happy Meal Certificate from McDonald’s. For October – March, students will earn a pizza award certificate for meeting their goal. Your child may redeem this certificate at a Pizza Hut restaurant for a free, one-topping Personal Pan Pizza. From January to February, the students will be challenged to read an extra six hours beyond the normal reading goal to earn a Six Flag’s Ticket. During April and May, students will earn a variety of items including a ticket to a Bowie Baysox Game (one month only- to be announced) and a coupon to Uno Chicago Grill.
• The top 5 readers in every classroom will receive either a 25-cent coupon at the school store or a shiny Marlton Elementary School pencil that is provided by Marlton Elementary School PTA.
• Each classroom with 100% participation will receive a small treat sponsored by the Marlton’s PTA.
• For every classroom that has 100% participation for the months of October – May, the PTA will also sponsor a pizza party.
• You may want to visit http://www.bookitprogram.com for more information about the general program. For specific questions, please contact the classroom teacher or Mrs. Reed.

As you can see, the staff at Marlton is dedicated to helping students continue to acquire a love for reading, and this is most effective when parents get involved. Please feel free to monitor your child’s reading progress by periodically viewing the Reading Incentive Charts located in the Cafeteria Hallway or in your child’s classroom.

Your assistance is an essential element to your child’s success. You can help your child reach his/her goals by:

• reading together
• taking trips to the library or bookstore
• discussing the literature you have read
• tracking completion of the monthly book log
• offering praise as each goal is met.

Please keep in mind that the logs are collected and distributed at the beginning of the month. We encourage you to make reading a priority in your family and to play a part in helping your child develop this most important life skill.

Thank you very much for your ongoing assistance!
Mrs. Reed
Reading Specialist
Marlton Elementary School
2007