Do you ever have ideas that wake you up in the middle of the night, leaving your thoughts running wild… ultimately not letting you go back to sleep??? Well, that’s what happened to me early Saturday morning. I randomly woke up with a challenge to keep my students reading over Spring Break, which led me to creating a Spring Break Bucket List...
While I was creating it, I kept the students and teachers out there in mind. I wanted to offer a variety of challenges so that teachers could choose which challenge they wanted to use, and possibly use it more than once a year.
There are three challenges included…. a top ten reading challenge for a shorter break, and 2 ABC reading challenges for a longer break (maybe Christmas or Summer Break). I also tried to keep it open-ended so that teachers could choose how many of the options their particular students should complete. Students highlight the completed tasks, and keep track of their challenge on the last page of their bucket list challenge.
I don’t believe that it’s always necessary to reward students, however, I do believe that participation increases if students realize there is an incentive. Rewards don’t have to cost the teacher money, nor do they have to be extravagant! You can check out some free rewards I posted HERE
I also sometimes reward with simple gifts from the dollar store like I did here with my students’ summer learning packs. You can read more about that HERE.
Sometimes a simple certificate will do the trick, so I’ve also included these printables in the pack! I always keep these and file away for the assembly at the end of the year.
And, this resource can be used throughout the entire school year. There are buckets and seasonal toppers for each break so that your students can create the specific bucket they need. Or, there is just a regular bucket that can be used for easier assembly 🙂 No matter which you decide to use, here is how you put it together:
1. Students cut out their buckets, challenge, and recording sheet.
2. Glue the bucket and topper together.
3. Staple the challenge and recording sheet behind the bucket.
That’s it!
You can find all you need HERE to get your students ready to read!
5 Responses
Great Idea Ms. Lemons! Thank you for sharing! 😀
This is a great idea!
Jamie
Teaching Tidbits and More with Jamie
How fun!! Love the astrobright colored paper you used!!
Love the Bucket List idea! Must try it!
♥ Stephanie
FishingforEducation.com
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Becca
adventuresofbeccasclassroom.wordpress.com