Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.
Since I first read Donalyn Miller’s book The Book Whisperer, I have implemented the 40 book challenge. I teach 1st-6th grade gifted kids. These kids are usually readers when they walk into my classroom. My bulletin board houses sticker charts all year long. Students add a sticker for every book they read. Every nine weeks grading period I remind them to update their charts, but other than this, I leave them alone.
I do not believe in gimmicks to get kids to read. What I do believe in is finding space to read every day and knowing a student well enough to place a just-right book into their hands. My students have not all met the challenge, but this year a majority of them did. This week we colored bubble numbers celebrating their achievements.
This Animoto video is a showy one. I didn’t get a posed picture will all of my kids, but here are a few proud readers. Enjoy!
Reflections on the Teche 