Kindergarten is a year of tremendous growth! My students are learning how to become readers while also learning how to be successful members of our classroom community.
The goal of Paws for Progress! is to motivate and celebrate students as they make progress toward reading goals and demonstrate positive behavior. Desk pets and other small incentives will give students something fun to work toward as they learn new skills, make good choices, show kindness, work hard, and persevere when something is difficult.
I want my students to understand that progress is something to be proud of and that their effort and choices make a difference.
Students will have opportunities throughout the year to earn desk pets(small eraser animals), accessories, and other small prizes for meeting reading goals and demonstrating our school PBIS expectations.
Reading goals will be appropriate for each stage of kindergarten. Students may be celebrated for mastering letters and sounds, learning sight words, using phonics skills to read new words, or reaching individual reading milestones on iReady. This allows every child to experience success while still being challenged to keep growing.
Students will also be recognized for positive classroom choices such as showing kindness, being responsible, following directions, helping others, working hard, and persevering.
Desk pets will add an element of fun that is especially exciting for five- and six-year-olds. Students can earn a pet and continue working toward accessories and other small rewards as they make progress throughout the year.
Young children love to celebrate their accomplishments! Paws for Progress! will help students see that their hard work, good choices, and reading growth are noticed and valued.
The incentives will give students an extra reason to keep trying, especially when a new reading skill or classroom expectation is challenging. Just as importantly, this project allows me to focus attention on the positive things happening in our classroom and celebrate progress rather than expecting perfection.
I will monitor student progress through reading assessments, sight-word and phonics checks, individual reading goals, PBIS expectations, and classroom observations.
My hope is that students will become excited about reaching their next goal and experience the pride of being able to say, “I did it!”
These grant funds will be used to purchase desk pets, desk pet accessories, reading incentives, and small age-appropriate prizes.
These incentives will be used throughout the school year to celebrate students for reaching reading goals, demonstrating positive behavior, showing perseverance, and making choices that help our classroom be a happy and successful place to learn.
The rewards may be small, but for a kindergartener, they can make reaching a new goal feel very big!
