Monthly Archives: May 2011

Top 10 reading reward programs for summer 2011

Keep your kids reading this summer, and prevent summer loss, with these 10 great reading incentive programs:

  1. Barnes & Noble Summer Reading ProgramBarnes & Noble Summer Reading

    2. Kids must read any eight books this summer and record them in the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Imagination’s Destination Journal. They then bring their completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 24th and September 6th, 2011, and choose a free book from the book list
    featured on the back of the journal.

  2. Half-Price Books: Feed Your Brain

    3. Half Price Books Feed Your Brain

    For kids 14 and under. Get a Feed Your Brain Reading Log  and set a goal to read each day for at least 15 minutes or more throughout June and July. Grown-ups may read aloud for kids who are still learning.
    Kids add up minutes and have their parents or guardians initial at the end of each week. If kids read 600 minutes or more, they can turn in their reading log at Half Price Books July 25 – August 7 to receive $5 Back-to-School Bucks summer reading reward. One top reader per age group will receive a $20 HPB Gift Card.

  3. PBS Kids Raising ReadersPBS KIDS Raising Readers

    4. A free 6-week program to help children discover the joys of reading. You’ll receive: A daily email with fun activities to build reading skills, tricks and advice from your Challenge coach, great book suggestions for kids of all ages, tips from other parents taking the challenge, and a chance to […]

By |May 28th, 2011|Reading Rewards, Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Featured User Series: Meet Marissa!

I am so excited to introduce you to Marissa, my very first Reading-Rewards.com member who was in no way related to me! I still remember the email notification I received letting me know I had had my first RR registration. Let me just tell you, my family certainly remembers… :-)

Nearly 18 months and over 4,000 users later, Marissa has come out as one of my ‘best read’ members, with 279 books read, and 53 reviews. Marissa is not even 9 years old yet!!! I’m thrilled to see that she continues to use the site for her reading log.

I contacted Marissa to ask her a few questions:

Do you have an all-time favorite book? What sort of book do you generally enjoy?

Marissa: I don’t have an all-time favorite book.  I like adventure books and stories about girls.

Where is your favorite place to read? When you do usually read?

Marissa: I like to read in my bedroom.  I usually read before I go to bed.

Do you enjoy using the Reading Rewards website? What do you like about it? Could you tell us what would make it better?

Marissa: Yes I love the Reading Rewards website!  I like it because you earn time to play games and reward miles for prizes.  I also like that I can track all the books I have read and print them out to keep track of them.  Thank you for such a great reading tool!

You’re welcome Marissa! You have no idea how much it means to me that you continue to use the site, and more importantly, that you still enjoy it!

Here is a list of books Marissa has reviewed, pulled directly from her Reading-Rewards.com profile. Impressive, I am sure you’ll agree!

By |May 27th, 2011|Reading Rewards, Uncategorized|2 Comments
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How to run a great Summer Reading Program

How far would you go to get kids reading over the summer?

Mrs. Stoudenmire, a principal at Deerfield Windsor Lower School, in Georgia, has pledged to either kiss a pig, be in a human sundae or get dunked in a dunking booth if students read at least 250,000 minutes over the course of the summer.

Kathy Baker, Directory of Media Centers at Deerfield Windsor, recently found out about the Reading Rewards website, and set up a group for her 300+ students to use to help keep track of their summer reading. Between May 26 and  August 11, kids will log their daily reading minutes using the online reading log, and be able to share book reviews and keep track of what (and how much!) everybody is reading over the summer. Weekly mini games on the site add a little competitive incentive: the more they read, the better their chances of winning!

Kathy has this to say about the program:

“This is our first summer reading program where we have a goal and we are keeping up with the minutes the students are reading. We were so excited to find a way that the students could easily log their reading minutes online as they work towards our goal of 250,000 minutes over the summer. (This would have been a lot to add up if they had kept paper logs!) We love that the students will be able to share what they are reading with other students. What a great way for the kids to keep up with their classmates over the summer while getting them fired up about reading!”

Deerfield Windsor School is just one of many […]

By |May 19th, 2011|Reading Rewards, Uncategorized|1 Comment
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Featured User Series: Meet Gabriele

Welcome to the second post in our ‘Featured User’ series! I would like to introduce you to Gabriele, 10 1/2 years old, who has been a Reading Rewards member since September, 2010.

Gabriele has logged over 131 reading hours on our site (well done!!), and has reviewed 24 books. Great job!

We asked Gabriele to answer a couple of questions about RR:

Do you have an all-time favorite book? What sort of book do you generally enjoy?

A difficult question. My favourite books would be the Lord of the Rings series. The author, J.R.R. Tolkien, is one of the only authors capable of making me get lost in his spectacular imagination and uncomparable creativity.  Directly below him is Rick Riordan and Michael Scott. (Authors of Percy Jackson and Nicholas Flamel series).

As for what book topics I enjoy reading they would be fantasy, magic, , battles and friendship. A good example of an author who writes these kinds of books would be Christopher Paolini (the Inheritance series).

Where is your favorite place to read? When you do usually read?

Gabriele: My English teacher, Miss Layal allows the class to “silent read” for about 5-15 minutes. I read whenever I have the chance to.

Do you enjoy using the Reading Rewards website? What do you like about it? Could you tell us what would make it better?

Gabriele: Reading Rewards is extremely useful!!!  I can finally log in reading time without using paper and pencil. A brilliant idea! Children can earn rewards with the simple cost of reading!!!

You could improve Reading Rewards to its full extent by letting the kids chat […]

By |May 18th, 2011|Reviews, Uncategorized|3 Comments
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10 fantastic reading incentives that won’t cost you a penny!

I couldn’t resist, I had to take a look. What sort of incentives have parents and teachers been setting up on Reading Rewards? Kids log reading time, and earn ‘RR’ Miles by doing so (1 for every reading minute logged, up to a maximum of 90/day). Teachers and parents can then add custom rewards to kids’ very own RR Store. Once kids have earned enough RR Miles, they can ‘purchase’ their rewards. Kids love it!

So today, I checked it out. Lo and behold, the RR Store is full of wonderful ideas! What’s more, a lot of the rewards that teachers and parents set up don’t cost a cent. You know the saying ‘The best things in life are free’? Well, in this case, it’s true!

Here is my top 10 list of favorite reading incentives, pulled directly from the RR Store:

  1. Tickle session, 100 RR Miles

    2. For 100 RR Miles (100 reading minutes), this girl can buy a 5 minute tickle session with dad. Cute!

    Now personally, you could never pay me enough to indulge in a tickle session, it is the absolute worst thing you do to me. Seriously, you even come near me with your fingers in ‘tickle’ position, and I will go crazy. Just try it, and see for yourself, if you dare. But hey, this young girl obviously loves it, to each their own!

  2. Snuggle time with mom, 30 RR Miles

    3. In our house, we call them ‘cuddle sessions’. My boys, ages 10 and 12, will actually fight over who gets one. They literally want me IN THEIR BED, stroking their […]

By |May 13th, 2011|Reading Rewards, Reluctant readers, Uncategorized|4 Comments
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Reading Rewards Featured User Series: Meet Talitha!

Reading-Rewards.com was launched just over a year ago, and since then we have had just over 4,000 members join. We’re very excited! More than just an online reading log, Reading Rewards also encourages our young members to rate and review their books. These reviews can then be shared with other members, and help kids find great book recommendations.

I’ve wanted to profile some of our users for a while. I love reading their reviews: they often put a lot of time and effort into them, and I hope you enjoy them!

In this first of our ‘Featured User’ series, I would like to introduce you to Talitha, 13 years old, who has been a Reading Rewards member since April, 2010!

Talitha has logged over 246 reading hours on our site (well done!!), and has reviewed 47 books. That is quite an impressive reading list, I’m sure you’ll agree!

We asked Talitha to answer a couple of questions about RR and her reading habits:

Do you have an all-time favorite book? What sort of book do you generally enjoy?

Talitha: I like the Rangers Apprentice books. I enjoy adventure books.

Where is your favorite place to read? When you do usually read?

Talitha: My Bed. I read whenever I can, or when my mom doesn’t catch me :D .

Do you enjoy using the Reading Rewards website? What do you like about it? Could you tell us what would make it better?

Talitha: Yes. I like trying to get ahead of all my friends on the reading levels. I think that when you ask someone to be your friend you should be able to send them a message or something with the request.

Here is a list of Talitha’s book reviews, pulled directly from […]

By |May 12th, 2011|Book recommendations, Reviews, Uncategorized|1 Comment
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Tales from the great Canadian North

Last week, I had the privilege of visiting a pretty remote part of the world: Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the great Canadian North. I was there on business, consulting on an IT project.

I had no idea what to expect, really, but nothing could have prepared me for the breathtaking views from the plane as we descended. Frozen tundra as far as the eye can see, snowmobiles, tiny, whizzing across frozen Frobisher Bay. If I had seen a polar bear, I would not have been surprised. The picture above was taken just from the edge of town. Amazing.

Although I only had a short couple of days, I managed to visit the local library. With all my (admitted) prejudices of what life there would be like, I was pleasantly surprised at how well stocked and modern the library was, with computer stations and lovely, brightly-lit children’s section:

I spent as much time  as I could trying to learn about the culture and way of life, although this was not easy. The Inuits have been exposed to so many outside influences, and although it is obvious they are trying hard to preserve their values and culture, Iqaluit is a ‘capital city’, with most of the modern conveniences you would find anywhere.

I picked up a couple of picture books to share with my kids, and have spent the last few evenings learning a bit about the […]

By |May 9th, 2011|Reviews|1 Comment
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Winners of the 2011 Children’s Choice Book Awards!

The Children’s Book Council (CBC) in association with Every Child A Reader, the CBC Foundation, announced the winners of the fourth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards at a gala in New York City on May 2nd as part of Children’s Book Week (May 2-8, 2011). Children across the country voted in record numbers for their favorite books, author, and illustrator at bookstores, school libraries, and at www.BookWeekOnline.com, casting over 500,000 votes.

The Children’s Choice Book Award winners are as follows:

Author of the Year: Rick Riordan for The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, Book 1) (Disney-Hyperion)

Illustrator of the Year: David Wiesner for Art & Max (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year: Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby (Putnam/Penguin)

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year: Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Knopf/Random House)

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year: The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1) by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion)

Teen Choice Book of the Year: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (Dutton/Penguin)

The Children’s Choice Book Awards program, launched in 2008 by The […]

By |May 5th, 2011|Book recommendations|1 Comment
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Getting boys reading with Pam Allyn

Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways that Will Change Their Lives by Pam Allyn
176 pages, ISBN: 978-0545204552

When I was asked to review Pam Allyn’s Best Books for Boys – How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives, I didn’t hesitate for second. It’s what I’ve been trying to do in my own way, for my 2 boys and for others, so I was definitely looking forward to reading her advice.

While the book is definitely geared towards teachers and would be a fantastic teaching resource, there is lots to take away for parents and anybody else interested in getting boys reading.

The book has 2 distinct parts: the first part provides an introduction and explanation of the READ model which helps set the stage for a reading life, and includes a questions and answer based discussion addressing the challenges some boys face with their reading. The second part provides a fantastic suggested reading list for boys, by reading level and area of interest.

I read the explanation of the READ (Ritual, Environment, Access, Dialogue) Model with great interest. So much of it rang true for me. We all know how important rituals are for our children, and we are reminded again how vital it is to include various reading activities in our daily routines. The section is full of suggestions on we can do this. Beyond the daily rituals of reading, Ms. Allyn goes on to describe the various ways teachers (and parents) can help cultivate a true love for reading by focusing on boys’ reading environments. I am in complete agreement with […]

By |May 4th, 2011|Reluctant readers, Reviews|1 Comment
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