My final idea for March is Reading Month is a CHALLENGE!  I tell my students that during the Renaissance, knights would challenge each other by throwing down a gauntlet.  I define these terms and then throw down my glove and say: “I challenge you to a Reading Contest; who’s interested? “ I now have their attention, and many, if not all, of their hands are raised.

 Then I explain my “Turn OFF the TV and Turn ON to reading” week-long challenge and show them Telly the elephant.  Each day that they go without watching television, they COLOR in the appropriate box on Telly. 

The student, who colors in the most boxes, hopefully all 7, or an entire week of no TV, wins a really cool prize!

I show the girl and boy prizes I have selected for this specific occasion.   They are inexpensive enough not to break the budget, but cool enough to be quite motivating.  I stock up after Halloween and Christmas when things are slashed and on sale for ridiculous 80% off prices.

I also inform them that anyone who participates will get a certificate and have their name thrown into a basket.  I’ll pull out two names and those two students will get to select a book from my birthday book box.  (I give students a book on their birthday.) As a surprise to them, I will also be taping a “You’re a super-star lollipop” on each certificate as well.

I send a letter home explaining the contest to parents along with Telly and a reminder note that they can tape to their TV, so they don’t accidentally forget and turn the TV on. 

I let them know that I will also be participating right along with them.  It’s not that hard for me to give up TV, as I’m a voracious reader.  I do have a few favorite programs tho’ so I’m thankful that I’m able to record them, but it is nice to turn the squawk box off entirely and have some extra quality time with my family.

I show them the video Arthur’s TV-Free Week to further motivate them.  It’s a cute video that reinforces the importance of giving up TV as well as the fact that it’s not that easy.  They enjoy Arthur so I also have several websites that they can independently visit for my computer center.  They can print off an Arthur reading books bookmark one and bookmark two and an Arthur mask.  Click on the links to check them out.

I have a book basket with some “No TV!” related books in it for them to read. 

My students write their name on an "I'm taking the challenge!" badge and I pin it to their shirt.  I give faculty a "head's up!" to ask my students what the challenge is, so my Y5's have an opportunity to explain and "shine".  Click on the link to view/print a set of reading challenge badges for your students. 

They also sign a contract that they accept the challenge.  "Promises" are big with young people and this helps reinforce their commitment.  Click on the link to view/print the reading contract, certificates and letters home.

I send a reminder note home on Friday that Telly is due. Students bring their elephant in on the following Monday and share it with their classmates, explaining what they did on the days that they didn’t watch TV.

I graph whether they liked doing this activity or not, whether they thought this was difficult or not, and how many days everyone gave up TV, and then I award the certificates and prizes. Click on the link to view/print the graphs.

I’ve gotten quite a bit of positive feedback from parents that they were glad that I was the catalyst behind giving up TV for a week.  They say it’s something that they wanted to do, but felt it was easier to do coming from the school.  They also shared that having a family game night was something that they were going to continue to do.

All in all it’s something that I will continue to promote each year and hope that you will jump on the “Turn OFF the TV and Turn ON to Reading” band wagon.