Last Friday was the first day for my students to share their book commercials. They had watched as I modeled several over the past week, and were so excited to start their commercials. The first observation I had from this was that it was so easy to differentiate this assignment. Each student is able to share a book that is at their reading level, where previously they had all been required to share a chapter book. Each student is also able to tell about the book from memory, or choose to write what they will say.
At the last minute I decided to add an extra component to the book commercials. Last week I had read about students holding a book auction as a way to get excited about the books they were reading. The teacher that had done this used it in conjunction with an incentive program she was using. The students earned beads for things they had done well during the week and then could use their beads to bid on books they wanted to read. Then those children could keep the beads they earned from the auction to bid on other books themselves.
Because my students don't earn such an incentive, I decided to twist on the idea a little. When my students are finished sharing their book commercial they are able to ask who wants to read the book next. They are then creating a waiting list for who wants to read the books. It has been a huge motivator!
