0 The Reading Comprehension Claw

After the beginning of the year initial reading tests that I gave my students, I found out several of them are below level.  In some cases, many of the students are reading at a first grade level.  This is two years behind.  I have a ton of work to do to get them to where they need to be by the end of the year.  I thought about things that I have done in the past for incentives, but I have never had a class with this many students behind grade level.  

     We also have a ton of stuffed animals to get rid of that my son has collected over the years.  They are in many storage containers packed away in our basement.  He is now ready to part with many of them, and refuses to just throw them away.  So, I made my way to Craig's list to look for a claw machine.  Yes, one of those claw machines that scream, "Play me!" as you walk into your local retailer.  

     I was lucky enough to find one that worked, and because I told them what I wanted to use it for, they gave it to me for half of what they were asking on Craig's list.  It works perfectly.  My husband picked it up and brought it into my room for me.  We even set the claw to grab most of the time.  (There is a setting in all claw machines that allow the owner to change the probability of the pick up.)

     It originally said Drew's Tiger Paw at the top, but I replaced it with a new piece of plexiglass and used my Cricut machine to cut out vinyl letters.  There is a light and a mirror behind the letters, so they reflect, and almost look three dimensional.  The new name is now, Mrs. Gilchrist's Comprehension Claw.  

 

      Everyday my students and I read leveled books from Reading A -  Z in reading stations/centers/groups.  They answer comprehension questions about each book.  If they score proficient (80-89%) or advanced (90-100%) on their comprehension questions, they get a set number of chances at the claw machine.  It grabs almost every time if the students place it over an animal.  I also placed labels inside the machine so the students can determine how many tries they get, based on the current level they are reading. 

I also give my lower students reading homework every night.  I created this reading calendar on AmazingClassroom.com.  You can pull up any month, and type in your own information.  You can then save the pdf and print. Feel free to download the October reading homework calendar that I made by clicking on the pic below.  

When they return their homework, and score proficient or advanced, they also get a try at the Comprehension Claw!  Homework is always worth one claw chance if they score in the proficient or advanced range.  We do not grade homework in elementary school in our district, but we do check the homework and use results to help guide future instruction. 

So far, it is working great!  My students are moving up reading levels much faster than I had anticipated. They LOVE the incentive of the claw machine.  It will even come in handy when I cover the concept of probability later on in the year!