Quote:
Originally Posted by Sregener
Here's another idea that works well in a "competition": set a goal for the entire library. "Let's see if we can have 1,000 books read this summer. If we hit the goal, then everyone who contributes at least 10 books will get prize X." That turns the 63-book reader into the team star, while encouraging everyone else to read, too. You can give special acknowledgement (not prizes) to the "top readers" at the end, but everyone who reads 10 books wins. Thus, the encouragement is "everyone do your part", not "everyone try to beat the superstar."
But expecting a kid who is a slow reader to want to read more in the hopes they'll beat a fast reader isn't going to work, no matter what. And most kids like to win, and don't like to lose, so they'll choose not to do things they don't think they can win.
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Where did you get the idea that the library had so many prizes to give?
And how exactly would this work? Do you get 100 children in the competition? No, that wouldn't work, because every kid that reads a book over the 10 lowers the incentive for the others to read 10 books. Do you get 50 children in the competition? No, that wouldn't work, because if 40 of them only read 10 books, the other 10 have to collectively read 600, and that would mean 60 books per child, and if the library could get 10 children in a competition to read 60 books each we wouldn't have this thread.
In a 'team effort' situation, the ones who don't want to put in the effort aren't going to put in the effort. Are you trying to tell me that if you are at the last days of summer and you need another 10 books to get to 1000 you are going to expect the ones who need a week to read a book to get you over the limit, or the ones who can read a book per day?