Parents and kids everywhere are feeling the ‘end of the year slump’ as summer approaches and dreams of closing up the books mix with summer plans that often don’t involve a lot of reading. We began feeling that familiar slump after taking a mid-year break of our own (beauty of homeschooling year-round) that left me looking for new ideas to inspire more independent reading in our house. Thanks to Teachers Pay Teachers, I found a great way to get them reading with the tower of books challenge!
There is no prerequisite needed to piece together your own Tower of Books challenge – a simple desire to bring a little fun into the mix of reading-encouragement is all you need. Our kids love a challenge – it creates self-motivation and gets them excited about choosing new books to read. The basic framework that I used came from Michael Friermood – The Thinker Builder and is available here, via Teachers Pay Teachers. The bundle is $8 for a complete download and includes loads of great materials.
Tower of Books Categories
The bundle includes instructions for use as well as printable challenge categories for building a variety of towers so you’re able to mix, match, and keep things exciting for your readers. We started with the 20 books original challenge list and I can’t wait to try the genre specific lists! Lists from 20, 30, to 40 books allow you to start small and build. Looking to promote a love of reading AND teamwork with multiple kids? Try to complete a tower as a team!
Tower Display Options
You know that I love options and this bundle includes three display options for a 2D, 3D, or paper-saver display. Depending on your space, you’ll be able to display your tower(s) in a way that works for you (from taping it to the fridge to stacking a set of books on the countertop). We chose to use the 2D display on bulletin boards hung in the kitchen/dining area. It’s important that the kids are able to see their tower often – so choose a space that is high-traffic, if possible. The 3D tower option is awesome – but would require a lot more paper use with multiple kiddos. Print whichever pages you need at any time with an at-home printer and paper or print at an office supply store.
Awards, Rewards, and Accountability Options
As a mom, teacher, and lover of books, my main goal is to build confidence in reading, understanding and communicating text with the end goal of igniting a genuine love of reading in my kids. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m motivated by rewards (and so are the kiddos!) – so it makes sense to celebrate when you achieve a goal. The bundle includes ideas for awards but I also created my own reward list. We discuss rewards beforehand – in our case, the kiddos are able to choose a reward after completing five books.
Throughout their reading journey, I ask the kids to tell me about what they’re reading, how it makes them feel, what they like/dislike, and to connect some part of the story to their own life experience. Once they finish a book, they complete an accountability sheet. The bundle includes brief summary, book review, and recommendation sheets. Each kiddo has a Tower of Books binder with a tower checklist and all accountability sheets. I love the ability to tailor to the needs/abilities of each reader.
It was like an explosion of excitement after introducing the Tower of Books Challenge to the kids. Suddenly, the slump turned into a BOOM of interest, curiosity, and motivation to read (Lennon actually stayed up most of the night reading his Kindle this week – so we may need to dial it down a bit).
The point? Reading is fun and it’s good for us – but it’s easy for us to overlook when we’re engrossed in life and everything it throws at us. It can be hard to know how to inspire kids to read more and watch less. The Tower of Books Challenge is a great way to do just that, in a simple but engaging way (I’m actually thinking about adding my own tower challenge to the board). Cheers to reading, my friends! Peace, love, and light (after coffee) —
Looking to create your own Tower of Books Challenge? See several supplies I used, here! Make sure to support Teachers Pay Teachers by downloading the bundle, here!
