[6mathscience]

Hi Everyone,

We are using IXL to supplement our 6th grade math curriculum and we would like to come up with a way to increase the motivation of our kids to use it. We already assign it as homework (e.g. 5 skills per week to good or mastery) but we would love to give the kids an extra push as we creep closer to state testing. We don't have the money to give out many prizes but we could have a 6th celebration or individual class parties. The issue is how to fairly measure and reward so that all students have a chance to succeed. If we use a 6th grade party (one afternoon in the gym) as a reward...how do we determine a cutoff for who attends? It would be great to say if the 6th grade as a whole reaches a certain number of hours or attempted problems, then everyone could attend but we have no idea what is a reasonable goal and also worry that some students could do the bare minimum and because of those who are willing to go above and beyond, everyone would be rewarded.

We are thinking about posting weekly top five from each class in the hallway (using two categories: time spent and gain in proficiency). I think this would be fair and somewhat motivating.


We KNOW the party would be a huge motivator but again the issue is the cutoff. Does anyone have experience or ideas?

Thanks so much!!!

[asnmdirteha]

This is years later but in case anyone else is still looking for great motivators, I highly recommend Beestar. It has a honor roll system and the kids can build their confidence through completing the different levels. I think that having a cut off for kids that cannot attend might actually help more if all the kids attend as long as they complete a set goal. Give the students the motivation first then work on reducing the amount of kids that can attend.