I would love some new ideas for an A.R. bulletin board that would keep track of a class goal. We have done frogs jumping to lily pads; car on a race track, building a rainbow; and fishing. Any ideas or even pictures would be great. Thanks!!

[tchrrx]

I bought a Carson Dellosa set that looks like a bookshelf. Kids will earn a book spine to put their name on when they meet a new level. They'll begin on the bottom shelf & add a book to each shelf as they meet goals.

I did this as a visual motivation for independent reading and My 8th graders LOVED it! Here is a version you might try.
1. decorate a bb as a fish aquarium
2. ellison die cuts of guppies and tropical fish
3. when students complete an AR book & test they get a guppy to put on the board with their name on it
4. x# of guppies = one tropical fish
depending on the size of your class different colored fish could signify AR levels completed or # of books read
5. to measure overall class achievement/goals - create a filter and use bubbles going up the filter as a gauge.

I placed some book requirements, # of pages and chapters on my junior high students and even with these parameters my low level and reluctant readers made a real effort. plus kudos from my principal for originality! Good Luck.

[kiry219]

I do my AR on my cabinet door. I put "Star Readers" along the top. Then I put "Independent Readers", "Accelerated Readers", "Super Readers" and "Star Readers" in decending order down the door. (I like to fill the door from the top down, but you could do it bottom up.) I have different cut out stars. As a student earns a level, I put their name on the corresponding star and add it to the door. At the end of the year the kids can take their stars home. Here are links to the stars I use.

http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Pro...ge=12&oid=2720
http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Pro...age=6&oid=2618
http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Pro...age=7&oid=2600

On the day that the kids earn a level, I give them a necklace tag that they can take home to show their parents. The funny thing is that last year my students wore them for weeks in class before taking the tags home. Here is a link to what the tags look like. I use different ones for each level.

http://www.carsondellosa.com/cd2/Pro...age=5&oid=1614

[Shelley S]

I use the Bear with the Bee Hive bulletin board set. I use bees for student names and the move from cloud to cloud for points. The title is Buzzing into AR Books. I have also used a fish theme where they move their fish to different point levels. I did the title Hooked on Reading for the fish.

[ConnieWI]

www.upstartpromotions.com is a website used by librarians to purchase decorations, get materials to run summer reading programs, etc. I bet you could get some good ideas by just looking at their materials.

They are so clever...I love the one about going hog wild... motorcycles and pigs!!

[connorsmom020]

We have done different colored M& M's, gumballs,

I have airplanes and hot air balloons with the students' names on them. The clouds are labeled with the different levels. As the students reach the different levels they move up the wall hence the title "The Sky's the Limit."

[VCUTeach]

I ordered the Triumphant Turtles from CD and reworked it. I made a twisting road with several stops for porints levels with a finish line at the end. Each little turtle had a student name on it and once a week I would update the board and move them along the race. For every points mark they reached they got a prize from me.

[luv2t]

My classroom theme is "Kids at Work". For my ACR bulletin, I drew (actually, my friend's 14 years old drew it for me) a big truck with a loading area. I named the board "Loading up ACR points". The students will put a box cut-out for the points they earned. This is the part I have not decided yet - the box may be for 25 or 50 points increment. I hope it helps. By the way, I am a new teacher and I am very excited and nervous at the same time. Good luck!

I am also a first year teacher using the Kid's at Work theme. I have purchased posters, borders, mini construction cones etc. I love the truck idea!! Do you have any other ideas to go with the theme, I have hit a block
Thanks

I really like your idea for posting AR points using the aquarium theme. However, I am a visual learner, like many of my students. Is there any way you could post a picture of your bulleting board?

Thanks.

[Drea91]

I use a car race for my AR. I have taped a roadway bulletin board border on green construction paper and taped that on my ceiling. I then bought little car cut outs and wrote each student's name on it. Every green sheet was 1 AR point. Everytime a student passed an AR test, I would move their car up as many points as they acheived. For every 5pts, they were allowed to pick a prize from the prize box. For every 10pts, I bought them a McDonalds burger (0.79) and small fries (1.00).

I am starting something new in my class-in the middle of the year. My students were just not motivated to take the tests. So I decided to create posters of images that I could add each students name when they achieve that number of points.
10 pnts-an apple is added to a tree
25 pnts-a gum ball is placed in the gum ball machine
50 pnts-a balloon is added to a clown's hand
75 pnts-a golden coin is added to a treasure chest
100 pnts-Scooby receives a snack

It took some time tracing the images from the overhead projector, but it was worth it. While my students were working independently, I worked on the images. They were so interested in what I was making that they didn't want to go to recess-they wanted to help me. After I finally told them the "secret," I had students earn 10 points during the week that I made these so they would have an apple up. They hadn't earned 10 points from August until January and now they ask when they walk in the door if they can take an AR test

I put a bb with the title Accelerated Readers Reach for the Stars! Every time a student got x number of points they got to write their name on a star and put it on the board, after every student reached x number of points the whole class got a prize. You can keep going using different color stars.