During my first week as a reading specialist at primary level, I encountered a first-grade teacher who used some very unusual incentives for his reading class. Bob, the only male in our primary school, had a sly grin when I asked him how he motivated his first graders.
While opening the second drawer of his old wooden desk, he smiled widely as he pulled out his secret supply of incentives. Eyes widening, I saw a drawer full of mostly garage junk: screws, nuts, bolts, old rulers, broken pencils, extra-large paper clips, broken tire gauge, etc.
He whispered that you must fabricate an elaborate story to go with it. He pulled out a small bit of an old pencil and explained to the class that it was once on the principal’s desk, nice, clean, and new. But then the principal had a big problem to solve, like how to get more books for our librarian, who visited once a week. The principal used the pencil to write down his ideas, and then he put it in his mouth as he worked. He erased many ideas; that was why there was no eraser, and it became so small as he sharpened it often.
Then Bob put it into his own mouth, too. He proudly held up the chewed bit of pencil and told the class that the first perfect paper about the letter “m” will win this prize today. He then wiped the pencil stub off with alcohol and placed it near the edge of his desk where all could view it.
Most of the students were already busily back writing on their worksheet. He also explained to me that he used the “casino” method to incentivize—like slot machines: there is not always a prize.
What I leaned from this first-grade teacher’s incentives was that building up the inducement is more important than I ever realized. You can motivate children inexpensively, if you do it right.
For a list of free or inexpensive incentives for independent reading, check out Reading Spotlight’s FREE
in the
For more information about the importance of independent reading, especially in the summer months, check out Reading Spotlight’s previous post:
Do You Want Your Children to Do More Summer Reading?
© Reading Spotlight 2026