Tracking Accelerated Reader Points

My school started using Accelerated Reader this year, and I have been struggling with how to visually track my students' AR points.  So, I did a Google search (what did we do before Google?), and here is some of what I found:  @Head over Heels for Teaching

@Step into 2nd Grade with Mrs. Lemon

@Teaching with Terhune

@TFams Lower El Blog

@The Busy Hive

All very cute ideas!  They definitely got me thinking about what I could do in my room with the space I have available.  I wanted something that would give my students a visual reminder of the progress they were making towards their goal, and perhaps be a motivator for those students that continually lag behind.  Here is what I came up with:

 I teach the English-side of a dual immersion class.  That means that I have two groups of students that I teach everyday: the red class and the blue class.  It also means that I have to fit double the amount of students (all 51 of them!) into the space I have for the display.

I ended up using some blue and red Christmas paper that I had on hand to make strips for each student.

I printed off stickers (1"-2 5/8") with their names and their AR goals on them.  I used these stickers to anchor their strips to the cupboards along the back wall of my classroom.

Then I printed 1/2 a sheet of return address labels with points in .5 increments.  As students earn points, they add stickers to their strip to show their progress.

When they reach their goal, I add a large yellow star to the bottom of their strip.

I like that students can see where they are at, and where they are headed.  I like that I can reward students that reach their goal, and that it provides motivation for the other students to keep working towards their goals.  I like that it doesn't take up much room.  I'm not sure if I would do it this way again yet.