Along the way, I had to create from scratch tons of sight-reading materials for the beginning students who were learning to read music off and on the staff by using several of the most prominent and wonderful piano series that are widely available.

This means that if the student was learning Landmark Notes, for example, I created a set of sight-reading sheets (four pages, each with four examples) specifically for that student, specifically for that week. Likewise, if the student learned a new note the next week, I created a specific set of sight-reading materials for that week as well.

This would continue for several weeks until the student could read enough notes that I could then have him or her use some early elementary collections as well as the Bastien Sight-Reading series books 1 and 2, which contained many four-measure examples gradually increasing in level of difficulty.

Students who were not yet reading music on the staff used these pre-reading sight-reading pages that I created especially so they could participate too.

I printed all of my sight-reading sets as I created them, and placed them in plastic sheet protectors. I made a master binder of all the printed materials, then I used that binder as a partial sight-reading library for my students.

Rules for The Great Sight-Reading Challenge

All of my students were required to participate in The Great Sight-Reading Challenge. Each week I prepared and gathered enough sight-reading sheets for each of my beginning students to borrow, and enough books of appropriately-leveled literature collections for each of my late elementary through advanced students to borrow.

Students’ sight-reading assignments always consisted of music that was below their current level of study.

Early elementary students were required to follow a specific sight-reading protocol with each example, every week. Please view a video tutorial of how we did this.

While following the protocol, early elementary students sight-read three 4-measure examples three times each to earn one star on their charts (see the example page from Middle C Position Skips below).

On their weekly assignment sheet I typed “three examples, three times each, equals one star on your chart”. Their goal was to play each example to the best of their ability the first time, then figure out how to make improvements the second and third times.

I had them play each example three times so they could experience the sight-reading process more fully, and so they could improve their error-detection and problem-solving skills as well as their sight-reading skills.

Elementary students were required to sight-read three short pieces from an appropriate collection. Three pieces, three times each, equaled one star on their chart. If you have any little hymn-lovers in your studio, check out 25 Favorite Hymns For Beginning Pianists for some sight-reading ideas.

Intermediate and advanced students were required to sight-read two or three (or more) pages from a standard literature book, pop book, jazz book, or other collection (video game lovers may want to look into Elizabeth Swift’s Saga Land–read our blog post Inspire Your Teens To Level Up With Video Game Style Music). Two to three pages, two times each, equaled one star on their chart.

Students earned one star on their sight-reading chart only if they completed their entire sight-reading assignment for that day. I wanted them to spend about 5 minutes each day sight-reading new material, and I wanted them to see for themselves how important the skill of sight-reading is.

Results of The Great Sight-Reading Challenge

Over the course of the school year, my students sight-read a total of 3,661 items! Not all of the student participated in The Great Sight-Reading Challenge for the entire year due to transferring into my studio mid-semester, starting lessons as an absolute beginner, etc.

I kept track of the number of items they sight-read each week by marking their stars on their charts (one star for every day they completed the sight-reading assignment).

Several students earned enough stars to fill one chart, and some students earned enough stars to fill two charts by completing double sight-reading assignments each day!

Numbers

So, what does this all mean?

• 13 eligible students
• They sight-read a total of 3,661 items throughout the year
• They collectively sight-read approximately 81,143 measures of music during 9 months! I am so proud of them for their hard work.

Hannah R. sight-read 648 items, the highest individual total for this year’s sight-reading challenge, which equals approximately 14,362 measures of music this year! When I asked her if she was enjoying sight-reading, her response was:

I’m addicted to it!

Improvements from The Great Sight-Reading Challenge

Did the sight-reading skills of my students skyrocket? Without a doubt! Some of my students improved by at least 2 or 3 levels in their sight-reading this year. The improvements in sight-reading led directly to improvements in efficiency in learning new music, improvements in their internal motivation to be successful learning their new music, and overall improvements in their weekly lessons!

Conclusion

Were any prizes awarded for our sight-reading challenge? No, not this time. (though if you want to include prizes, check out Fun & Affordable Prizes Piano Students Love!)

Did students win anything for their efforts? My students received the best prizes of all: a deeper appreciation and understanding of music, stronger sight-reading skills, better error-detection and self-evaluation skills, and a greater understanding of why sight-reading is so important.

Will I do this again? Absolutely, and I can’t wait!

Are you ready to develop strong sight-readers in your studio? Click the button above to download the free scoring sheets and get the pre-staff sight-reading pages for your studio here.

Happy sight-reading!