Abstract:
Students are rewarded on a regular basis with collectible cards or other collectible items for satisfactory school attendance. In addition to the characteristics that make the items collectible, they can bear additional information for entertaining and educating students, such as motivational messages and puzzle clues.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/831,291, filed Jul. 15, 2006, is hereby claimed and the specification thereof incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. 
     
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to encouraging behaviors through rewards and, more specifically, to encouraging and motivating children to attend school by providing rewards. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Ensuring that children attend school is of great importance to educators and society as a whole. Students&#39; absence from school or tardiness in arriving are detrimental to learning and thus undesirable. 
         [0006]    It has been suggested to motivate students to improve academic performance, attendance and other facets of the educational experience by rewarding them with incentives. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0073488 discloses rewarding students with tokens that are redeemable for merchandise. 
         [0007]    Although rewarding students for a good school attendance record has been shown to be effective, reward systems that establish too strong an association between good attendance and material rewards, such as an array of merchandise from which a child can choose, can send children the wrong message. 
         [0008]    It would be desirable to provide an improved system and method for rewarding attendance that encourages and motivates children to attend school. The present invention provides such a system and method in the manner described below. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    It is believed that children are best encouraged and motivated to perform well in academic and other settings by providing regular, consistent, immediate positive reinforcement. The present invention relates to a system and method that rewards students for on-time school attendance with collectible cards or other collectible items from a set of such items. 
         [0010]    The term “collectible” refers to the innate desire of humans to collect items from a set of items that are similar to each other in some way, such as shape, color, images, theme, etc., yet differ from each other in one or more other ways. For example, baseball or other sports cards are collectible because, for example, all baseball cards are of approximately the same size and shape yet are divided into subsets of different teams, players, years, etc. Collectors are drawn to cards of the same team, player, year, etc. For analogous reasons, people desire to collect artwork, music, crafts, stamps and coins, etc. 
         [0011]    In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, school personnel identify each student having a satisfactory attendance record (i.e., a record of attendance exceeding a predetermined minimum attendance level, such as attending class on time every day for one week), and give one of the collectible items to each such identified student. As used herein, the term “attendance level” can take into account whether a student attended class, whether a student arrived on time, or both. Thus, in some embodiments, the invention can be used solely to discourage tardiness by giving the items to students who arrive on time and not giving them to students who are tardy. 
         [0012]    The collectible items can be cards or other suitable items. The cards can bear images of animals or other images of interest to school-age children. Along with each animal image, the card can bear an educational and entertaining fact about the animal. 
         [0013]    In the exemplary embodiment, each card in a predetermined set of cards bears a number, corresponding to the week of the school year. For example, in a school district in which the school year has 36 weeks, each set consists of 36 cards. A teacher can be provided with one set of 36 cards for each student in the class. If a student meets the above-referenced minimum attendance level for the week or other attendance period, the teacher gives the student the card bearing the number corresponding to that week. 
         [0014]    In accordance with another feature of the exemplary embodiment, each quarter or other selected portion or term of the school year or other term, school personnel can conduct a contest based upon clues or other information contained in the collectible items given to the students. For example, every quarter, e.g., every nine weeks in a school district in which the school year has 36 weeks, each student can examine his or her collected cards and use information gleaned from the cards to attempt to solve a puzzle. School personnel can give an additional reward, such as a toy, school supplies, or other item, to each student who submits a correct solution to the puzzle. Alternatively, the reward can be entering the student in a random drawing to provide the student with a chance to win such an item. 
         [0015]    In accordance with another feature of the exemplary embodiment, the reverse side of each card bears a portion of an image, and a student can arrange the collected cards to reveal the image as a whole. The image can be, for example, a herd of animals. The image can also bear an inspirational or motivational message, such as “Stay in School!” 
         [0016]    The invention will become more apparent through the following description of one or more exemplary embodiments of the invention. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  illustrates a set of collectible cards for motivating children to attend school, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  illustrates the reverse sides of a number of the cards of  FIG. 1  arranged in a manner that reveals an image and motivational message. 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  illustrates a class attendance chart in accordance with the exemplary embodiment. 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for motivating children to attend school using the cards of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 1-2 , in an exemplary embodiment of the invention a set of collectible cards  10 , similar in size and shape to baseball cards or other collectible sports cards, consists of 36 cards  10  because in the exemplary embodiment the school year correspondingly consists of 36 weeks. A 36-week school year, divided into quarters, semesters, or trimesters, is typical in the United States and some other countries. As the length of a “standard” school year may nevertheless be one or two weeks longer than 36 weeks in some school districts or in some special cases and one or two weeks shorter than 36 weeks in other school districts or in other special cases, it is useful for purposes of this patent specification (“herein”) to refer to a school year as consisting of “about” 36 weeks, and the card set as consisting of “about” 36 cards  10 . (It should be noted that the term “consisting” is used herein as a closed-ended term meaning no more and no less, except as otherwise provided, while the term “comprising” is used herein as an open-ended term meaning at least but in some cases more.) Although in the exemplary embodiment of the invention there are 36 unique cards  10  in each set, i.e., each card is different from the other cards in the set, in other embodiments of the invention the set can consist of any other suitable number of cards that corresponds to the number of attendance periods that school personnel monitor. Also, the term “set” is not limited to the set of cards  10  corresponding to the entire school year (term) but can alternatively refer to the set of cards  10  corresponding to a quarter, semester or other term of the school year. For example, a set of nine cards  10  can be provided that corresponds to an academic quarter. 
         [0022]    Each card  10  in the set bears a unique image  12 , i.e., an image different from that of the other cards  10  in the set, of a theme that is typically of interest to children of elementary school age, such as an animal theme. Thus, for example, each card  10  can bear an image  12  of a different animal. Image  12  thus defines at least part of what makes cards  10  collectible or desirable to school-age children, as such students will be interested in collecting a complete set of animals. Each card  10  can also bear an educational and entertaining fact  14  about the animal or other thing depicted in image  12 . For example, a card  10  bearing an image of a cheetah can also bear the sentence: “Cheetahs are the fastest mammal in the world.” 
         [0023]    As described below, the time period during which the students collect cards  10  can be the entire school year or, alternatively or in addition, a suitable subset or portion such as a quarter or semester, and the methods described below can be performed on the basis of whatever portion of the school year that personnel choose to have the children collect cards  10 . For example, the methods described below can be performed once per quarter or four times per school year, using a set of cards  10  each quarter. 
         [0024]    Each card  10  in the set also bears a unique number  14 , corresponding to the week or other attendance period in which the card  10  is to be given to students, as described below. Although cards  10  are shown for purposes of clarity in  FIG. 1  as numbered “1”-“36” to correspond to a complete 36-week school year, in other embodiments they can be numbered to correspond to only a subset or portion of a school year. For example, a set of cards  10  numbered “1”-“9” can be used once per quarter. A set numbered “1”-“9” may be preferred over a set numbered “1”-“36” because it may be easier for students and teachers to use a collection of nine cards than 36 cards, as described in further detail below with regard to the exemplary methods. Again, it should be noted that in embodiments of the invention to be used in school districts or other jurisdictions in which the school year or relevant portion thereof consists of a number of weeks or other attendance periods other than 36 weeks (or relevant portion thereof), the number of cards  10  and numbering of cards  10  will correspond accordingly. 
         [0025]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , while the obverse sides or faces of cards  10  can bear the indicia and other information described above, the reverse sides or faces of cards  10  can bear portions of an overall or collective image, such as a group of animals. In other words, each card  10  in the set bears a unique portion of this collective image, and the image portions of all cards  10  in the set collectively define the overall image when arranged adjacent to one another. For example, as shown in  FIG. 2 , nine cards  10  (e.g., a complete set of cards  10  collected over the course of an academic quarter) are arranged in a 3×3 array, such that their image portions fit together in a puzzle-like manner to reveal the overall or collective image, which in the example shown in  FIG. 2  depicts a school of fish. The image also includes the motivational phrase: “Stay in school!” Although a rectangular array is shown for purposes of illustration, in other embodiments adjacent cards  10  can fit together in any other suitable arrangement, such as a jigsaw puzzle-like arrangement in which cards  10  have an irregular shape. 
         [0026]    As further illustrated in  FIG. 2 , each card  10  in the set bears a clue to a puzzle. In the exemplary embodiment the clue consists of a single letter or word. As shown, one card  10  bears a letter “D”, another card  10  bears a letter “F”, another card  10  bears the word “THE,” etc. In this example, these letters and words on cards  10  as arranged form an anagram of still another clue: “FIND THE STAR.” As described below in further detail, this clue may inform the student who collected this set of cards  10  to look for a card bearing a star. Referring back to  FIG. 1 , note that the obverse side of the card  10  numbered “2” bears a star  18 . If the student finds the card bearing the star, the student has solved the puzzle. In view of this example, myriad other such puzzles in which clues to their solutions are contained in information on the cards will occur readily to persons of skill in the art to which the invention relates. In other embodiments of the invention, the puzzle clues can be included in the information on the card in any other suitable manner, such as by camouflaging or hiding clues in the animal image itself or by associating clues with colors, shapes, patterns, images, or other information in cards  10 . 
         [0027]    As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , an attendance chart  20  or other indicator of student attendance can be provided to use as part of a system for encouraging attendance, in conjunction with the set of cards  10 . The exemplary attendance chart  20  includes spaces in which a teacher can list each student&#39;s name and spaces in which the teacher can indicate (for example, by marking with a star sticker, a check mark, etc.) whether the student had a satisfactory attendance record in each week or other monitored attendance period of the period in which the students are collecting cards  10 . A student who receives a card  10  as a reward for satisfactory attendance also receives a corresponding mark or other indication of satisfactory attendance on attendance chart  20 . Attendance chart  20  or other attendance indicator can be posted in the classroom so that students receive a constant visual reminder of their attendance progress throughout the school year or portion thereof. 
         [0028]    An exemplary method for motivating children to attend school using the above-described set of cards  10  is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . As a preliminary step, a teacher is provided with one set of cards  10  for each participating student in the class. Thus, a teacher having a class of N students participating in the attendance reward program receives, for example, N cards  10  bearing the number “1” and an image of a giraffe, N cards  10  bearing the number “2” and an image of a cheetah, etc. At step  22 , the teacher identifies students in the class whose attendance was satisfactory during the preceding week or other monitored attendance period. As described above, satisfactory attendance refers to a record of attendance exceeding a predetermined minimum attendance level, such as attending class on time each day of the preceding week. At step  24 , the teacher gives each such identified student one of cards  10  from the set. In the exemplary embodiment, each identified student receives an identical card  10 . For example, in the first week of the school year, each student identified as having had satisfactory attendance receives the card  10  numbered “1” bearing the giraffe image. Steps  22  and  24  are repeated weekly or once per other monitored attendance period. 
         [0029]    As indicated by step  26 , after performing steps  22  and  24  for a number of weeks corresponding to the number of weeks in the term (e.g., nine weeks in a nine-week quarter) or number of cards  10  in the set, a student who has collected all cards  10  in the set (e.g., nine cards  10 ), can arrange them as described above with regard to  FIG. 2  and view the resulting image, textual message or other idea that the arrayed cards  10  collectively convey, as well as any puzzle clues contained in the information in cards  10 , and the motivational phrase. 
         [0030]    As indicated by step  28 , a contest can be conducted by collecting students&#39; solutions to the puzzle that they have formulated based upon clues gleaned from the set of cards  10  they have collected. If, for example, a student guesses that the puzzle clues suggest finding a star among cards  10 , and the student finds the card  10  bearing such a star, the teacher can provide the student with a suitable additional reward, as indicated by step  30 . The additional reward can be in the form of, for example, a plush animal toy, or entering the students who guessed correctly in a random drawing to win such a toy. In other embodiments of the invention, the additional reward need not be a material item but rather simply can be in the form of additional recognition. 
         [0031]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to this invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided that they come within the scope of any claims and their equivalents. With regard to the claims, no claim is intended to invoke the sixth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. Section 112 unless it includes the term “means for” followed by a participle.