Accelerated Reader is a reading program widely used in elementary schools across the nation. It is designed to monitor a student’s reading progress. The student reads a book, and then takes a quiz on the computer in school. It contains questions that the child will need to recall from the story, as well as questions for comprehension. We call it the Read-a-Lot program to be more “kid friendly”.

 

The program works on a point system and is incentive based with rewards for points they receive. If the student gets below a 60% on the quiz, they do not get any points. If they get a 100% on the quiz, they get the full amount of points, and if they get anything in between, they will get partial points. Books are worth different points, depending on the level of the book. A picture book or early chapter book may be worth 0.5 points, so a student will have to read 20 books to reach 10 points.

 

At 10 points the students get a star with his or her name put up in the library on the Read-a-Lot wall, as well as getting one to bring home. At 25 points, they receive a read-a-lot lapel pin, at 50 points they receive a read-a-lot magnet, at 100 points they receive a star chain, at 200 points a trophy, and so on. As another reward, students get to attend a pizza lunch with the principal when they reach their grade level goal marker as follows:  Kindergarten - 10pts, 1st grade - 30pts, 2nd grade 50pts, 3rd and 4th grade - 100pts.

 

They receive these rewards when they come to library, as we keep track of all the student’s points. Every year, the children start all over with 0 points in September. Once a student has read a book and taken a quiz on it, the program will not allow them to take that quiz again.

 

In the past, I had to purchase individual quizzes, so they could only take tests on certain books. Now they have the ability to take a quiz on almost any book. Most fiction books have a quiz, as well as many non-fiction books. Students can check on the read-a-lot website when they are at school, to see if the book they are reading has a read-a-lot quiz. It would also tell them how many points the book is worth, as well as the reading level.

 

Checking the reading level of the book can be very helpful in selecting a book. I always encourage students to read books that are not too easy, or too difficult for them. This can be a fun, educational, and rewarding experience for our 1st thru 4th grade students!

 

Partners in Reading is a reading program in which children read with a parent, grandparent, sibling, or any other “partner” every night for 15 minutes. They can be the “readers” or the “listeners”. The purpose of this literacy program is to encourage children to become lifelong readers by sharing reading every day. Reading at home with a family member provides a supplement to the excellent reading programs we have in our school.

 

During our Partners in Reading Program, there are many activities which further encourage children to read. Therefore, we schedule several events that family members and students can participate in. Please look for the flyers that are sent home during that time, and join in on the fun!

 

Partners in Reading is a 3-week program. Weekly rewards are given to those students that return their reading slips. If children bring the reading slips in for all 3 weeks, the third week's prize is a free book. I strongly encourage everyone to participate in this program. It is a wonderful opportunity to spend a few minutes a day reading with your children.