AR in First Grade

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AR in First Grade
By Amanda K.

I think that it's too bad that you are pressured to use AR with all of your first graders. Some kids just aren't ready for that kind of fluency and comprehension. We are actually almost discouraged from using it in the
first grade, but I have an extremely high class this year and am using it with almost half of the students already. They read AR books for 15 minutes a day during literacy centers, and also during whatever free time they have. It's doing wonders for them.
I don't let a student start AR until he/she has reached a level 1.5 on the STAR reading comprehension assessment, and I don't administer

the STAR until I feel the child is close to that 1.5 mark. With most of my students, my instructional time is best spent teaching them word attack skills and other reading necessities. I can't imagine the stress I would inflict on my low students by putting them in AR.