AR answers

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Home : 2003 : November : 21

AR answers
By sandyH

I will attempt to answer several of the questions I've seen on this thread...
First of all, my school uses AR in grades 1-6. We have found it to be very successful for us. Different grade levels implement it differently,
but at 4th grade we set quarterly reading goals. There is a chart included with the STAR program that indicates how many points a student should be able to earn in a specified # of weeks (6, 9, etc.) depending upon the # of minutes read per day. We have modified the chart a bit but use it to set individual quarterly reading goals. These goals are entered into the management program,

so the computer keeps track of progress and students can check this at any time. At the end of the quarter 1/3 of the final reading grade comes from AR. This 1/3 comes from the % of goal earned and average % correct. Anyone who does not have at least 70% of their goal by the last 2 weeks of the quarter spends some time reading at recess. ( I hate to punish anyone by making them read-that's horrible-but if they won't make the time to read, I have to make it for them.)
I give out certificates and fast food coupons (donated) to anyone who reaches their goal.
As far as the poster who wanted to start AR in her classroom, I don't know that this would be feasible. It is rather expensive to get started, and to make the program effective for kids, they must have access to a lot of tests and books so they have some choice. I know I have hundreds of AR books in my classroom, but I couldn't run AR without our school library.