Accelerated Reader?

[Carolyn_allison3]

I am helping our school launch Daily 5. I was surprised when two teachers approached me saying that they already do Read to Self. They reported having the top AR points in first grade because they have students read and take AR tests during the RS time. I do not agree with AR testing during Read to Self time, but I want to be cautious with my response. Any suggestions??

[srea]

I can't find a reference here on the site, but I have hear the Sisters talk about AR. It certainly is not the goal that we have for our students when talking about Read to Self. This Read to Self time should be for both student-selected books and the rereading of texts introduced during conferences or strategy-group instruction. Testing on books read for pleasure/practice goes against the principles of Daily 5.

[srea]

Carolyn Allison--are you my friend from Reading Academy days??

[Carolyn_allison3]

Well, hello there Suzanne! It's me missing your wisdom, please share!

[srea]

Fun to see your name . Are you by chance coming to see the Sisters in San Antonio? Would love to cross paths with you again!!

[prenticet]

Carolyn...I recently read, but can't remember the name-sorry, about a long term study that compared schools that used AR tests to schools that did not. What was found was that students who were not exposed to AR tests had stronger positive attitudes towards reading later compared with students who grew up taking those tests. Interesting huh. It seems that incentive based reading programs encourage quick easy reading to rack up points and get to the next level. While it often takes longer to establish intrinsic habits...from behavior to reading...it's often has the desired long term outcome we hope for.

[Carolyn_allison3]

Thank you for your response. I agree that the intrinsic motivation takes the longest to develop but reaps the ultimate reward. One of my professors in graduate school stated that AR was a form of censorship... I have never forgotten those words.

[genungkl]

I allowed students this year to take AR tests during read to self but I didn't like how it worked out. Kids were distracted as students fought over who got to the computer first and walked by them as they were trying to read to themselves and they read fast just to get done and take a test.

Because our school does AR and has incentives this year they will be able to take AR tests during morning time after breakfast, when we go to the computer lab or at other times, but not during Daily 5 time.

[srea]

I think that sounds like a good plan