The Purpose of Accelerated Reader

1. The Purpose of Accelerated Reader Presented by Ms. Hardiman and Ms. Jasso

2. The purpose of Accelerated Reader is to enable powerful reading practice.

3. Enable powerful reading practice? How?

4. *Provides data that helps the teacher monitor students *Reading practice *Reading is personalized for every student *Encourages substantial amounts of reading practice based on guidelines *Makes reading practice fun by facilitating successful encounters with text *Encourages reading practice

5. What happens if kids don’t learn to read and read well…. *More than one third of all juvenile offenders read below the fourth-grade level. (Adolescent Literacy: A National Reading Crisis) *Every school day in America, 3,000 students drop out—the majority of them are poor readers. Students with below grade level reading skills are twice as likely to drop out of school as those who can read on or above grade level. (Adolescent Literacy: A National Reading Crisis) *If the male graduation rate were increased by only 5 percent, the nation would see an annual savings of $4.9 billion in crime-related costs. (Alliance for Excellent Education)

6. And did you know…… *Boys lag behind girls in reading proficiency in all 50 states – (Center for Education Policy) *Only 31 percent of college graduates have high level literacy skills. (2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, cited by The New York Times)

7. Reading can make a difference! *If a child reads as much as one million words per year, they will be in top 2% of all children on standardized reading tests. So, read 3,000 words per day!!! *Students who read widely and frequently are higher achievers than students who read rarely and narrowly. (Scholastic: Classroom Libraries Work!) *“Reading a lot” is one of the most powerful methods of increasing fluency, vocabulary, [and] comprehension. (Scholastic: Classroom Libraries Work!)

8. PERSONALIZE READING PRACTICE • Administer STAR Reading assessments and locate initial ZPDs. • Explain ZPD to students. Make sure they write down their ZPD and know how to use it. • Give students their individualized point goals. Adjust goals as needed for high ability readers, English language learners, or students who are frequently absent. • Understand that quiz-score averages of at least 85 percent indicate students are reading in their ZPD. • As needed, adjust the level of the books students are reading so that they can achieve and maintain a high quiz average.

9. Student Example • https://hosted176.renlearn.com/244104 • Last year as a 4th grader, (Danny)’s beginning of the year Star test GE was a 2.3. This means he was reading at a mid year 2nd grade level. Based on his GE, his ZPD range was 2.0-3.0. • (Danny) did not show any growth at the end of the year (2.7) due to lack of monitoring as you will see….

10. PUT COMPREHENSION FIRST • Ensure good comprehension by having students read within a range of book levels that enables them to average at least 85 percent on quizzes. • Monitor student frequently. • Teach comprehension strategies and reinforce them during class lessons. • Teach good quiz-taking strategies. • Don’t overly restrict students’ book choices. • Don’t emphasize points over comprehension.

11. Diagnostic Report This report provides data on each student’s progress toward goals as well as engaged time. How to Access this report- Click on Accelerated Reader Enterprise Click on Reports Click on Reading Practice Click on Diagnostic You will be able to choose the date that you want the report to reflect

12. Spread the Joy of Reading Books are magical. They have the power to teach, to move, and to enthrall. They transport us to faraway places, ignite our imaginations, and challenge our minds. However, many students have never had these experiences. They rarely choose to read, and when they do, it is unrewarding, either because reading is too hard or because it does not invoke an emotional or intellectual response. The fundamental mission of Accelerated Reader is to bring the joy of reading to every student. We have seen, over and over again, that once students experience the magic of reading, they willingly and happily read. In fact, you can’t stop them from reading, and their reading skills grow dramatically. That’s why, at its heart, Accelerated Reader is not about the quizzes, the points, or the technology. It’s about turning kids on to books.

13. There is no better way to acquaint students with the pleasures of reading than to read to them, and we recommend you do that regularly. For primary-grade students, listening to books read aloud is, of course, one of the beginning steps in learning to read, but even high-school students love this activity. When you read aloud to students, you introduce them to books they might not yet be able to read independently, expose them to new genres and authors, and build their desire to enhance their skills. Good books “sell” reading. Reading aloud also enables you to teach and model comprehension strategies, such asvisualizing, making predictions, previewing, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. It also presents good opportunities for class discussions on vocabulary, characterization, plot, and other literary elements.