Yes Carol. AR is a wonderful resource to help our students see if they are really reading at their very own level, choosing their own books. I really get to know my students and talk with each one about their reading. AR also provides a wonderful tool for parents to see their child's successes throughout the day at school. Using Home Connect, our families see their readers scores right when the quiz is complete. I have been using AR for 15 years and my students and their families love it. I promise my students that I will help them become some of the world's best readers and with them involved that happens. AR is the independent reading practice part of our literacy instruction. There are many more components too.
Kim On Sun, Dec 20, 2009 at 2:29 PM, Carol Lau <c...@ca.rr.com> wrote: > I feel the need to speak in favor of AR. I teach 2nd grade. Our school > uses AR in 1st-6th. Each teacher handles it in her/his own way. AR really > helps me guide students into appropriate books for independent reading and > to monitor who's reading and whether they are "comprehending"-- although it > may be at the literal level. I send weekly summaries to the parents of the > AR books that their child read and the quiz scores on these books. We all > (teacher, parents, and especially the students) love it when the readers > move up to new reading levels. I do not give prizes or keep track of > points > (since almost all 2nd grade books are .5 points whether a thin beginning > reader or a beginning chapter book). I do print out the word count > occasionally because it really tells a story of the "Matthew effect: the > rich get richer, the poor get poorer" as motivated, fluent readers are > exposed to hundreds of thousands of words through the months and > unmotivated, or disfluent readers might read a few thousand. I always talk > about this at Back-to-School night: the numbers don't lie. (By the way, > I'm not proud of this discrepancy and work hard to help my strugglers to > read, read, read.) > > But my point is: AR has helped me motivate, guide, and account for > independent reading. Second graders do not "fake" the tests. > > Carol > > -----Original Message----- > From: mosaic-bounces+cllc=ca.rr....@literacyworkshop.org > [mailto:mosaic-bounces+cllc <mosaic-bounces%2Bcllc>=ca.rr.com@ > literacyworkshop.org] On Behalf Of > soozq55...@aol.com > Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 8:18 AM > To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] AR > > > I agree with both of you. The saddest thing of all is that some districts > use AR as their "reading program'. Don't kids need instruction?? Obviously, > some think not! When I was a long term sub quite a long time ago, AR was in > place at the school. The kids weren't even reading the books. They were > just > pretty good guessers or had listened to the book. They were accumulating > coupons for free pan pizzas like no tomorrow. I was so disgusted that I > vowed I would never participate in it if I ever got my own class and thank > god, I never have! > Sue > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: bmw2...@aol.com > To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > Sent: Sat, Dec 19, 2009 11:27 pm > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] AR > > > I totally agree with you. We are dropping AR at our school an possibly in > our entire district for the same reasons. It measures comprehenson by using > very low level questions. > Marianne > > -----Original Message----- > From: jan sanders <jgou...@hotmail.com> > To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email > <mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> > Sent: Fri, Dec 18, 2009 2:35 pm > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] AR > > No, the levels do not correspond. AR creates it's levels by the number of > words on a page and the number of pages. That is also how they decide the > number of points. If you make your own test, they give you the "formula" to > figure out the point value...To me, AR is over rated and DOES NOT instill a > love of reading for children. They learn that that you read to earn an > award, instead of the reward being the story on the page. I was a rebel at > my school and refused to have my students do it. Some parents complained, > so > the computer was there for them to use, but I did not give out any > awards.To > really know your students as readers, have conversations and conferences > with them. > Jan > > > > Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:31:46 -0800 > > From: brenda...@sbcglobal.net > > To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > Subject: [MOSAIC] AR > > > > We may have had this conversation, but I didn't have access to > Accelerated > Reader. What do you all think? Do the levels correspond with the actual > reading level of the student? > > Thanks for your input. > > Brenda > > Ca/4 > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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