All We Did Was Read

Friday was our school's kick off to Read Across America Week and the Read the Most from Coast to Coast Reading Challenge through Accelerated Reader.  So you know what we did ALL day?  READ! Yep, no math, no writing, no science. (We did have specials...the kids needed to run around and refresh themselves.)

How did it go?

Wonderfully!

Our 4th grade started out the day with a special breakfast.  The teachers brought in scrambled eggs, sausage, and fruit.  The kids loved it!

Then, after our morning specials, we got busy reading.  The kids could wear PJ's and bring a blanket for "Blanket and Books Day."  (Didn't have to tell them twice!)

We also took lots of AR quizzes...

When a student took an AR quiz and passed with a score of 85% or higher, they got to sign our whiteboard.

                        

Look at all those names!

Our school had a goal of reading 5 million words on Friday.  At 9:30, we were off and running.

Did we meet our goal?  Unfortunately, we did not.  However, we came pretty close...

One of my students was pretty upset because she was reading one of the Lightening Thief books (a really thick one).  She read and read...but at 3:00 when the contest ended, she still had 40 pages so she didn't get to quiz.  She felt that if she had finished and quizzed on the book, our school would have met our goal.  I told her that I admired her spirit at reading a really long book and that 4.7 million words was amazing in and of itself.

The other part of our day of reading was the challenge between 4th and 5th grades to see who could earn the most points.  The winner.....4th grade!  YAY!!

Our day of reading was so much fun and the kids were so pumped!  When 3:00 came around, they were upset that the day was over.  Talk about motivated readers!  So with that, I am linking up with my buddy Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation Saturday.  I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else motivated their kiddos this week.

I hope you will join me on Sundays for my weekly linky, A Peek at My Week to give us a look at your upcoming week.  See you tomorrow!

A Peek at My Week {2-23-14}

Wahooo!  This is the last week of February!  Even thought it's the shortest month of the year, it always seems to drag on and on.  Anybody with me??

Thank you for stopping by for another Peek at My Week, my weekly linky party where we all share our plans for the upcoming week.  Here's what I've got going on...

Reading:  Last week, I had planned on moving on to point of view.  However, after thinking about it more, I thought my kiddos needed more practice with text structure.  I used this awesome resource from Teaching with a Mountain View.  The passages were engaging and offered just the review I was hoping for!

After a quick assessment on Monday, I think we will be ready to move on to point of view.

A.R.:  Do you use Accelerated Reader at your school?  We do, and I absolutely love it.  This Friday is A.R.'s "Read the Most From Coast to Coast" Challenge. 

A.R. is challenging students to take 5 million quizzes on Friday.  At our school, we are challenging students to read 5 million words on Friday.  Last year, we read about 4.6 million, so I think we can do it!  To sweeten things up a bit, our 4th grade and has challenged our 5th grade to see who can read the most on Friday.  The grade that doesn't win will clean the desk of the grade that reads the most. (Yikes, I have seen those desks and it is not pretty!)  Go 4th grade!!!

Source:  http://indulgy.com/post/kztLkEkkA1/words-to-live-by;jsessionid=22AE1DD73A3C957524A0E8242992CA36

To get the kids revved up for a day of reading (yes, all we will be doing on Friday is reading, reading, reading...the kids are so excited!!), my teammates and I will be preparing breakfast for the entire 4th grade -- scrambled eggs, sausage, bagels & fruit.  (Hopefully their bellies won't be so full that they fall asleep reading...)

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank for stopping by!  I wish you a great last week of February...Bring on March!

Spark Student Motivation -- Word Count Wizards

I'm linking up today with the very fun (and funny!) Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching for her linky, Spark Student Motivation.

I think we can all use a little motivation this time of year -- especially our students!

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that our school uses the Accelerated Reader system to monitor independent reading.  I think AR is a good way to keep track of student reading and to make sure students are understanding what they read.  If their TOPS report (the score of their AR quiz) comes back with low scores for comprehension, it's definitely time to get together with that student for some extra conferencing.

The AR system is set up for students to earn a certain number of "points" in a given time period.  (Each book is assigned a point level and when students take a quiz on a book, they earn a proportional number of points based on their score.)  This is one of the things that I do not like about AR.  When students read, they get fixated on earning "points."  Points do not make someone a better reader...To become a better reader, you need to read a lot, so I feel tracking Word Count Totals is a better way to go.

Source:  https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1463981_747384378608347_1055542707_n.jpg

Each week, I publish a "Word Count Wizards" list that shares the top five readers in our classroom based on their Word Count total as measured by AR.  Seeing their name on the list (or wanting their name on the list) is incredibly motivating!  

Then every month, the 4th grade teachers host a pizza lunch for the top two Word Count Wizards in our classrooms.  We gather together to eat pizza, chips and cookies. (Unhealthy, I know, but also motivating for some students who want to enjoy junk food at school).

This past Thursday, we hosted our pizza lunch for November's winners.  Both of the students from my class read over 200,000 words each in November.  (Impressive, since many students' word count goal is about 150,000 words for the quarter!)

Word Count Wizards is a great way to get students reading MORE!  They love seeing those numbers go up, especially toward the end of the quarter when their numbers can get pretty high.  I don't doubt that by the end of this year, many of my students will have read over a million words!  WOW!!!

I'm headed over to Joanne's blog to see what other inspirations await!  Meet me there!!

(But before you go, don't forget to come back Sunday to link up and share a Peek at My Week -- my weekly linky party where you can share the highlights of your upcoming week.  There's plenty of motivation here as well!  :)

Have a great Saturday!

Reving Up Reading with Accelerated Reader

Many schools use Accelerated Reader (AR) by Renaissance Learning to monitor and encourage independent reading.  If you are lucky, you have a close partnership with an AR specialist at your school who trains the staff on how to use AR and helps monitor student progress.  However, many teachers who use the program do not have this support and go it alone. 

I am one of the lucky ones!  We have a wonderful librarian at our school who makes sure our staff is trained in AR and helps provide that consistency with students in regards to AR expectations.

  

I'd like to share some of the tools I use and my school uses to help get the most out of our AR experience.

Goal Setting:

* Based on a student's STAR Reader test (associated with AR), students are given a "points goal" each quarter.  You can visit this link to learn more about setting point goals.

Almost every book printed is assigned a ZPD text complexity level and a points value.  You can visit AR Bookfinder to find out the ZPD level and point value for any book that is in the AR system.

* Develop a fun system for tracking students' progress toward their goals.  I use an AR Racetrack in my room, with the pace flags representing the percent students are at in terms of their points goal.

 

 



 On the first day of school, I take everyone's picture for their AR Racecar.  Their face is put in the drivers seat of these fun racecars.

 

After students take a quiz and their TOPS report prints, they move their car up the track until they meet their goal.

 

* You can also use these fun AR Goal Tracker Bookmarks. 



* Instead of an AR Point Goal or in addition to one, consider having students set themselves a Word Count Goal.  (I feel it is important for students to set this goal for themselves so there is buy-in.)   I usually begin this in second quarter, because I want to see what is realistic for all of my students.  The average chapter book is about 25,000 words.  Some of my higher readers challenge themselves by setting a Word Count Goal that is 500,000 words and they reach it!  (One year, I had one student who read over a million words in a quarter!  WOW!!!)

 

Make it Fun:

 

* Form a "100 Point Club" for students who earn 100 AR Points in a year.  Take their picture and put it on a poster in the hallway.  Underneath their picture, put a banner that says "100 Point Club."  As students earn more points, you can add more banners (200 Point Club, 300 Point Club, etc.)

 

* Challenge another class or grade to an AR Reading Contest.  See which class can earn the most points averaged per student and then celebrate everyone's efforts with a joint party.  (Bragging rights go to the class with the highest point average, but every student who participates and contributes to the class goal should be acknowledged.)  Last year, my 4th grade class challenged a 5th grade class to this contest.  While we didn't win (last year!), my students were incredibly motivated to read and wanted to read ALL DAY LONG to try to beat the 5th graders!

 

* Set a classroom Word Count Goal.  Update your progress weekly.  Our goal was never less than to read a million words in a quarter.  One quarter, we read almost 3,000,000 words!  (This was probably because my husband said he would bake chocolate chip cookies if we did it!)

 

* Set a school goal of reading over a MILLION WORDS in one day.  Plan a fun celebration (popsicles, extra recess, etc.) for when the goal is met.

 

Don't Forget:

 

* Keep in mind that AR recommends that students score 85% or higher on their quizzes.  This helps assure that students understand what they read, not just speed read to earn points.  If students are scoring below 85%, it is very important to meet with them and monitor their reading to develop strategies to improve comprehension.  For higher students, set their goal to 90% correct for an extra challenge.

 

* Make sure students are reading in their ZPD range.  Reading books below their ZPD level will not challenge students and reading books too high may frustrate them.  Students typically have a range of 1.5 points (3.5 - 5.0) based on their STAR Reader test.

 

With all of this talk about points and goal setting, it is important to not lose sight of the fact that the real purpose of AR is to get kids reading more so they become better readers, not just to earn points. 



There is a great resource on the Renaissance Learning website that is full of information about AR.  You can read it (all 150+ pages!) here.

I hope I have given you some things to think about in terms of increasing student reading using AR.  If you use AR in your class, I'd love to hear some of your thoughts.  Why not leave a comment below to share with everyone?