AR for 2009-2010
At the end of last school year, we formed an AR committee to revamp our AR guidelines. The goal of this committee was to further advance and unify our AR Program. We have worked very hard to form a more exciting and spirited program for this school year. I believe we have come up with many good ideas that will interest the children. The teachers on the AR committee are: Mrs. Valerie Spires, Mrs. Connie Moore, Mrs. Charlotte Delcambre, Mrs. Marcia Todd, Mrs. Denise Longino, Miss Elizabeth Williams, Mrs. Bass and Tricia Harvey.
The purpose of AR is to monitor progress and promote guided independent reading practice. Its main goal is to improve reading comprehension.
- All grades from 1st through 6th are REQUIRED to participate in AR. 1st grade participation will start at the beginning of the 3rd Quarter (January 2010) of the school year.
- AR WILL NOT count as part of any reading grade.
- All teachers will follow the standardized guidelines for setting goals.
- The STAR test will be administered at the beginning of the school year and again in January at the beginning of the 3rd Quarter.
- This test is NOT the sole determining factor for setting the book level goal. Teachers may also use reading scores out of the report cards from previous years as well as classroom performance to help determine more accurate goals for each student.
- Mrs. Bass will receive copies of the diagnostic reports every week for ALL grades. From this, she will be able to monitor every child's progress.
- Each student will know his/her reading range and will read within that range.
- Reading Practice quizzes are added every week. If a book is not "AR" one week, it could very well be one next week.
- We are giving words of caution about books that may be "adaptations", "abridged" and "unabridged". Abridged and unabridged may be two different tests, and adaptations may not conform to the AR quiz, and the student may not perform well.
- Students will utilize reading logs in class to keep track of books read, book levels, and performance scores on each quiz.
To encourage school-wide participation and excitement for AR, we will have a school-wide theme. For 2009-2010, the theme is: CIRCUS. This theme will carry over into individual classroom themes.
- Each teacher will provide weekly feedback to each child.
- THERE WILL BE NO SECRET JOURNEY THIS YEAR.
- There will be a reward at the end of every 9 weeks.
The student must meet all three goals: Point Goal, Book Level Goal and the Average Percent Correct Goal. After these requirements are met, he/she will receive tickets that total the same amount of points earned. These tickets can be used at the new AR store. Their balances can be carried over from quarter to quarter (as long as they continue to reach all three goals) to save up for more expensive items.
Tickets will remain at school under the teacher's supervisions and will not go home with the child.
As a further incentive for children to raise their percent correct goal, extra tickets will be awarded as follows:
85% - 90% correct: 5 extra tickets
91% - 95% correct: 10 extra tickets
96% - 100% correct: 15 extra tickets
- Each classroom will still have a Top Reader.
- At the end of the school year, there will be one overall Top Prize for the Top Reader. It does not matter what grade the child is in, and it will be based on the points earned - as long as all the 3 goals are met.
- There will be a school AR bulletin board where all students will be able to view their progress along with all other students in the school.
- You will receive a letter with instructions on how to sign up for Home Connect. Many of you signed up last year. I believe your user names and passwords will remain the same. You can track your child's progress on a test by test basis with Home Connect, and you can view the books your child has read. You can also look up books in the AR system using Bookfinder. This application will show you the level of a particular book. Please consider signing up for this service.
We are doing all we can to make our AR Program successful. Our main goal is to help each child improve his/her reading comprehension. Our new rewards system has the potential to make AR more spirited and, hopefully, promote more enthusiasm for all children in all grades for the program.
We have some good ideas for quarterly prizes as well as the Top Reader prize at the end of the year. We are asking each of you that if you yourself have a business or have a connection to someone who has a business to please consider donating prizes to the AR Store. We are thinking along the lines of water park tickets for the summer, gift certificates for Wal-Mart, etc. Small and large prizes of varying values are needed. We want to have a large selection so that students with a smaller amount of tickets will still have a nice selection of gifts for their shopping spree. Remember, we need prizes for all 4 quarters.
Individual classroom teachers may also have different rewards for their classrooms when certain goals are met. They will inform you and the students of these incentives.
As always, please feel free to ask us questions if you need further clarification of our new AR guidelines. I hope to have these guidelines printed in the school newsletter and posted on the school website. As with most things, communication is our best ally. When we all work together, we benefit. More importantly, the children will benefit the most, and that is why we are all here.
Please take time to look at the school AR bulletin board. It is located in the North building outside the PE room, across from the library and computer lab.
Thank You.
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