'We Make Use of...' AR

Picture credit: www.renlearn.co.uk

The main impacts of Accelerated Reader have been engaging children in reading (or reading more), reading at the correct level and tracking what children read and how frequently.

Looking back, my previous tracking and knowledge of children's independent reading was not good enough. I'm now far more aware of what's going on with the independent reading of the thirty children in my class.

Initially, the children take a vocabulary test. This test provides the children a level at which to select books from. Each time the children read a book they complete a quiz on that book. As a result of the quiz, children earn points towards their target. Each child's target is based upon reading for a certain length of time each day (20 minutes in our case) and their reading ability. This, through comprehension questions, indicates (to some extent) their understanding of that book. The use of levels, target setting and certificates has inspired many children to read more than they had previously.

Certificates are presented in class, year group assemblies or whole school assembly depending on the certificate. In addition to the ones within AR, we also created some of our own.

As with many online platforms, it continues to develop and add new features. There is a wealth of data within the site to look at the school, year groups, classes and individual children's abilities, gaps, progress and so on.

Note: We have written this post as a result of using this website in our classrooms. We have not been asked or paid to write. We are often approached to write posts, but have and will continue to only write about what we have done in our classrooms. We're two full-time class teachers choosing to blog about our experiences.