Okay, so the new school I'm teaching in uses the Accelerated Reader program! I am thrilled, since I really loved it as a child in elementary school way back when (something about trying to earn the most points, and loving to read too!). However, how should I arrange my classroom library? Should I stick to separating by genres with just labels on the books say indicating the level/how many AR points their worth? Or should the library be separated by AR levels (still with stickers in case they get mixed!), with the genres just mixed?
My head generally starts spinning soon after I start trying to "arrange" my classroom library. I've decided (at least for now ) to separate only by genre and author (for those "collections" I have), and I have a label on each book showing the AR label. We just found out that all of our classroom computers are supposed to have AR on them next year! In the past, kiddos had to go to the library to take AR tests. That's not really practical for first graders, lol.
I started AR last year with my first graders, and I already had my library sorted by category. I kept my categories and just labeled the individual books by their level on the spine, and then put a sticker with the quiz number on the inside cover.
The quiz number for the book so that they can take their AR quiz to earn their points. It was much easier for my first graders to have the quiz number right there to search by, instead of having to try to find the book by the title. If you use ARbookfind.com, you can find all the books and their quiz numbers that AR has in their database.
Ah, I see! I am using that website to label my books' levels and point values. May throw quiz number on the label too! Thanks for the tip! :thanks:
As a secondary teacher, AR makes me shutter (to put it mildly). I have less than 5% of HS juniors and seniors that love to read. When you ask the 95% what killed their reading habits, you almost always hear AR as part of their answer. I have a friend whose son loves to read but will only read AR books even though he has interests in books that won't count for his AR points. He won't read those even though he wants to. So sad. I suspect AR can be done well, but ...
How strange, ku_alum! All of the kids at our school LOVE to "do" AR! I don't know about the older grades, but I know that 1st & 2nd are not required to do it. We do have contests in which kids who pass "x" number of tests or a certain % of the tests they take (not sure which, because 1st doesn't participate in that) have chances for prizes - last year, we gave away 10 bicycles!
I've been an AR trainer for years, and I specialize in trainings for secondary schools using AR as part of the reading/English grade. It's a good program for monitoring independent reading when uses properly, but it's a huge train wreck when it's not . . . and it's misused more than it is used correctly. OK . . . off my AR soapbox. I don't recommend putting the points and AR level on the outside of the book, and I also recommend arranging your library like a regular library. In my classroom, the kids have a wide range of reading abilities. When the book level is on the outside of the book, some of the high-level readers will brag about their level by showing off the book level and the low-level readers are embarrassed by their low level book. Plus, I find kids who have no idea how to find something in a library. They'll ask where mystery books are or where their level is. Most won't even touch a book that isn't AR. They don't get that everything is all together.
Irma, that is a great point about not posting the level on the outside. Even though I taught 1st grade, I had a group of very competitive boys, and while a few of them could read 3.+ books, the other boys were trying to read books that were just too hard because their friends were. If I ever go back to a grade where I am required to do AR, I will move the levels to the inside of the cover instead. In my class, we had AR reading time, and then we had our Daily 5 "read to self" or "read to someone" where they were free to read any book, regardless of level. My job is to create a love of learning in my little ones, and I want them to read all sorts of books, not just ones at their level. I can see how some teachers use AR in a way where it turns kids off to reading, and that makes me so sad. I didn't like to read as a child and didn't really get into "fun" reading until I was an adult. Once reading stops becoming an assignment, and students can see how fun it is, that is when they will enjoy reading for fun.
I see where you're coming from. However, I want kids to be able to quickly find a book that's on their level as well (or maybe even a little above for a challenge). Bullying/teasing or anything of the sort over a reading level would not be tolerated at all. If it became a huge problem, I suppose I'd switch it to the inside cover.
