How many books/points should I require my second graders to read each month? Just wondering how to get this program started. Thanks for your help.
Here is information about setting goals for AR which you might find helpful. http://www.renlearn.com/goalsetting.htm Also, here's an overview of the AR program. http://www.renlearn.com/ar/overview/default.htm
My school has an AR challenge for the year not month. Each grade has a different goal. For 2nd grade, students are challenged to earn 25 points by year end. Last year only 3 of my students reached the goal. A team member is challenging her students to earn 1 point a week. She just sent the letter home explaining how AR works. I might also do the same challenge but want to talk to our Reading Specialist about where the year-long goals are going to be set. Good luck!
If they reach the weeks goal, they get something from the trinket chest. Get cheap stuff from Oriental Trading catalog or Dollar Store. Get packages of pencil grips, pencil eraser tops, pencils, Break the packages up so they only get one and makes a cheap trinket. OR if they read a book at home they get to put a tiny sticker on their chart and when the chart gets full they get a gumball. Get them at the Dollar Store about Halloween time, get enough for the year as they will get hard to find.
Each six weeks we require a minimum of three points. We're required to take the ar points as a grade. The program is not intended for a grade, but we have to do what everyone else is doing to be consistent. To get a special field trip, second grade students must earn 30 points. Last year I had half the class earn at least 30 points.
Make sure all students are reading at their level. Each student is different. We use the star text at the AR site. Listed on another post.
I use several ideas to get kids reading/using AR. - combine it with the Pizza Hut/Book-It! Reading Program. I post the students' monthly reading goals on the wall. I set the first month at 4 books, then if they get their goal they can set the next month's themselves. At the end of the month, they get a certificate. - I require students to pass 10 AR tests per marking period. - when they pass an A.R. test, students earn slips for their row for each question passed. On Fridays the row presidents count the slips for each row (we talk about probability here too). I draw one slip from the mixed up slips and that row can go to the "Treasure Chest". - I have a showcase that I sometimes organize around season/holiday. When students pass an A.R, test, they put their name on a diecut (like a fall leaf or heart) and throw it in the showcase. - students take home a book every night from our classroom library and we have at least 10 minutes of SSR every day. - I also make sure that parents have access to the A.R. list (either a paper copy or a copy online) and parents must sign a permission slip before students can take an A.R. test.
Wow, at our school AR is very much encouraged. Our school is K-8 and our yearly goal is 40,000 points! My second graders have a goal of 15 points per 6 weeks. I am not a big fan of the program, at least the way that we have to use it. I have so many struggling readers and they are supposed to earn 15 points, its ridiculous.
My class is required to get 6 points each month, (not set by me). We have an incentive to earn a trophy by getting 50% over the annual goal of 54 points. I have given my own incentive that anyone who has 18 points by the November due date for points will get a movie and popcorn. I read Because of Winn Dixie to them and we are going to watch that movie in November. So far all of my students but one has earned the movie. My students take the Star Reading test to help me determine their reading level but I don't agree with all students having the same goal each month. It is too easy for some of them and just right for others. I don't have any who struggle to meet it but know that other classes do. Last year in my student teaching, my students had individual goals and of course reading levels. That seemed to work much better. Good luck!
