Hey everyone! I am curious how you specifically use/set goals for Accelerated Reader in your classroom. I am going to be starting my second year of teaching 5th grade and I would like to tie it in more heavily to our reading curriculum. My students are able to be motivated by the program, I just need ideas on specifically what you do with it...Thank you!
I know the schools around here used to have incentive programs for it... 50 pts, 100 pts, 150 pts, got certain rewards, etc. Kids really got into it. If they had that when I was in Elem. school, I may have read more just for the competition of it all. I didn't like reading either. If the story wasn't interesting, it could NOT keep my attention and that is still true today.
I am not sure how the school I will be working at does it yet, but I know that I have seen schools set a goal for each grade level for each six weeks and then everyone who meets the goal will have a party of some kind at the end of the six weeks. One time it was a pirate themed party where they hunted for treasure and had a pirate show up, another time they had a water party.
At my son's elementary school the students have a yearly points goal and every student who reaches their goal gets an Accelerated Reader Star sign with their name on it displayed in the front yard of the school. It's really a big deal! When the students are presented with their sign at the end of the year, they play music and each student dances down the aisle to get it. They pick up their signs once school is out. We put up his signs in his bedroom and it has become a sort of trophy wall. With our AR program at middle school, our kids don't seem motivated by big end-of-year rewards so they usually get prizes for so many points each grading period or an AR movie party with popcorn.
I do a yearly thing where children reach 100 pts. and they get to eat pizza w/me at the end of the year. BUT, I do a monthly genre goal. Each month they need to read 2 chapter books, 2 picture books, 1 non-fiction. I change it each month so that sometimes it's 1 biography, 1 mystery, 1 poetry, 1 historical fiction, 1 William Allen White book (type of award) and so on. I don't do it every 9 weeks because it takes too long. Once they meet their AR goal for the month I left them sit wherever they want and earn a prize like a can of pop or something different. If they are falling behind and don't have-say a certain number of books read by a certain tim then I work with them during recess or lunch to catch them up.
We have a school wide program. Each grade level has a certain point goal to reach by the end of the school year to participate in an ice cream sundae/banana split party. Last year 7 of 22 Second graders reached their 30 point goal and attended. In addition, the reading coach allowed us to also choose students who worked hard but were not able to reach the goal. I chose 4 students who were well below grade level at the beginning of the year, less than 40 wcpm and brought that up to range(90-100 wcpm) or close in part to their energy in reading AR books. Other teachers used a part of program to figure out individual goal based on their STAR test and had their own celebration based on those individual goals.
We are a K through 5th school. For K, 1, and 2, they get to spend their points at an AT Store each semester. For 3-5, they get to attend an AR Carnival hosted by the teachers during the school day. We also have a local baseball team who does a huge reading program. We tie AR in with their program, so the kids have the chance to earn a trip to see a baseball game. Some teachers also offer other incentives each six weeks.
We do a % goal, as well as a point goal. If you do not do the % goal, the students will just take quizzes all the time, just to take them to try to get points. We require the students to get an average 85% correct. For point goals, last year, I did a bb that had the title "Reading Takes You Places." I had a map of the United States and the students names written on airplanes. As the students worked toward their point goal, they fly across the U.S. We do parties for our students too. At the end of each 9 weeks, for the students who reach both point goal and % goal, get a pizza and movie party. The librarian also does a brownie sundae party for them.
To set grade level goals is totally against the philosophy of AR. Each student should have an individual goal set based on their reading level. If you have the STAR reading test it is a place to start. Also set quarter goals as opposed to yearly goals. Here are a couple of earlier discussions on setting goals and motivation. http://forums.atozteacherstuff.com/showthread.php?t=61439 http://forums.atozteacherstuff.com/showthread.php?p=734469 The following link is one for teaching tips and setting goals http://www.renlearn.com/Profdevel/teachertips/
