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I sent a reply directly to Ruie re:acheiving a balance with AR but thought others might be interested too. Here are my 2 bits worth... We have had the same problem because the program has been running for 5 years and it had become a major hype in the school. Here is what I did last year (when I came to the school) to begin to downplay AR as the "only worthwhile" books. 1. Have monthly library contests. E.g. Every time a student read a fairy tale/folktale/legend book (AR or not) they filled out a photocopy ticket (made up by me) with their name, division, and the title of the book and put it into a draw box. At the end of the month (happened to be Jan) 5 names were pulled out of the box and they won a small book prize. (there were 300+ names in the box of 309 students) Other monthly contest ideas -- biographies; poetry; non-fiction; mysteries; animal books; hardback books; science books; etc.. 2) When we had an AR assembly (all students with so many points got a certificate) I put every student's name in the school in a draw box and gave out 40 prizes for being readers (all students GR 2 - 6 are in the program anyway and this way even students that did not have the required points for a certificate had a chance at a prize). Prizes such as pencils, bookmarks, posters, binders (left over from last year. As well, each winner got a food certificate from a major sandwich restaurant for a free meal (they give these out to schools in our are that request prizes for reading activities). This year, we are trying to balance it a little more. We are following the newer direction that reading Renaissance suggest. Each student will set a realistic goal with their teachers help. Teachers are being urged to make it readily achievable by using the point chart given out by the program. (This is the one that shows the number of minutes needed to achieve a certain goal.) It is important that your teachers and parents understand that this is a small part of their child's reading program. It is only a computerized accountability system checking fact retention. It should therefore reflect a small portion of their overall Language Arts program. We are therefore having no major AR assemblies. At the end of the year, we will give out certificates to all students that have reached their reading goal. We will have a wall of recognition that will show students reaching 25% of their goal etc. (As per the program's recommendation). We are also having recognition in the classroom by teachers (however they wish to accomplish that). One teacher last year had ice cream cones on his bulletin board in the hall. Each scoop on the cone represented a book read (they wrote the name of the book on it) and he put a class total of number of books read and the class point total. This emphasized the team aspect. Our school district also has Battle of the Books. A few children elected to do that last year as well and interestingly, some of the children on the teams (which is a lot of work) also had the highest point total for the year in AR). I have also been emphasizing that a book is a book.....I don't care whether it has a dot on it or not. Our intermediate teachers are also going to have literature circles this year and I may start a book club in January (if I can figure out the dynamics. Book reports (quick answer type) or "I would recommend this book because...."can also be used for additional points to be added to a child's score, if you can figure out the mechanics of this. The overall point to remember, is that you have to educate your staff as to the problem and get their support. This has been a slow process for us but we are getting closer to the balance. Good luck Elizabeth ===== Elizabeth Gillies Teacher-Librarian Yarrow Elementary 46361 Yale Rd Chilliwack BC V2P 2P9 ph:(604) 823-4408 email:yarrowlib@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST, etc.) send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors: http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=