Re: Checkout for Reading Levels

[Penny McAllister <PMcalli718@AOL.COM>]

I, too, have been following this thread with great interest.  I am in a school
of 280 kids, 75% low ses where AR has been used for 5 years with much success.
Our school is a magnet school, though not a true magnet school, meaning that
75 % of our population is zoned for our school and the other 25% have
transferred in.  We do not use a basal reader series or any other type of
reading "program".  We are truly a literature based reading site.  As a
general marker of how much reading the kids are doing, my circulation stands
at 24,000 since August.  Our total circulation for last school year was 32,000
books.

Last year on the SAT9  reading portion our 4th graders scored 1 point behind
the school with the highest test scores in the city.  (We're about in the
middle (of 13 schools) for the system, overall.

I have mentioned the above in relation to this thread only to respond to some
of the comments like "I let my children get ONE AR book and then anything else
they want" and other similar ideas.  My children walk out of the library with
just about whatever they can carry! (I see some of the same kids twice a day,
too!) And I can guarantee you that most of them are AR books.  Why.....because
research has shown that the AMOUNT of reading a child does greatly affects her
growth in reading.  We have a minimum of 60 minutes a day silent reading in
all classes 2nd through 5th grade and they may need a lot of books to get them
through that period, depending on their READING LEVEL.

And speaking of reading levels.....we do use STAR, also with great success.
And yes, and don't shudder, we DO try to watch their levels when they check
out, although they are pretty good at monitoring themselves.  WHY?  because
after we got STAR we were able to HELP a child be MORE SUCCESSFUL with
reading.  We use the 85-92% guideline from AR....(that's where a child's
average % correct should be to show optimum reading growth) and when THE
TEACHER sees a child making lots of 100s or the average going above 92% we
know it is time to challenge them either with LONGER BOOKS or a HIGHER LEVEL
book.

How do we know they're being more successful? Because of the growth shown on
the STAR test from August to October.  Our school goal is to have every child
truly reading on grade level (no small feat considering some children don't
have the first book in the home).  As a demonstration site for the Alabama
Reading Initiative, this is our charge.  By keeping the children focused and
and immersed in literature, we are well on our way.

We do NOT use any incentives with our children, except for the goal setting
aspect of AR.  This also helps us help them to keep up with their reading.

One of the most amazing things I have noticed is that my current third, fourth
and fifth graders ARE reading more fiction and nonfiction (the latter the
teachers made a concerted effort with last year when they were in 2nd and 3rd)
than  the
3rd-5th grades of 5 years ago, when our magnet program began.  They certainly
wouldn't be doing this if they were restricted to one AR book at checkout, or
any other check-out limitations.  Sure, there are days when there are tons of
books to be shelved, the shelves look like Hurricane Mitch breezed through and
my check-in box is full that I think maybe I should limit how many they check
out.....and then a child whom we never thought would read comes in with 8 easy
books he's returning, grinning like a cheshire cat because he just took 8
tests and made 80's or 100's and I can say ...."you know,  I bet you could
read one of these chapter books over here....."

I''ve been a librarian for 23 years and I've never seen children this happy
about reading.  For 19 of those years I worked at the school with the top test
scores in town, mentioned above.  Yes, I had good readers there, great
readers, who loved books and loved coming to the library.  But they should
have been....that school serves one of the highest socioeconomic groups in our
city and until last year had a population that was 75% upper income, 25%
minority.

My 2 cents worth......

Penny McAllister
Central Elementary School
Tuscaloosa, AL  35401
pmcallis@ces.tusc.k12.al.us
pmcalli718@aol.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
    All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), 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
 3) SET LM_NET MAIL  * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv
 For LM_NET Help & Archives see:  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=