HITS: Salvation Army Story and AR Question

[Mary Ann Bell <mbell@main.com>]

    I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season.  I am trying to
get back on track and tie up loose ends, including informing sharing
information gained from queries I posted in December.  One request had
to do with whether or not it was true that valuable coins show up in
Salvation Army kettles annually during the Christmas season.  I received
many interesting replies verifying incidents in Chicago, Iowa, and
elsewhere.  It appears that once this custom got started, others picked
it up in various locations resulting in numerous generous gifts.  My
teacher used the information as part of a lesson she was presenting and
was impressed and appreciative.
    I also posted a question about Accelerated Reader use.  I was
wanting common sense guidelines, particularly regarding how to encourage
teachers to not be rigidly locked in to narrow level requirements and
how to encourage reading of non-AR books.  Once again I was rewarded
with a number of helpful replies. The consensus is that AR should be
regarded a management system (of course, but in some cases takes on a
life of its own), and that it does help to "hang loose" regarding
levels.  I am hoping that having others echo my sentiments will lend
credence to my suggestions along these lines.  Several respondents said
they go by points alone rather than homing in on the levels, an idea I
will try to promote.  I am attaching some of the responses which pretty
well sum up what I hope to convey.  If anyone else wants to add words of
wisdom, I would love to hear--will be meeting with teachers this Tuesday
to discuss AR.

    "We have the AR program at our school and students are encouraged to
read in
a zone around their reading level and we have lots of AR tests, however,
let
me comment about being hard and fast about these levels.  Teachers and
media
specialists must reserve the right to individual judgment and students
should get approval for any book they read."

    "We are using AR at our school as an adjunct.  Our kids are mostly
on grade
level and all have to take the Scholastic Reading Inventory, SAT and a
new
test in Florida called FCAT.  I have trained all the teachers on how to
use AR
without going overboard.  I refuse to put the reading level on the book
itself, nor will I put the points.  I have worked with the program in
other
schools and have seen it work well without having to use STAR, ZPD's, or
at
risk reports.  Let the kids read what they want; after all , we are
trying to
encourage recreational reading.  If they are not happy with the amount
of
points they are accumulating, they will naturally gravitate towards
higher
level books.  We have decided on a schoolwide point goal as opposed to
individual classes competing against each other for points.  No school
store
either; reading should be rewarding without extrinsic rewards."
>
>    "If the teachers are interested in or feel the need to have AR be
included as part of a grade, I would like to share with you how a 5th
grade teacher
of below grade level readers handled AR.  This was a class of almost all

boys who, prior to AR, had only been perusers of sports and drawing
books.
She gave them extra credit points toward their grade if they made 80% or

above on the tests.  Some of them didn't believe her at first and then
one child
ended up with an A (he had never gotten one) and then it caught on like
wildfire. She only limited them by having them not read below a certain
grade
level...I think it was fourth because that was where they were in their
ability
>group.....  They could read anything above it, but only got points for
each test that was 80% or above, so it didn't punish them if they
stretched
>themselves. "

    ">We use AR 2-6.  Our guidelines are pretty easy.  The teachers and
I work
>together to decide what is a minimum reading level for their class, and

>sometimes by student is they have a child with special concerns in
their class.  We also work together to decide what is a reasonable point

goal. We use monthly goals.  Children who reach or surpass their monthly
goal
>earn the right to come to a theme party one afternoon during school.
The monthly goals can change depending on what holidays we have or what
is
>going on in the class room.  If they are doing a large research paper
or grad rule package the goal may be lowered that month.  If a student
has
a book they really want to read that is below their approved reading
level they bring it to me or their teacher for approval.  No big deal,
no big
>hassle, the children are allowed to read what they want within reason.
If a student is only wanting to read books way below their level it is
not
>approved.  But if they discover a book they really think is interesting

>they are allowed to read and test.

    "My observation is that serious readers rapidly take the
>"easy" tests, get bored, and move on to literature that interests them.

>They are also more likely to try other genres, too.
>       The "non-reading" students will actually catch themselves
enjoying
>something they have read. I try to create tests on mythology, folklore,

>etc. for these students because they have never discovered the joy of
>being lost in a book."

    "I worked in a middle school that very successfully used AR.  Let me

tell you how. First off, you have to have a principal backing it so
teachers will use
>it 100%. My sixth grade used it every six week grading period.  They
had to have
>read two books and passed tests on each book.  Unless the teacher told
>me, the grade level had to be 4.5 or higher.  When teachers conferenced

>with parents, the proof was in black and white whether the student
>really read as assigned. In seventh grade, we went completely by
points.  Every six weeks,
honors students had to get a certain number of points, regular another
number.
>It worked very well. "

    "I am the librarian in a small (63 students, grades 1-12) private
school
for students with dyslexia.  The teachers in grades 3 - 8 use AR for
their outside reading assignments.  The scores count as one test grade.
My teacher for grades 9 - 12 uses AR differently.  It is optional.
Depending on what a student scores, he/she has up to five points added
to their final six-weeks grade.  She uses it as extra credit.  We have
no "store", no levels of certification, no wall of fame.  My students
read at whatever level the teacher believes they can handle.  If a
student does poorly on a test, he/she has the option to take the test
again (at a lower grade) or read a second book on a lower level.">

I hope this information helps somebody else as it has me. Many thanks to
everyone who replied to my queries, especially during the busy month of
December.  Happy 1999!--Mary Ann
***?***?***?***?***?***?***?***?***
"Try curiosity."--Dorothy Parker
***?***?***?***?***?***?***?***?***
Mary Ann Bell, Librarian
York Junior High School
Conroe ISD, TX
mbell@main.com
mbell@conroe.isd.tenet.edu

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