The great AR debate; teachers should lighten up!

[Lawrence Newton <lwnewton@YAHOO.COM>]

Colleagues,
   I looks like most of the complaints about
Accelerated Reader are stemming from the abuse of the
program, rather than a weakness in the program itself.
   Some have expressed concerns that the questions in
the book quizzes are all factual, and do not promote
interpretation.  AR is not meant to be a substitute
for formal literature instruction.  The only purpose
for the questions is to establish that the child was
more or less paying attention when they were reading.
   I am appalled to hear of teachers prohibiting the
reading of non-AR or of off-level books.  Which of us
has never read a "low-brow" paperback for relaxation,
when we could have been reading Proust or Tolstoi?
The purpose of any reading incentive program is to
promote life-long reading for enjoyment and
enrichment; if folks get too up-tight about it, it
takes the fun out, and makes reading a chore.
   If children are left alone to enjoy it, AR can be a
valuable tool to promote reading for fun; mis-used, it
becomes no more enjoyable than the basal.


=====
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside a dog, it's too dark to 
read."  Groucho Marx
Lawrence Newton, Librarian
Carnegie Elem. School,
Houston (TX) ISD
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