Darlene wrote: " You don't want to take a couple of weeks to read a longer
book when you could read several shorter books in the same time period. Kids
figure this out fast.Case in point: My grandaughter is a great reader but
she would opt for the smaller books at her level so she could get to her
goal. "
I generally had the opposite experience, kids wanted to read one long book
and get it over with. In fact a couple of weeks ago I was on a bus trip and
was seated next to a 7th grader at lunch. We got to talking about books.
She was an avid reader who really likes "old-fashioned" stories like Anne of
Green Gables. She told me she hadn't read the last Harry Potter book
because she's been saving it for 7th grade AR so she only has to read one
book and then can read what she wants. I can't tell you the number of
4th grade boys who came in asking for Anne of Green Gables because it was
worth a lot of points, only to bring it back immediately. To be fair, I did
witness the last week in a school where I was volunteering where the kids
were coming to the library grabbing short books so they could complete their
AR requirements since they didn't have time for longer ones. I also heard a
group of 5th graders cheer when they were told by the middle-school advisers
that they wouldn't have AR in middle school.
If everybody used these programs (AR and Reading Counts) thoughtfully and
appropriately instead of making them mandatory for every child with grades
dependent on the results I might have fewer objections but I think that far
more schools are making these programs mandatory. I once had a parent
complain to me because her child had spent the whole quarter reading one
book (worth lots of points) and didn't pass the test which lowered her
grade. So unfair.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Joanne Proctor, retired LMS and library volunteer
Topeka, KS
joproctor@cox.net
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