MisterOJ Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 So ever since my kids have been old enough to read in school, their teachers have used the AR (which I *think* stands for Advanced Reader) program in one form or another. Are any of you familiar with it? I'm curious about what others' opinion of it are. For those that don't know, it is basically a system that gives students points for reading books. The points are based off how difficult a book is, and also how long a book is. For example, reading The Hobbit is worth 16 points. Reading The Cat in the Hat is worth 0.5 points. In order to earn the points, the program has a standardized test about the books that students can take to "prove" that they have read the book. If you don't pass the test, you don't get the points. Most of the time, my kids' teachers have just used the points system as part of a reward. "Read x number of points and at the end of the semester, you get to take part in a pizza party," or some such thing. This year, though, my oldest daughter's language arts teacher is tying AR reading into the class grade. You have to accumulate so many points over the course of the 9-weeks grading period, or it affects your grade. It's no problem for my daughter, she just finished Mistborn this week (less than halfway through the grading period) and it's worth 33 points, which more than meets her quota. Do you think incentivizing reading in this way for kids is a good thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 How many points would you get for Finnegans Wake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterOJ Posted January 29, 2016 Author Share Posted January 29, 2016 17 minutes ago, David Selig said: How many points would you get for Finnegans Wake? Apparently, there is no test for it - so it doesn't count. You can look up books yourself on www.arbookfind.com though. A Game of Thrones is worth 45 big points. Storm of Swords is 63. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Its Accelerated Reader. My step-daughter did it a lot when she was at the private school in town, but I don't recall seeing it as much after we moved to the public schools. Its been around a while though, I remember helping my high school girlfriend cheat on a Hunt For Red October test. We had planned to watch it as a movie and I'd tell her what the difference was with the book... we didn't get to watch the movie, so I actually was much more daring and actually sat behind her in the library while she took the test before school. Good thing too, because the test was definitely designed to ask questions about the book and not the movie! I remember being in elementary school and we had the "Book it!" program and I got free personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 My daughter's school used AR in the elementary grades. For readers like my daughter who grew up in a home full of loaded bookcases, it was a nice program that rewarded her for a positive activity that she was already happy doing. For the children who came from homes with multiple televisions, video games and cell phones but no books, however, the AR program became a sort of negative incentive or demotivator, because they received negative reinforcement for their home environments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyKC Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Wow, what a great idea! Gonna have to try this with the younger kids. Maybe we can finally get our youngest daughter to take a break from "Charlottes's Web"! Lol ! Now, I noticed on that website that there was no score for the Bible. As we are homeschoolers, I guess we can assign our own score, but what do you parents think is an appropriate number? I don't want to make it too easy to reach their goals, but I also don't think the kids should not be getting enough credit learning the Gospel each day to jeopardize Turkey Taco Night! Maybe assign a decent number (say, 5-10) for individual Books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 The bible is required reading and does not earn you extra points. You get points deducted if you miss the assignments and cannot recite all the sons of Jacob etc. (Reminds me of a great scene in Tom Sawyer... ;)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Not sure I like the idea actually. Either set compulsory reading or don't. Not every child is going to take an interest in reading outside of their schoolwork, and that's fine. I don't think children should be encouraged to pursue a hobby they don't enjoy, and that's what this is IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I think kids should be encouraged to read but I have certainly doubts about the method of assigning points and giving rewards. If a kid does not come to the conclusion that reading fiction (or interesting non-fiction) has far higher rewards than silly points or greasy pizza, I'd consider the program a failure. And I am also not sure whether such points and rewards are a good method to nudge kids not interested in reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 9 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said: I don't think children should be encouraged to pursue a hobby they don't enjoy, and that's what this is IMO. Encouraging is fine. Like, the rewards system OJ mentioned is imo a decent idea - if done properly it could encourage kids to seek out books they might enjoy to get a reward they might also enjoy. And encouraging enjoyment is the best possible way to get kids to do something. Forcing them to to on the threat of bad grades on the other hand is a terrible idea and won't help most kids at all. They might read the books they need to for this particular grade but it'll probably mean at least some of them come out of it feeling more negatively towards the entire idea of reading for fun than they would otherwise have done. It'll also likely have them trying to read more difficult books than they would otherwise want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 It seems like there's no difference between this and compulsory reading assignments the teacher sets. Except that here the teacher does less work. Clever teacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterOJ Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 4 hours ago, john said: It seems like there's no difference between this and compulsory reading assignments the teacher sets. Except that here the teacher does less work. Clever teacher. That's sort of the way I look at it now, honestly. It's a language arts class, which is essentially a combination of English and literature. So, reading is a component of that. Instead of having everyone in the class read the same book and then test on it, this system gives the students the opportunity to read something that interests them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zizoz Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 That kids get to choose books they like sounds like a pretty big difference to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolverine Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 On 1/31/2016 at 3:35 AM, HelenaExMachina said: Not sure I like the idea actually. Either set compulsory reading or don't. Not every child is going to take an interest in reading outside of their schoolwork, and that's fine. I don't think children should be encouraged to pursue a hobby they don't enjoy, and that's what this is IMO. So, can the math teacher not assign problems to do? In case problem solving is not a hobby they enjoy? It is a language arts class and it sounds like it is compulsory reading but the kids get to pick the books instead of being forced to read specific things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 1 hour ago, wolverine said: So, can the math teacher not assign problems to do? In case problem solving is not a hobby they enjoy? It is a language arts class and it sounds like it is compulsory reading but the kids get to pick the books instead of being forced to read specific things. If that's the case then yes, fine. I seem to have misunderstood though, I thought it was optional reading rather than a compulsory assignment. I have no problem with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterOJ Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 5 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said: If that's the case then yes, fine. I seem to have misunderstood though, I thought it was optional reading rather than a compulsory assignment. I have no problem with that. Yeah, in previous years it was optional - but with a reward for hitting certain goals. This year for my oldest its more compulsory in that, if you don't hit your goal, it affects your grade. The class does very little reading where a single book is assigned to the whole class. They are instead going this route, where the students can pick out something (within reason) that interests them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 5 minutes ago, MisterOJ said: Yeah, in previous years it was optional - but with a reward for hitting certain goals. This year for my oldest its more compulsory in that, if you don't hit your goal, it affects your grade. The class does very little reading where a single book is assigned to the whole class. They are instead going this route, where the students can pick out something (within reason) that interests them. In which case I think it's a perfectly fine idea. We had a similar kind of system in my primary school, though without the rewards or test - we were assigned a book to read each week and had to get our reading diaries signed by a parent/guardian to prove we had read it. These were usually bog standard school reading books assigned depending on your reading level, but you were allowed to read your own book if you wanted, or choose one from the library. We also had assigned books where we would, during "reading hour" discuss the book/answer reading comprehension tests about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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