Accelerated Reader – Important Notice!

If you’ve recently checked PowerSchool, some of you might have noticed a big drop in your Trimester 2 percentage grade. That’s because your AR points, no matter how far you are from your goal, have been added.  If you haven’t reached your goal, your grade dropped accordingly.

I included this comment with your grade:

“This score is based on the most current Accelerated Reader points. Students have had from November 22, 2010 to work on reaching their AR goals. Students have until March 11 to reach their goals. Grades will be adjusted as students move towards their goal.”

Please explain to your parents if they don’t understand.

If your grade actually increased – well done, you’ve reached your AR goal!

YOU HAVE UNTIL MARCH 11 TO TURN IN PROJECTS AND TAKE QUIZZES.

Kids Lit Quiz- Read! Read! Read!

Over the course of the past few weeks, an enthusiastic group of Middle School students have been meeting three times a week during lunch hour and working hard in preparation for the Kids’ Lit Quiz literature competition. Kids’ Lit Quiz (KLQ) is an annual international literature competition, the brainchild of Wayne Mills, a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland who envisioned KLQ as a way to promote recreational reading. By 1993, KLQ had developed into an international competition which has included national competitions in South Africa, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, and China.

How to Choose a Book to Read – The Five Finger Test

To find a book that is just right for you -take the five-finger test. This is how you do it:

Open a book to any page. Read the page, out loud if you can. Put up a finger for each word you don’t know.  How many fingers do you have up?

1 WORD.  This is easy for you to read! HAVE FUN!

2 WORDS. Just right. ENJOY!

3 WORDS. CHALLENGING! But try it and you might like it.

4 WORDS. VERY CHALLENGING! Read this book with some support from someone.

5 WORDS. TOO HARD! Save it for later when you are a better reader or have someone read it to you.

Reading Is Important!

Students need time to read.  As Nancy Atwell says so well in her 2007 book, The Reading Zone:

“…make time every day for …. students to curl up with good books and engage in the single activity that consistently correlates with high levels of performance on standardized tests of reading ability.  And that is frequent, voluminous reading.”

Tell me: what book you’re reading now, or what your favorite book is, or what types of books you like to read.  Click on comments to leave a comment.