Accelerated Reader
AR
The Basics
• Give Students Time to
Read
• Access to Books
• Success: The time
Motivator
• AR as a Motivator
• Self Direction and
Freedom of choice
• Read Aloud to Students
• Variety
• The Student Reading
Log
• Goal Setting
• A Word of Praise, a Pat
on the Back
• TOPS Report
• Reading as a Reward
• Modeling
Give Students Time to Read
• Greatest single motivator to get students to
read is to give them time to read at school.
• Each school should allow students to Read
Independently for a minimum of 20 minutes
per day.
• Time spent in Read To and Read With
activities. Builds phonemic awareness and
familiarity with books.
Access to Books
• Your library should have a flexible
schedule which allows student to
check out another book as soon as
they finish one.
• The more access students have to
good books, the more they will be
motivated to read.
Success: The Prime Motivator
• “Nothing succeeds like success.”
• When we experience success with an
activity, it reinforces our self-esteem and
give us a chance to demonstrate our mastery
to other.
• AR tests are written to be mastered easily
by any student who has read the book with
comprehension.
AR as a Motivator
• Accelerated Reader motivates students to
read in the same ways that games motivate
children to play them
– Points are awarded based on the quality,
quantity, and difficulty level of the student’s
performance
– Students receive immediate feedback
– Objective questions and computer-based testing
ensure fairness.
TWI
• Reading To: reading aloud is critically
important to a child’s reading development.
• Reading With: an important bridge to
independent reading for beginning and
remedial readers.
• Reading Independently: perhaps the
only effective way a student develops
comprehension and higher- order thinking
skills.
Variety
• Provide students with the greatest possible
variety of books to read at every level.
• The wider the selection the better the
chance that she likes.
• Give students the chance to help choose
some new books so when they come in they
are ready to read.
ZPD
The key to the increased growth in
reading comprehension is maximizing the
amount of reading practice a student
performs within his “Zone of Proximal
Development”
ZPD is the zone in which the student is both
challenged and presented new vocabulary, but
also in which there are enough context clues
that the child can construct meaning without
being frustrated.
Self-Direction
& Freedom of Choice
• The process of training students to know
their own reading levels, and to use them to
select books that help them meet their
reading goals, is a tremendous way for
teacher to empower students.
• It helps develop responsibility while
providing students with a feeling of control
over their learning and their lives.
WELCOME
TO
“LET’S MAKE A
DIFFERENCE”
Door #1
Motivate
Goal Setting
• Setting individualized student achievement
goals allows the teacher to tailor
expectations to the student’s ability.
• You allow every student to feel a sense of
success and accomplishment.
• There are at least four goals for each
student:
The Student Reading Log
• Students keep a log of the title of the book the
level of difficulty, and how many pages he has
read since the day before. The resulting log is a
huge motivator.
• Lets them see a daily record of achievement.
• Checking the log daily provides accountability.
Allows the teacher to focus on students who are
not reading enough or inappropriate books, and
allow for quick adjustments.
Door # 2
Instruct
MINI-LESSONS
• Mini- lessons are ten to fifteen
minute lessons that deal with a
single objective and are
integrated with the books that
students are reading on their
own.
TEACHING STUDENTS
HOW TO SELECT BOOKS
• Your role is to help students know
their individual reading levels and
find the reading level information
on AR books, so students can make
judgements about whether or not to
select a given book to read.
SCHEDULING
BOOK
DISCUSSIONS
Sharing books, stories,
and reading experiences
combine modeling with
direct instruction.
Door # 3
Monitor
Four Goals to Focus On
• Number of points to be achieved during that
term.
• The average percent of correct answers on
book test.
• The average book reading level
• The progress toward the next appropriate
level of Reader Certification. (We use the
STAR Test to determine this)
TOPS Report
• Accelerated Reader includes a set of features
that make it easy to provide this kind of
adult recognition and praise on a routine
basis.
• TOPS
•Three
•Opportunities to
•Praise a Student
STATUS OF
THE CLASS
• Monitoring student progress is a regular activity
that we recommend you perform on a daily
basis. During your daily check on the Status of
the Class, speck individually with each student
viewing and initialing the student reading log.
• Ask questions like “How do you like that book
so far?” “Who is your favorite character?”
“Would you like to read another book by the
same author?”
Door # 4
Intervene
INTERVENTION
• This means to “Get in the Way”
whenever one of your students
takes a turn onto the road to
reading failure.
• The answer lies in reinforcing the
fundamental elements of the MIMI
cycle.
MIMI
MONITOR
INTERVENE
INSTRUCT
MOTIVATE
1. Modify Motivational
strategies
2. Modify Methods of
Instruction
3. Modify the Kinds of
Monitoring.