Library

According to research, children who read at least 35 minutes a day with a 90% comprehension rate on AR quizzes see the greatest gains. Therefore, in a perfect world. Every child should have at least 35 minutes set aside for reading every day. All Year 7 and 8 students have a 20 minute reading slot in the school day known as Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) at Teign. In addition Years 7 and 8 students have a fortnightly 1 hour reading lesson in the LLRC supported by English staff and the Librarian.

Using Accelerated Reader, students will choose the books they went to read from the selection within a range. At Teign School, we have around 6,000 fiction books to choose from so there is a book there to excite anyone! The Teacher and Librarian will ensure the book is at the right level so that after completing the book, a student should do well on the AR Reading Practice Quiz. Success in the quiz will encourage them to read more.

No. There are many, many choices of books at every student’s level. They will never be forced to read a book parents find questionable. LLRC staff regularly advise students on the age suitability of books at the point of loan.

AR helps the teacher and Librarian work with each student individually. Students are encouraged to progress their own pace and work towards individualised goals with the help of the teacher. The aim of AR is for all students to succeed in achieving their personal goals and not to worry about others.

The school determines a student’s level through STAR ReadingTM tests which are carried out around four times a year. The first tests are carried out in September and once these Reading Ranges are recorded in their planners the students are free to select books« and get reading! In independent literature based reading, the ZPD is the range of books that will challenge a student without causing frustration or loss of motivation. It is important for students to read with a high degree of comprehension and within their ZPDs. At the end of each term, a further STAR test is carried out which should show an increase in the child’s reading level (as long as they have been engaging in sufficient reading at the right book level).

STAR Reading is a computerised reading assessment that uses computer adaptive technology. Questions continually adjust to student’s responses. If the students response is correct, the difficulty level is increased. If a question is missed, the difficulty level is reduced. The test uses multiple choice questions and takes approximately 30 minutes.

Book levels represent the difficulty of the text within a book. At Teign, all books that can be read within the AR scheme have colour-coded labels on their spines and the actual book level is shown. For example. our emergent reads at level 1-1.9 and have green labels on their spines. Many classics are all the top end of the book level scale so have brown labels on their spines« representing book level 6+).

Every book that has an AR Reading Practice Quiz is given value. AR points are computed based on the difficulty of the book level and the length of book (number of words). Students earn points, or cl portion of cl book’s points, depending on how well they do on the Reading Practice Quiz. For example, a student who takes a 5 question quiz on a book worth 1 point will earn point for 5 correct answers (100%», O. 8 for 4 correct answers« 80%), etc. A student who reads a book worth 5 points and takes a 10 question quiz will earn 5 points for 10 correct answers (100%), 4.5 points for 9 correct answers (9), etc. For quizzes with 3,5, or 10 questions, students need to pass a quiz with a score of 60% or higher to earn points. For quizzes with 20 questions, they need to pass with a score of 7% or higher to earn points.

The results of the STAR tests determines the Target number of points we« ask students to work towards each term. Monitoring students’ AR points and comparing them to the guideline values enables the teacher and Librarian to determine how well individual students are using the time provided for reading practice.

There are over 156,000 AR quizzes available with more books having quizzes written for them all the time. If a book does not have an AR quiz then unfortunately the student cannot quiz and pick up points for this title. We suggest non AR books are kept for holiday so students make the expected progress on AR!

In the LLRC, any book that has a coloured label on the spine is on the AR. In addition, students/parents/teachers can also visit the AR BookfinderTM website at http://www.arbookfinder.co.uk to conduct search of all available books with AR quizzes. This is the way to check if books from outside school are on AR.

You could visit http://www.Arbookfinder.co.uk and click on the Advanced Search. By conducting an advanced search, you con generate book lists that contain titles based on the criteria you enter such as book level, topic, interest level, fiction/nonfiction, etc. Alternatively, the LLRC staff can help find books.

Even if a child is gifted at playing a musical instrument, they need to practise to develop their talent. Bright children, like all children, need to be challenged. Teachers using AR software find it easy to guide students to books that give them challenge and success. The AR scheme improves students’ reading up until a reading age of 16 is reached.