My current students have a wealth of literature to choose from. One big change I notice this year is that students are reading a mix of books from our class and the school library. Of course, my students overall are more academic than my students last year. I have an honors class that is excited about reading, which makes things much easier.
While it's great to have a group of students who are interested in reading, I am noticing a trend that goes to the other end of the spectrum than I am used to. Many students are wanting to read large books. This hits at one of the negatives about the AR program. I do not want to limit or restrict the books that students can read.
Students have asked if they can read a larger book, which may be worth 10-30 points. In relation, most of my students' goals are between 10-20. The hesitation about letting them read these books is that if they read it and don't pass the test, they could end up at the end of the grading period with no points.
What I've been suggesting to the students is to read these long books during our winter break. We have three weeks off in our district. My thought is that if they return and don't pass the test, they still have many weeks to read more and gain the points necessary to achieve their goals.
I am happy that most students are able to understand this situation. I let them know that I don't want to limit their reading. It's their learning, and I want them to be able to choose as much as is permitted by the program. One of the students took it one step further. She said, "I won't be able to check out new books during the break anyway. I should have one that I will be able to read for a long time."
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I don't use AR although I could if I wanted to (we have it at our school and some teachers use it, while others do not). I choose not to use it for this "reading for points" limitation that you've mentioned, and that there are few books for my 6th graders who read above grade level. There are some AR books that are thick and worth a lot of points, however, the biggest problem I have is that some of the more advanced, more point heavy books are considered "young adult" books and 6th graders are not permitted to check them out. I too dislike limiting the reading material because they are AR books; another reason I don't do it. (My 4th grade son is in an AR intensive class - one student's AR test-passing strategy is to read the last three chapters of the book, then take the AR test -- she does OK with this...Another game is to read a bunch of short, quick books that do not challenge the reader...Hey Curious George rides a Bike is huge in AR points!!!)
At our school we are running into a problem with the AR program. AR judges books based on the complexity of the sentences and vocabulary and that leaves out many contemporary books about really mature topics, with complex plots. It leaves students with only Dickens as an option. I think that AR should be more liberal in how they rate books. Sometimes the complexity of a topic or plot is just as difficult to comprehend and can have just as much to teach a child as complex sentence structure and obscure vocabulary does.
Hello Dave!
You said, "The hesitation about letting them read these books [the thick ones] is that if they read it and don't pass the test, they could end up at the end of the grading period with no points."
You already know how I feel about AR.
Sigh.
Research shows, have I already said this, that if children are motivated they read and comprehend more. I think it is a sad fact that students are prevented from reading a book they desire in the name of points.
Our principal is anti-AR. This is one of the primary reasons. She wants children reading for the love of it. They have so much "forced" reading in our district, due to our mandated base program, without AR on our campus. She wants them to have choices in reading, wherever they can have it.
I concur.
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