Thursday, April 30, 2009
Using Trade Books for Reading
On page 97, the author states that students should be able to bring in trade books to read for reading time. Can this be incorporated into the reading plan? If you use a system like Accelerated Reader that tests and keeps track of the books the students read teachers may not want to allow students to read books that are not AR. Do you think that this is appropriate?
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I know a lot of teachers like and support the Accelerated Reading Program (AR) (I happen to be one of them). Having said that, like many other computer based programs that make collecting data on student learning easier, it can be abused. I think this is especially true in the case of gifted instruction.
ReplyDeleteFirst, AR is a great tool for teachers to see what kids like to read. Research indicates that students will read more when teachers take an active role in helping them find books of interest. It is very difficult to do this at the middle and secondary levels when you have over 150 students. AR helps me see what is popular (top ten most read books report) and then during our book share time I can recommend books I know they will love.
Second, in concert with the STAR reading comprehension assessment I can easily see the reading levels of my students. This allows me to ability group my students for various reading projects (and yes I know some students purposely flunk the test! That is why I have heavy incentives for doing the best you can.)
Third, I think most kids like and need goals they can achieve. If provides them with a sense of accomplishment and helps them learn how to set and achieve personal goals.
As to your original question related to trade books . . . One powerful tool in AR is the ability to write the AR tests for any books or stories that may not already be in the system. This would be an excellent enrichment activity for gifted students. They could even write tests for books already in the system (I think). We could have the gifted students re-write the tests with more focus on the elements of literature and less focus on irrelevant plot details.
I think that could be very powerful, if it were to happen. How can we get the buy in from the other teachers to make this happen? AND...what about that kiddo that is the only one interested in some obscure topic?
ReplyDeleteNo clue on the buy in thing . . . people tend to be stubborn and are prone to take the path of least resistance. Change does not come easy; it takes a commitment and willingness that may result in some failures. Without failure there cannot be progress. Most people do not like to face the possibility of failure.
ReplyDeleteAs to the kiddos who have obscure interests, I don't see a problem. Who says that everything our children research has to be mainstream? New ideas, inventions, fields of discovery came when someone took the road less traveled.
I hate AR and my older gifted kids hate it too. The tests have low level questions, knowledge and comprehension (at least the ones I've seen). Many gifted readers read the AR books because they HAVE to for the tests or grades, even if they don't want to read the book. Many elem schools don't have AR tests for the books the gifted 5th and 6th graders want to read. It may be inspirational for reluctant readers but IMHO doesn't do much for gifted readers.
ReplyDeleteDid not know kids could write tests, that could be a plus. I'll check into it. I thought districts had to buy the tests for each book.
You are the first educator that has agreed with me on this point with AR. We actually use Renaissance Place and have every title that AR puts out. I don't know if you can create tests in the desktop version.
ReplyDeleteWhat is IMHO?
It's been several years since I was involved with AR at a school, but I loved it. The kids seemed to get a lot out of it as well. I was able to make tests on books we were reading as a class (or that I read aloud to the class). I think it's a separate module to be able to add your own tests and each module only buys you X tests.
ReplyDeleteAs with anything else, you get out of it what you put into it. I love kid lit so there were hundreds of books that I could recommend and I had no problem telling a student it was okay NOT to finish a book if they didn't like it. I wanted them to find something appropriate for their reading level and interests. That can be tough when you have students reading "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "Anna Karenina" in the same class. (Yes, we had tests for both of those and everything in between).
I use AR with my fifth grade students. It's a way for students to be accountable for outside reading requirements. I require X amount of books at their reading level, w/ a minimum 150 pages. Once they reach their 'required' reading mark, they are free to read any book they would like. We have over 1000 AR books with tests in our school library, so I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation. I've seen students gain a love reading and watched their scores climb. I appreciate the reading motivation the AR program gives my students.
ReplyDeleteNatalie & Barb: I loved AR when I taught at the elementary level. I think that it gets the younger kids excited about earning points and knowing how they did. My own children LOVED it!
ReplyDeleteI am now at the Middle School level and see a different phenomenon. The point levels get to be overwhelming, students have more afterschool activities and some that are gifted readers are being told to read only at their particular level AND they have to reach a CRAZY amount of points. Have you ever read a book listed at 12.9 reading level -- yuck -- I would never choose to read these books and I think I'm pretty smart :)
We have teachers telling students who read at a 12.9 reading level that she will require them to take remedial reading as Freshman because the students are not reading the higher level books or they just don't read enough to get the CRAZY amount of points required.
I realize that some of this is a teacher/deparment issue, while some is a program issue. IE. the point assignments AND lower level test questions. Why can't the tests ask higher level questions?
How can we fix this and still use this great program?
My son reads the books for points, not for interest. Therefore, he rarely finishes a book.
ReplyDeleteHis teacher posts on the classroom wall how many points each kid has. My son is at the bottom of the list. He is in a gifted class and the top score on the FCAT for our county.
The daily reminder of how he is last in his class has killed his interest altoghether. I'm not sure I blame him because it is virtually impossible for him to catch up. He now loathes reading. His grandfather gave him a book for Christmas that he has actually enjoyed over the holiday. Guess what...it's not AR, so he now believes there is no point in reading it. This is so frustrating! I truly despise AR. The program is shaking my son's confidence.
Im a an 8th grader and really hate the AR testing, Im just not interested in any of the books and the reason that I only do it cause the Grades. I mean its not that im not good at reading, I took the STAR test and got a 12.9... please can anyone give me advise on how to get more engaged into the books and grow and interest for them
ReplyDeleteplease contact me at my email: Intersea1@yahoo.com
Let’s take this subject of reading levels a bit deeper re: independent reading. This should answer your question re: AR and text levels.
ReplyDeleteDegrees of Reading Power (DRP)? Fleish-Kincaid? Lexiles? Accelerated Reader ATOS? Reading Recovery Levels? Fry’s Readability? John’s Basic Reading Inventory? Standardized test data? Each of these measures quantifies student reading levels and purports to offer guidance regarding how to match reader to text.
But, as an MA reading specialist, I have been trained in how these tests are constructed and how they help determine reading levels for students. I also know how some of the publishers of these tests level reading materials to match the results of their tests (and make a ton of money doing so). Although very scientific, there are eight problems with each of these approaches:
1. They are cumbersome and time-consuming to administer.
2. They tend to be costly.
3. They are teacher-dependent (students and parents can’t pick books at their challenge levels without guidance).
4. They do not factor in reader motivation.
5. They do not factor in reading content, in terms of maturity of themes (Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has a 4.7 ATOS readability level).
6. When compared, the various formulae each vary in grade level equivalencies (one rates Tom Sawyer at 4.2, another at 6.9, and still another at 7.3).
7. They tend to force librarians into arbitrary book coding systems to conform to the tests.
8. They limit student and parent choice of reading materials.
Given these issues, isn’t there a better solution that will help inform selection of independent reading books? Yes. Motivation and word recognition.
Motivation has to factor into reading selection. My own son grew a full year in reading comprehension by reading the fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire over the summer a few years back. The book was certainly above his grade level for a fifth grader, but he was motivated and carefully read and re-read with dictionary and Dad at his side for help. Similarly, thank God for the current “Twilight” series. Many of my below grade level readers (I teach seventh graders) have significantly increased their reading levels by getting hooked on this latest literary phenomenon.
Secondly, word recognition remains the best indicator for self-selection of appropriate reading level books. It is book and reader-specific and thus cannot be tested by the above readability formulae. With guidance, parents and students can use either the five-finger technique (for younger kids) or the five-percent technique (for older students) to determine whether a book is at the appropriate challenge level for an individual student. Simply put, matching text to reader means picking a book that does not have too few or too many "hard" words for the reader. The right match will best challenge, yet not frustrate the reader. The right match will also produce the optimal reading comprehension and vocabulary growth.
My advice? Only assess what will inform your instruction. Motivation and word recognition best match reader with text. Ditch the rest! For more on the word recognition formulae, see How to Determine Reading Levels at http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/how-to-determine-reading-levels/.
for you students who were assessed at the 12.9 level, I felt your pain. at first glance, it's flattering to get these scores at a young age (I was in 5th grade when this happened). then again, when your elementary school teacher, in the interest of making everybody read at their 'appropriate AR level,' says that you need to earn 5 times your level in AR points to fulfill the term reading requirement it becomes more of an annoyance than a motivator.
ReplyDeleteit sucked when everybody else only had to take 25-30 points worth of tests when I had to earn 65. it didn't help that most kids took the high point books so that they only had to read two or three books to meet their quota. while I applauded their efforts to read these relatively difficult books, I was stuck racing to complete 12 or 13 tests to get my 65 points. not only did it stress me, but it took away from the quality of my literary reading experience. while they were reading well written and challenging books, I was mass processing baby-sitters club and encyclopedia browns (not saying that I hated them...I actually loved them but they didn't do anything for my literary development). luckily my teacher realized what was going on and allowed me to have priority on two high point books with the understanding that I would finish them as fast as I could to make them available for the other students.
anyway, as much as the STAR assessment gave me some perspective on my reading and comprehension level, I hope the nobody else has to suffer from this AR point/STAR assessment setup.
Last year my son was in 1st grade in a public school that had AR testing. It was a nightmare! The Star Early Litteracy Test said my son was at .9 at the beginning of the year. So his teacher made him pick kindergarten AR books (what my son called "Baby Books") while his friends got to pick 1st and 2nd grade AR books. His school only had like 7 kindergarten books so he didn't have to suffer through that part very long. But then at 7 weeks of school his teacher informed us that since he had only taken 13 AR tests he was going to be held back. She then recommended that we step it up and read more! Well, we ended up reading 4 books a night and he took 4 AR tests a day! He ended the year by taking over 300 AR tests! He read EVERY 1st grade AR book in the library and more than half of the 2nd grade AR books. He even got a special award from the library for checking out a bunch of books. At the end of the year he took another Star Early Litteracy Test and came up from .9 to 1.4. That's when his teacher informed us that he needed a 1.6! Ugh! She passed him anyway, though, because she knew he was leaving that school and going to a private school where they tested him and said he could do 2nd grade. Anyway, the AR program killed my love of reading and it made reading a chore for my son. Reading shouldn't be a chore! Now his new school is implementing the AR system and I'm about to tear my hair out!
ReplyDeletei got a 12.9 (7th grader) i just read books i wanted and if it wasn't on there
ReplyDeletei just didnt take a test but i read like 5th through 7th grade books my teacher didnt care then i read what i want when i want