Do your kids have to do this? Blaine does. Basically AR is a program that assigns reading levels and point values to books. Kids in the school system here, and elsewhere, are compelled to read so many books, or for so many points. Every time they read a book, they take a quiz. If they pass the quiz with a perfect score, they get the total amount of points assigned for that book (anywhere from .5 up to ?? I have no idea what the top end of the scale is, but I have seen books worth 40+ points). If they pass with less than a perfect score, they get a percentage of the points assigned to each book.
Last year, in third grade, Blaine had to read a certain number of chapter books and picture books and pass the tests each 9 week grading period. This year his teacher is doing it differently. This year he has to accumulate 10 points each grading period. This is not a problem for him because he reads all the time. But he wanted to try to scam the system, and only test on a few books each 9 weeks to make his 10 point goal and then wait to test on other books he had read the next 9 weeks. His teacher and I discussed this and it was made clear that the points are cumulative, i.e., Blaine has to reach a total of 40 points by the end of the year. It doesn't matter if he does them all in the first and second grading period.
So, this led to a discussion about books and testing between Blaine and I. And what we ended up with was a challenge. I challenged him to test on everything that he reads that is an AR book (not all books are AR rated). If he does that, he should easily reach over 100 points by the end of the year. I told him that if he reached 100 points, I would give him 100 dollars. His response? "Oh it's on like Donkey Kong".
I am not a fan of AR. I think it sucks the fun out of reading for many, many kids. Kids who come into the library who don't care what the book is about, they only care if it is short and worth a lot of points because they have some arbitrary goal to reach or they will get a bad grade. Kids who have to read a science fiction book or a realistic fiction book for it to count. What if they don't like those genres? And what about the teacher who doesn't let a fantasy book (like Harry Potter) count as science fiction? It's all so regulated and I would HATE to have someone regulate what I'm allowed to read or how much I have to read.
But, as it's a necessary evil here, I decided to make it a challenge for my kid. Because 40 points for him isn't a challenge. He hasn't even really been trying this 9 weeks and he's already over 16 points. Blaine has decided he wants to chronicle his "quest" as he calls it, so I helped him set up a blog of his own. If you (or your kids) are interested, it's here.
I'll be saving my money, because I have a feeling I'm going to be shelling out 100 bucks at the end of the year.
Last year, in third grade, Blaine had to read a certain number of chapter books and picture books and pass the tests each 9 week grading period. This year his teacher is doing it differently. This year he has to accumulate 10 points each grading period. This is not a problem for him because he reads all the time. But he wanted to try to scam the system, and only test on a few books each 9 weeks to make his 10 point goal and then wait to test on other books he had read the next 9 weeks. His teacher and I discussed this and it was made clear that the points are cumulative, i.e., Blaine has to reach a total of 40 points by the end of the year. It doesn't matter if he does them all in the first and second grading period.
So, this led to a discussion about books and testing between Blaine and I. And what we ended up with was a challenge. I challenged him to test on everything that he reads that is an AR book (not all books are AR rated). If he does that, he should easily reach over 100 points by the end of the year. I told him that if he reached 100 points, I would give him 100 dollars. His response? "Oh it's on like Donkey Kong".
I am not a fan of AR. I think it sucks the fun out of reading for many, many kids. Kids who come into the library who don't care what the book is about, they only care if it is short and worth a lot of points because they have some arbitrary goal to reach or they will get a bad grade. Kids who have to read a science fiction book or a realistic fiction book for it to count. What if they don't like those genres? And what about the teacher who doesn't let a fantasy book (like Harry Potter) count as science fiction? It's all so regulated and I would HATE to have someone regulate what I'm allowed to read or how much I have to read.
But, as it's a necessary evil here, I decided to make it a challenge for my kid. Because 40 points for him isn't a challenge. He hasn't even really been trying this 9 weeks and he's already over 16 points. Blaine has decided he wants to chronicle his "quest" as he calls it, so I helped him set up a blog of his own. If you (or your kids) are interested, it's here.
I'll be saving my money, because I have a feeling I'm going to be shelling out 100 bucks at the end of the year.
