What is Accelerated Reading (AR)?
Accelerated Reading is a computer program through Renaissance Learning where students are able to take comprehension tests on books that they are reading.
Here are the steps that the second graders follow:
1. Choose a book
2. Log your book that you choose into your AR folder.
3. Read the book!
4. Do a book talk with a friend (questions are on papers in the classroom).
5. Read the book again (or until you feel comfortable with how well you know the story).
6. Take the test on the computer (this can only be done at school).
7. Record your score.
8. Put the book back.
Each book is worth a certain number of points. Most are worth 1/2 a point in second grade and you only get the full amount if you pass the test with 100%. Every time a student earns 10 points, Mrs. Miller gives them a certificate to bring to the office. At the end of each month Mrs. Schramm announces the names of all students who earned 10 AR points and then there is a drawing for a $10 Meijer gift card!
How do I know if a book at home is an AR book?
Renaissance Learning now has a tool parents can use to look up whether or not a book title is an AR book in the AR Enterprise system. (Our library program, Destiny, shows this for all of the Lowell library books, but this resource gives every test available, even if our library doesn't own the book.) The lists are too big to post on this website, but parents can use this link to see if a title has a test to go with it as well as the points and level.