We went ice skating today for the AR (AR=Accelerated Reader, they get points for reading books and taking quizzes. The more questions they get right and the more advanced the book, the more points) activity. It was super fun. We all got tired out by the time we got back to the school for lunch. After lunch, after math, when they were reading silently, I noticed that one of my students, Miss Fifth Grade Math Even Though I'm in Fourth Grade, was already halfway to meeting her AR goal (30 points, extremely high for my class) for this current term.
The term started Monday.
I went over to talk to her as she was reading.
"Miss Fifth Grade Math," I said to her, "I've noticed you've basically met your AR goal for this term." She gave an I'm-completely-innocent-and-I-really-did-read-all-those-books smile. I smiled back and continued, "I've realized that your goal isn't high enough. I'm going to double it. It's going to be 60 AR points."
She took a deep breath and then consented.
The day is long since done, but from that point to the end of school she earned 6.5 more points. And a challenge to have the highest AR score at the end of term. A challenge I issued to my top 6 readers (really because one student wanted a battle to the death with AR points and I realized she needed some competition to reach her goal of 36 points).
Tomorrow she'll have earned probably at least 6 more points. Friday she'll earn the same, and Monday about 15. But maybe, just maybe, the other students with the challenge will be able to keep up with her.
Man, I wish my teacher in 6th grade had been as encouraging. She told us to only read the first chapter of Madeline L'Engle's "Wrinkle in Time", obviously so we could discuss where we thought the rest of the book would go. I got so into the book, that I stayed up all night and read the whole thing. She was slightly frustrated and gave me another assignment off the top of her head. She wasn't a bad teacher, but I would have benefited from some additional challenges with reading.
ReplyDeleteIncreasing her goal was a brilliant move! Hope she continues the trend in your class and I hope the others you were stretching try to keep up.
ReplyDeleteJust curious...are your students motivated by the prospect of getting AR points? Do they get prizes or rewards of some kind when they reach a certain level? Just curious because I've never done something like this.
ReplyDeleteYeah. There's a big activity (game day, ice skating, bowling, or classic skating) for the upper grades for those that have met their goal. The students in the lower grades get medals.
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