Beginning in year 3 and progressing through to year 6, we use Accelerated Reader as our approach to encouraging our children to become fluent readers. The children regularly borrow books from the library, take quizzes on them and progress through the reading scheme as their reading improves.
At the beginning of each year, the children all take a reading test to determine their reading ability and this is then used as a baseline to set their reading range so the children know which area of the library they can choose books from. The assessment test is then completed each half term to allow teachers to monitor their children’s progress and help to identify when pupils need to move up to the next book level in the library.
Accelerated Reader rewards
The scores children receive from the quizzes they complete are monitored by class teachers. When children score 100% on a quiz they become a member of the 100% club. This means that they are given a raffle ticket towards Miss Potts’ special prize draw at the end of each half term.
In addition to this, children also earn reading certificates for their progress in Accelerated Reader, beginning with a ‘Ready Reader’ award when they have earned 5 Accelerated Reader points. Each book is worth a number of points based on the number of words that it contains so the 5 point target could be earned by reading a long book worth 5 points or 10 shorter books worth 0.5 points.
Furthermore, children can also earn additional points for their house teams by scoring well on their reading quizzes as the house teams are awarded points based on the highest to lowest average percentage each half term.