Accelerated Reader

What is Accelerated Reader (AR)? 

AR is a reading incentive program made by the company Renaissance.

Accelerated Reader is a digital program that helps students and teachers manage and monitor independent reading practice in both English and Spanish.

Students pick a book at their own level and read it at their own pace. When students finish the book, they take a short quiz on the computer to check their understanding. As students read and take quizzes, they earn points and track their progress toward their individualized Accelerated Reader goals. Teachers conference regularly with students to support reading engagement, goal setting, and comprehension strategies.
-Renaissance

AR Goals

At Southern Elementary, teachers set personalized quarterly point and average percent correct goals for each student based on their reading level. When a student takes an AR quiz and passes it, they earn points. Points vary by book and are based on word count, with the lowest point value being 0.5 (half a point). The books in our school library have both the book level (BL) and points (Pts.) printed inside the front cover of the book, but almost every book has an AR quiz, including the ones on your shelves at home and at the public library. To find out if a book has an AR quiz and to see how many points it’s worth, visit AR Book Finder.

Parents and guardians can help! While students can only take AR quizzes at school, you can help by reading for at least 30 minutes with your child at home and/or encouraging them to spend at least 30 minutes reading independently outside of school.

You can also track your child’s AR progress when you sign up for notifications using Renaissance Home Connect. Login with your child’s username and password (username: student ID, password: 8-digit date of birth). Then select “For Parents and Guardians”. Here you can sign up for email alerts that notify you each time your child takes an AR quiz, and you can see their score and overall progress towards goals.

Incentives

To encourage students to meet their quarterly AR point and percentage correct goals, Southern Elementary School, together with the funding support of our PTA, has planned quarterly incentives. Students must meet or exceed their point goal while maintaining an average percent of 85% or better (80% or better for 1st graders)  for that quarter, to participate.

Planned Quarterly AR Incentives (Funded by our PTA):

o   1st- Putt-Putt-November 21st- goals due by end of school day on November 1st 

o   2nd- Bowling- February 14th - goals due by end of school day on January 31st (date amended due to inclement weather days)

o   3rd- Airbound Trampoline Park- April 11th - goals due by end of school day on April 4th (date amended due to inclement weather days)

o   4th- Ice Cream Social - During the last 2 weeks of school-goals due by end of school day on May 30th 

o   Reading Medal –End of Year Awards Ceremony -Earned if goal for each of 4 quarters is met within respective quarter  

Guidelines

• 1st-5th graders are eligible to participate in the AR program

• Goals are updated by reading teacher quarterly or more often as needed

• Students who do any of the following will not be permitted to attend the incentive for the quarter during which the offense was committed and any points earned by these means will be removed from the student’s record:

o   Take a test for someone else

o   Allow someone else to take a test for them

o   Give answers to someone

o   Accept answers from someone

o   Cheat on a test

• Students may only take AR tests during the school day. Parents may not bring students to test outside of school hours.
  School Hours: 7:00am-2:00pm

• Students with an excused absence on a day that points are due (see dates above) may make up one (1) AR test, to be taken immediately upon return to school.