To encourage students to make progress on this long term assignment, the teacher takes a 1/2 way goal grade computed at the end of the first quarter and third quarter.
end of 1st quarter: Thurs., Oct. 9
end of 3rd quarter: Fri., March 6
Students are to earn 1/2 of their total points by those dates. These are figured as daily grades, not the overall AR semester grade.
If students are reading a long book and know they won't make it, or if they've got some points under their belt and are reading their next book, but they know they aren't going to make it, an email must be sent to the teacher with an explanation by a given date that is well in advance of the due date.
The teacher will reply with no or okay the situation.
These due dates for that email are posted in the classroom and are discussed.
What to put in the email is also a requirement with a response required on behalf of the student. See below.
1st quarter email alert due Tues., Sept. 16
3rd quarter email alert due Tues., Feb. 3
subject line: AR 1/2 way goal for semester 1 or 2 (state the semester)
body of email: (1) how many pages in your book, (2) what page you are on and (3) an explanation of why you cannot meet the 1/2 way goal
TIP: Take the number of pages you have left to read. Divide that by how many days until the due date. You can count school days or all day; you decide. This tells you how many pages you'd have to read a day to complete the book.
teacher will respond to this email and deny or affirm the request
a response from you reading it will be required
this is our electronic paper trail
The results of the Fastbridge program help determine the student's reading level, ZPD level, and appropriate goal.
ZPD stands for zone of proximal development. That means the student is reading in a range that is challenging, but not too high to cause frustration and not too low to cause boredom or stymie reading improvement.
Summary Reading Log Charts
50% points
50% amount correct (85% or higher)
ZPD (as of 2018-19 school year, reading within this range will not be required)
click here for a the slide show on how Mrs. Harris uses AR