*Please look below for information on our new AR program:

St. James Catholic Regional School is excited that our PTO purchased Renaissance Place this year.  This is a web-based version of Accelerated Reader which gives us access to over 100,000 quizzes!

            Keep scrolling down - there is a lot of information on this page! 

 Accelerated Reader is an individualized reading program that allows each student to excel at his/her own pace and ability level and is designed to increase reading comprehension.  The goal at St. James Catholic Regional School is to encourage the love of reading by providing students with multiple opportunities to practice reading so that they become life-long readers and learners.

How the process works:

  • Students take the STAR Reading Diagnostic Test to determine their individual reading range.  Throughout the year, this diagnostic test is given several times to update students' reading ranges.
  • Each quarter, teachers set individual point goals for all students using the students' individual reading ranges as a basis.
  • Students select a book within their reading range to read.
  • Students take the Reading Practice quiz for that book on a computer at school and answer literal comprehension questions about the book.  Students are not allowed to look in the book for answers or take a quiz at home.
  • Based on the number of questions answered correctly, students earn points and receive a score which is added into their average percent correct.
  • Every student is striving to meet their individual goal by reaching their point goal with an accuracy rate of 80 percent or higher.

 

How parents can help:

  • Make sure your child reads every day and sign his/her reading log (if the teacher uses one).
  • Provide opportunities for your child to select books in his/her reading range from both the St. James library and the Public Library. 
  • Encourage your child to take quizzes on AR books on a regular basis.
  • Help your child pace himself/herself toward meeting his/her AR goal for the quarter.
  • PLEASE NOTE: In order to meet the goal, your child must meet two criteria: have an average percent correct on quizzes of 80 or higher AND obtain the number of points required by his/her goal.
  • Monitor your child's progress using Renaissance Home Connect and discuss the progress with your child.

 

  http://www.arbookfind.com

Parents, students, and teachers can use the AR BookFinder to determine if a certain book has a quiz available.  You can search by title, author, or subject to find a list of available Accelerated Reader quizzes.  Once you have located a book, you can find out the book level (BL), the points (PTS), the interest level (IL), other students' ratings, and a brief description of the book.  The AR Book Bag feature allows you to create a list of titles your child is interested in reading.  You can print the AR Book Bag and bring the list to the school library, the local Public Library, or a bookstore. 

Renaissance Home Connect

Home Connect allows you to track your child's progress toward meeting their quarterly goal.  Accessing these online results promotes discussion between parents and their children which motivates students and can make reading practice even more effective.  Parents use the child's username and password to login.  Parents can sign up to receive an email after your child takes a quiz during the school day (you can enter up to 6 email addresses).  Parents and students can see the average percent correct (needs to be 80 % or higher), how many points have been earned, the average book level being read, the number of quizzes passed/taken, the total of words read, and the results for the last quiz taken.  Click on View My Bookshelf to look at all the previous books on which quizzes have been taken by your child. Home Connect also contains a link to AR BookFinder so you can search to see if a particular book has a quiz available and is in your child's reading range.

 

  Accelerated Reader Teacher Login

A Guide to Accelerated Reader Lingo

AR = Accelerated Reader

ATOS = a readability formula that estimates the reading difficulty levels of books and other texts.  ATOS uses four factors to determine the readability of a text: average sentence length, average word length, vocabulary grade level, and the number of words in a book.

BL = Book Level - measures the difficulty of the text (this is NOT the same as grade level)

IL = Interest Level - indicates the sophistication of the themes and concepts in the text

        LG = Lower Grades interest level (approximately K - 3rd)

        MG = Middle Grades interest level (approximately 4th - 8th)

        UG = Upper Grades interest level (approximately 9th - 12th - in order to guide students towards appropriate  content books, students will not be allowed to quiz on an Upper Grades interest level book)

LS = Literacy Skills quiz - monitors student's growth in specific literacy and higher-order thinking skills

PTS = Points - based on the length (word count) and difficulty (book level) of the text; points are not a reflection of the book's literary value; the number of points earned is a measure of reading practice

RP = Reading Practice quiz - literal comprehension questions about a text

VP = Vocabulary Practice quiz - used for accelerating vocabulary growth and heightening student's interest in words

ZPD = Zone of Proximal Development (also called the Reading Range) - the ideal range of readability levels from which a student should select books to read; indicates the level of text a student can read with comprehension by providing the right balance of independence and challenge; reading within this range allows students to experience optimal growth; a student's ZPD is not necessarily equal to his/her grade level

 

Not every book will have an Accelerated Reader quiz, and that is OK.  We are encouraging READING, not just quizzing!