What is Accelerated Reader?
At our school we use the Accelerated Reader and Star Reader programmes to access and promote our pupils’ reading development. We do not use Accelerated Reader as a programme to teach our children how to read. This is predominately done through our phonics programme in the earlier years, to whole class reading sessions from Years 2 to 6.
As part of the programme each child will be assessed and an appropriate range of books to choose from will be assigned. After the children read their book they undertake an online quiz to assess their understanding of the text.
We endorse the programme with lots of rewards and recognition for the children working towards and achieving their reading targets.
The programme provides our staff and parents with data along the way that allows us to carefully monitor the progress and development of each child. We are very proud within our school community to acknowledge how hard our pupils work with their reading and take great satisfaction from how many of them choose to “read for pleasure”, a skill that will serve them well throughout their lives. We know that this programme will further embed this love for 'reading to learn'.
How will the books be banded?
We will use STAR Reading Tests which will determine your child’s reading level. It is a computer based reading assessment that uses a technology that will continually adjust to your child’s responses. If your child’s response is correct, the difficulty level is increased or if a question is missed or the response incorrect, the difficulty level is reduced. The test uses multiple-choice questions and takes around 20 minutes to complete. The test results will give each child a reading age and ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) level.
The ZPD level is the range of books that will challenge a child without causing frustration or loss of motivation. They will then be able to choose books within this ZPD level as their individual reading book. Within this band, there will be a range of difficulties and interest levels for the children to choose from. The children will complete a STAR Reading assessment every term to ensure that they are making progress and to ensure that they are on the correct book band.