Southpark 2nd Graders had a 10 book AR goal for the first quarter of the school year. Not a point goal, but a book goal (e.g. they had to pass 10 AR tests). Next quarter the goal will be 15 books, but because they started so late this year (there was a delay getting STAR Exam results until the end of August and thus a delay in getting the AR Book Level ranges the teachers needed to determine which levels "counted" for each child to test on - they have to read books within or above their determined level), they had 6 weeks instead of 9 and therefore weren't required to complete as many AR tests. James finished out the quarter with 25 books (totaling >23,000 words), averaging a 98% on his exams and earning 13.2 AR Points. While he averaged about one AR test per day, he more often tested on two books every other day, combining his library AR book, his class AR book, and sometimes an AR book from home. It wasn't until the last few weeks that he really got into reading chapter books (e.g. books worth more than half an AR point) and decided that he wanted to push towards the top of the class (he finished out this quarter in 3rd place and was quite happy with himself), or that we started looking up test information for books from our home library. Now that he reads a chapter each night before bed (his choice - he reads for about 15 minutes, then turns off his lamp and goes to sleep without prompting from us), I suspect he'll test on a chapter book once per week, and test on fun, short books in between (both those from school and those one our shelves). We're encouraging him to read more (since he's supposed to read at least 20 minutes on his own each day), but not pushing him (thankfully we don't need to), and we're also trying to get back in the habit of reading TO him (and Cora) more often (we've been slacking since school, dance, soccer, and Scouts started back up and weeknights got busy).
Southpark 1st Graders were only required to read/test on 6 books during the first quarter (they took their STAR exam even later than the 2nd Graders, giving them just 5 weeks to work towards their goal). Next quarter will likely be 10-12 books. Cora finished out the quarter with 11 books (totaling ~2500 words), averaging an 89% on her exams and earning 4.9 AR Points. She is far more hesitant than James to test on her books and won't let us sign her folder (she isn't allowed to test unless we've approved her ahead of time) until she feels really ready. She can read better than she gives herself credit for and she stresses herself out the second she stumbles over a word, but hopefully her confidence will grow this year as she practices more and more.
We are very proud of the kids for reaching their AR goals this quarter and look forward to seeing where their interests take them this year!
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