I am still shocked to find that there are some people who may not enjoy reading. Both of my parents are avid readers and fostered this pastime within my sister and me from an early age. However, I do have a few friends, who shall remain nameless, that don’t necessarily enjoy this hobby as much as I do, and an even shorter list of friends who would join me in calling it a passion.
Parents and teachers are constantly looking for new ways to encourage children to read, especially in our digital age with television, video games, and the Internet vying for children’s time. Sometimes, it may just take finding the right book to hook in a young reader and start a lifelong love of the written word. Other times it may take more persuasion.
My friend Bunni Lesh, librarian for Canalino Elementary School in Carpinteria, CA, was the first person who introduced me to Renaissance Learning’s Accelerated Reader Program. With points and prizes earned by taking reading comprehension quizzes, it’s like Oprah’s Book Club for kids. Ms. Bunni told me it’s the only way she can get some of her students to read. But then again, it’s the "getting children to read" part that is important.
How It Works:
Librarians and teachers help to drive the selection of books by recommending titles to Renaissance Learning on their website. Books are considered for quizzes based on awards, national reviews, recommending reading lists, and requests from a number of different schools. After reading a title students can take a number of different quizzes to measure their literary, comprehension, and vocabulary skills. Quizzes are available individually or as textbook quizzes for teachers to use in the classroom. They are available for individual or teacher-lead reading activities.
According to Renaissance Learning’s website, yesterday students read 1,468,153 books and 11 billion words. That’s a good thing in my book!
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Kara Petersen was born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA. She loves traveling, reading, yoga, watching ice hockey, and going to the beach. When she isn’t sharing Little Pickle Press with Southern California she is writing her own stories and hopes to publish some of them for big and little pickles someday.
5 comments:
To be a good writer, you must first be a good reader. So, keep up the great work, Kara! Thanks for introducing all of us to the Renaissance Learning Accelerated Reading Program. Sounds like a fun and engaging way to encourage children to read.
Hi Kara! Nice review of Renaissance Learning. Did you know they also sell the Alphasmarts that so many writers use? Like me. ;) Very cool keyboard developed for children, and discovered by authors. Mine gets 700 hours of writing time on a couple of AA batteries and holds 400 pages of writing. I know people who writes novels on their Neos!
ThanksLittle Pickle!
Dani, I haven't heard of the Alphasmarts, but considering that I am locked off my laptop and facing the possibility of losing the last two years of my writing maybe I should look into it.
Well, I wouldn't suggest an Alphie for that... maybe backing up to some disks?? LOL. Kara, Kara, Kara...
Sounds like a great program!
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