Last night I taught the first of a series of creative writing workshops at the C.H. Booth library in Newtown CT. It's the second year I've taught these workshops and despite the travel to get there and back (it's an hour each way) I really love doing them. I teach two groups - one rising 6-7 graders and the other rising 8-9 graders, each for an hour and a half.
In our session last night, we talked about how writers get ideas and did some brainstorming exercises.
As a writer, I find teaching these workshops incredibly energizing. After all, these are my people, the kids I write for - okay, maybe some are little younger, but I do plan to write a middle grade again some day. I learn so much from them by listening.
Last night, what I heard broke my heart. In my younger group, the 6-7 graders, I asked the kids for some books that they'd really loved. And from one of the most promising writers in the group, I heard this: "I read this really long book and it was a waste because it wasn't in Accelerated Reader."
I died a little inside. Actually a lot. And then I said to her, "It's NEVER a waste to read a book you enjoy."
The girl next to her said that she'd started reading the Harry Potter series and loved it but then she "got stuck in Accelerated Reader."
This generated a whole discussion amongst the kids about AR. One girl complained that she likes to read high school books but because she is at 8th grade level on AR she is only allowed to read those books. Out of ten kids in the class, there was one kid who was happy with AR, and that was because she'd won a pizza party with two friends because she'd got to 500 AR points and it was a big source of pride and accomplishment.
But this is a kid who is involved with Odyssey of the Mind, multiple after school activities - a clearly bright and motivated child. Is anyone telling me that AR got her to read and that she wouldn't have been reading anyway? That she couldn't have been motivated without "points"?
During the break between my class I spoke to the librarian who runs my CW workshop about how heartbroken I was to hear this. She said that the school librarian at the elementary school was a big proponent of AR, because it had shown marked benefits with the reluctant and average readers.
I'm not convinced training kids like puppies with "treats" is the way to turn them into lifelong readers. I had the privilege of hearing our National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Walter Dean Myers speak in May at the Hudson Children's Book Festival, and he convinced me more than ever that it's adults modeling enthusiasm for books and reading and getting books into the home EARLY through programs like Reading is Fundamental and First Book that really makes a difference. That and investing in early childhood education.
Instead we are cutting library funding and school librarians, cutting funding to literacy programs, and school systems are spending money on programs like AR, because it seems like an easy, one size fits all fix, instead of letting teachers work their magic. And in doing so, we end up with kids thinking that reading a really long book they enjoyed is a "waste." That makes my blood boil. It makes me wonder who the hell is making decisions about education in this country and if they're doing for benefit of kids or for financial benefit.
For more on Accelerated Reader from those in the trenches here's some further reading:
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2010/09/reading_rewarded_part_ii.html
http://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/accelerated-reader-frustrations/
http://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/what-kids-are-reading-2012-why-it-doesnt-matter/
Sarah, you know my feelings on this issue. It's absolutely heartbreaking, but your experience isn't rare. AR is an awful, awful (expensive) program that crushes readers.
ReplyDeleteSarah
I use AR in my classroom but not in the traditional sense. Students in my class are allowed to read books within their level and outside their levels. They are even allowed to read books not on AR (gasp!). Some students like the challenge of reading a book and testing on it. Others don't. I don't have a reward (or consequence) system in place. One thing i like about usinf it is i am able to monitor how much they understand the books they are reading independently.
ReplyDeleteIn your case, it sounds like like it's being used appropriately, as an adjunct tool to teaching, rather than as a replacement for teaching. The idea that kids should be limited by their AR level makes me scream. Part of the reason I have a such a good vocabulary is that my parents, teachers and librarians never limited me. I was always reading well above my grade level. I came across words in books I didn't understand and learned to understand them because of the context or because I looked them up. I can't tell you how many words I mispronounced for years because I'd only read them and never heard them spoken. I see the same thing now with my son, who reads the same way and has a phenomenal vocabulary.
DeleteJaeven Star -- You might reread your post and think about the word "allowed." You could encourage readers or inspire readers or engage readers, as well. I think the same thing when I hear administrators talk about allowing teachers to xyz, rather than inspiring or encouraging. Language shapes how we think and act.
ReplyDeleteOne of my issues with AR is that the tests don't show comprehension at all. They are recall questions about ridiculous details. I read a blog post by an author once who failed an AR test on her own book. That's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI was new to a library with an ingrained AR program and read Polacco's wonderful Thank You, Mr. Falker to a small class of students. We discussed the book at length and together went on to fail the AR test!! I cried to my supervisor, actual tears, about how the test asked us to answer questions literally, when we were reading and discussing at a much higher thinking level. Thank god it is my third year in the district and AR is finally gone! Now kids are talking about books and sharing their love of reading. The rewards for reading are intrinsic!
DeleteAs a teacher, I abhor the program. As a mom of 4 avid boy readers, I jumped up and down and pitched a fit and refused to let my children participate! My middle two are twins. Both are competitive, but one is uber-competitive!!! When he was in 3rd grade, I noticed he was reading books way below his level. We had a talk and I discovered he was reading books he didn't really like because "they're easy and I can read them fast so I get more AR points". He shared there was a list of books he really wanted to read, but, either, they weren't on the AR list or they were "too long" and he couldn't finish them fast enough to earn enough AR points.
ReplyDeleteI put my foot down and told him he was NOT to do anymore AR tests. We created a list of books he wanted to read and off he went. I told his classroom teacher about our conversation. I also let her know that his reading grade should not be affected by non-participation in AR, especially as there was NO state standard related to AR points.
That boy of mine turns 14 in two weeks. I can't keep he and his brothers in books! The latest author in his favorites list? Atwul Gwande. He wants to be a surgeon someday.
I will fight and fight and fight to stop practices that rob my boys of the joy of reading! And, as a teacher, I will put the most reluctant readers in my classroom up against any AR class any day. Not only do my kids read more, but they find joy in reading.
@rdngteach
Some of the schools I've visited have actually cut AR because it is so expensive. Thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteAmen and amen and amen. As a parent I hated what AR did to my daughter in elementary school. I finally encouraged her to become an underground reader. In third grade she had to complete three AR tests a week, but she wanted to read Harry Potter books. So she read three Berenstein bears books on Mondays and then read whatever she wanted the rest of the week. I wish now I had thrown a fit with her teacher and taken her out of AR altogether. Fortunately, she is still an avid reader. As a teacher, I've had discussions with my students about their past experiences with AR. Anyone who believes that AR truly checks comprehension is delusional. Almost all of my students last year admitted that they had taken and passed AR tests without reading the book. It becomes a matter of gaming the system for them. I'm thankful the middle school where I teach has not gone to AR.
ReplyDeletei was never in any program growing up, yet i read voaciously - we had a challange to read books before entering 5th grade - i read 25, more than anyone else. I read EVERYTHING, poetry, novels, short stories. In 6th grade - they tested my reading speed and comprehension, which came back at over 1,000 wpm and 99.9% comprehension - I finished the Junior high Library in 2 weeks periods and the City branch Library before i went to high school. What if i had been restricted? I do not want to think about it. I certainly would not have enjoyed as many bnooks as i have.
ReplyDeleteThe published research on AR agrees with your students' opinions. Please see "Does Accelerated Reader Work?" located on my website near the bottom of this page: http://www.sdkrashen.com/index.php?cat=2
ReplyDeleteAs a fifth grader at an 8th grade & above reading level, my tiny school library had about 10 books I could read, which I went through fairly quickly. One ended up being my absolute favorite book, but the rest were uninteresting to me. Not only did I not get to be in book discussion groups with my friends (at lower levels), I also couldn't read any of the cool books they were reading.
ReplyDeleteLike you, Molly, I read well above my grade level. This is one of the times I'm actually really thankful for being old(er), because no one every told me I couldn't read a harder book - in fact the librarians were happy to find and recommend every more challenging books to keep my voracious reading habit sated. Sure there might have been words I didn't know, but I learned to figure out what they meant from the context of the story - or if I couldn't do that, drag out the huge Oxford English Dictionary we had in the house to look them up. The whole idea of AR seems so counter productive to me, it's like we're trying to replace librarians with a computer program and no computer program can EVER replace a good librarian.
DeleteGosh, how awful would it be to be told a book is too hard for you? Especially an interesting one. I'd be so disappointed, especially in myself.
DeleteI agree - a good librarian, even a halfway decent librarian, is far better than any program.
I was inspired to tell stories of my own experiences with AR on my blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://mollygoossens.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/reading-at-and-only-at-grade-level/
:)