AR+Letter+to+Parents

Dear Parents:

Your child is now ready to participate in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program, where he will take comprehension quizzes on the computer on books he has read. Your child has taken the STAR test on the computer, which is a standardized reading test. STAR assesses and scores any student with a 100-word reading vocabulary. STAR will give us a general indication of your child’s reading level.

Attached please find a Diagnostic Report. This details the results of your child’s STAR test. This report will give your child a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which is the reading level range from which your child should be selecting books in order to achieve the optimal growth in independent reading without frustration.

Please do not be alarmed if your child’s ZPD appears to be low. The ZPD reading range is approximate; success at any level also depends on the student’s interest, prior knowledge and other factors including test-taking abilities. Again, this score is only one snapshot of your child’s reading ability. We will test students again after they become more at ease taking AR quizzes on the computer. Undoubtedly their scores will significantly improve, and their reading ranges will increase.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">I would like for your child to begin taking AR quizzes. I have given him an AR <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">recording sheet that should be kept in his Take-Home folder. (Bring it home each night; <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">bring it back to school each day.) After your child has read an AR book and is ready to take <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">the quiz, please help him fill out the title of the book, author, AR level, whether it was <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">read to him, read with him, or read independently, and then you should sign and date <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">it. Your child will give me the recording sheet and the AR book the next morning so <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">that I know he is ready for the quiz. (Sometimes there are several books with the <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">same title, so it is helpful to have the author’s name listed or have the book on hand <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">when taking a quiz.)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">After your child takes the quiz, he will record the score on the recording sheet. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Please read these scores and make a big deal about them! This is an opportunity to <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">encourage and motivate your child to read more.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Your child may then return the book to the library and check out a new one. We don’t <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">have to wait until our regular library time to return and check out new books. The <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">books in the Little Cedars Library for which we have AR quizzes are coded on their <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">spines. Students will check these levels when choosing books to check out.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">As your child passes quizzes, he will earn points. Most picture books are worth 0.5 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">point. Chapter books are usually worth one or more points. If a student scores 100% <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">on a quiz he earns the full point value. If a student scores 80% on the quiz he earns <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">80% of the point value, and so on. If a student scores less than 60% on a quiz he does <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">not pass it, and no points are earned.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; line-height: 1.5;">I currently ask students to earn four points per month by passing AR quizzes.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Helpful AR websites: **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**Parent Resources:** Learn about Accelerated Reader and how you can help your child. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.renlearn.com/parentspage/ar.aspx

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**AR Book Finder:** Find out if books you have at home have AR quizzes <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.arbookfind.com/

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**AR Sample Quiz:** See what an AR quiz is like <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@http://www.renaissance.com/products/accelerated-reader/sample-quiz

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**AR Home-Connect:** Review your child’s AR quiz record <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">@https://hosted207.renlearn.com/296305/HomeConnect/Login.aspx

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**USERNAME:** _ _ _ _ _

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**PASSWORD:** _ _ _ _ _ _

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Your child’s username and password is on the AR recording sheet that he keeps in his <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Take-Home folder. Usernames are typically the student’s first name.lastname <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">However, this may vary if multiple students share a last name. Your child’s Student ID number with the <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">number 0 in front is the password.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This may seem confusing right now, but it will soon make more sense. Please contact me <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">if you have any questions. I appreciate your support and involvement.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Sincerely,

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Peggy McCormack <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Third Grade Teacher <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Little Cedars Elementary School <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">360.563.2946 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Email: peggy.mccormack@sno.wednet.ed