Summer Reading Program

This year for summer reading we will be using AR, Accelerated Reader to practice and encourage reading. Students can read throughout the summer and take quizzes each week on Wednesdays.  We will open quizzes to be taken anytime on Wednesdays between 8 AM and 4 PM throughout the summer. This will assist in monitoring the students’ reading.

I know some of you may not have access to the internet. The public library is a great place to login, take quizzes and get books. It is important for our students to read for pleasure, not to read so they reach a goal.  We set the goals to give the students “guidelines” on what is appropriate for them. Some concerns for the summer program include the following:

• Students could receive help on quizzes at home. While this assistance may be well-intentioned, it may mask a problem that a teacher would be able to identify if the child quizzed at school. Please have the students do their quizzes independently.
• For the most accurate measurement of a child’s comprehension level, students should be quizzing in a secure and monitored environment without the book.
• When quizzing from home, students have more opportunities to copy the questions and answer choices for the purpose of sharing with others. It is very easy for students to share quiz information on the internet when this happens. Renaissance works hard to maintain the integrity of our quizzes and to discourage copyright violations.
• In Accelerated Reader, students should be spending most of their time reading books, not taking quizzes. Book reading can occur anytime, anywhere.
• Students can use this website to help choose an appropriate book. https://www.arbookfind.com/UserType.aspx?RedirectURL=%2fdefault.aspx

In your envelope being sent home today with each child grades 1-7, we have enclosed the most recent STAR scores, your child’s login for AR and information for the summer reading expectations. The website for Accelerated Reader is below. Each school has a unique site.  It will be posted on our website, and teacher websites as well just in case you forgot to bookmark it. Website: https://global-zone52.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/148953

Use any of the many resources out there to keep your child/ren reading, working on vocabulary and practicing their mental math & computation skills. The goal for summer is for students to continue to learn and investigate areas of interest. Encourage them to collect data, start a project or keep a journal of topics they may want to explore or research. We want the children, and staff to appreciate their summer and participate in summer activities they enjoy.  Hopefully reading is an activity they enjoy, 20 minutes a day is the best recommendation.

Please check out appropriate SFdS teacher grade level websites throughout the summer.  They are on the Option C opening page or on our website. Teachers will be posting resources on there as well. These activities are designed to keep your child learning and engaged, they are not mandatory.