4th Grade Top AR Reader

Back in April, Spencer received a HUGE award at his new school. It was for having the most AR Reading points for the month. What is AR? The kids read and complete a book; then they take a computerized comprehension test. Points are given based on the reading level and length of the book. This was out of all the 4th graders in the school. Pretty HUGE right? He got his picture taken and it was posted in the newsletter, library wall, and even in the yearbook.

Spencer LOVES to read, but he didn't always. A little background: In 1st grade, he was assessed and put into a reading resource class to help him develop his reading skills. In second grade, his teachers told us he wasn't fluent and he was suffering greatly. To get him to read, we told him that he could stay up later (past bedtime) if he was reading. We got him books he really enjoyed. It was the very funny series, 'Caption Underpants' that did it for him. He loved these books and loved staying up late reading. By the end of 2nd grade, he was re-assessed and they found that he no longer needed resource. He was excelling in reading and comprehension. Spencer just completed his 4th year of school this week and he is a total show off, reading on a junior high level.

Yesterday Spencer came home with a huge smile. He said he made the 100+ AR club in his class. Meaning all the kids in his class that got 100+ points for reading were going to have a special party. He was pretty excited! He had no idea how many points he made; he would find that out later.

Today at school Spencer's class had an AR reading awards ceremony. He was given an award for receiving the most AR points in his class for the year...250+. One of the boys in his class said, "He beat us all and he came to the school half way through the year."

We are very proud of Spencer today. It has been a good lesson for him, "If you want something bad enough, you have to practice".