Project Read

Ruth Pingsterhaus

Using Library Services and Technology Act funds, Damiansville Elementary School initiated a new program called "Project Read." The purpose of Project Read was to enable the school children to become excellent readers, do well on their state reading tests and be successful achievers in the coming millennium. As a result, the community will have informed citizens who can read and understand new concepts, which will make them successful in the 21st century.

Damiansville is a small rural community located in the southwest corner of Clinton county. The Damiansville School District is a K-8 school consisting of a single school site housing 125 students and 35 staff members. The nearest public library is 15 miles away.

After seeing the 1996-1997 IGAP test scores, which indicated a weakness in reading and writing, parents became concerned about how literacy could be improved in the school and homes. Teachers, parents and community members came together to set up a program called "Project Read."

Project Read is an enhanced reading program used during school hours, evening hours and during the summer months. It uses two components: S.T.A.R. (Standardized Test for Assessment of Reading) and AR (Accelerated Reader). S.T.A.R. is used two or three times a year to check reading progress. AR is a low-cost academically focused before- and after-school activity. With Accelerated Reader, a big portion of the before- and after-school activity becomes reading and testing on books. It provides all necessary record keeping, plus it motivates students to read, enabling one or two adults to supervise a relatively large number of students. Accelerated Reader is as easy as 1-2-3.

Project Read took more time and effort than anticipated to get everything going as planned. It took many months to go through all the books in the elementary library to see if they were on the Accelerated Reader list. Then new books needed for the program was ordered. This work was in addition to learning new duties as librarian and learning how to operate the Apple computers that are in the computer lab for classroom use. Books also had to be processed for shelving, which required labeling, putting various colored dots on for different reading levels, putting cards, and pockets in many books, stamping the library name in the books, and cataloging the books. Our technology expert ordered our new computers and oversaw the installation of our new server and Internet service. The monitors that were ordered had to be returned, because they were not working correctly.

The school bought five hundred new Accelerated Reader books which were added to our library. We had many books donated to our school library to help us get more Accelerated Reader books in our children's hands. Approximately one thousand books were found in the library on the Accelerated Reader list.

First grade level books are designated by red dots. Second grade level books have light blue dots. Third grade level books have dark green dots. Fourth grade level books have yellow dots. Fifth grade level books have pink dots. Sixth grade level books are designated by orange dots. Seventh grade level books have light green dots. Eighth grade level books have dark blue dots. A marker of fluorescent yellow designates ninth grade level books. Tenth grade level books have a strip of pink marking paper. Eleventh and twelfth grade level books are marked with fluorescent green marking papers. These dots are placed on the back spine of the books for easy identification. A sign with the different reading levels and the designated colors is also posted in the library so that students, parents, and teachers can find the appropriate reading levels easily. On the inside cover of our Accelerated Reader books, quiz numbers, the specific reading level such as 2.5, and the points obtained for reading the book are written for the stu-

• Ruth Pingsterhaus, Library Media Specialist, Damiansville.

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dent, teacher, librarian, or parent to use in choosing the correct book for each child to read.

The school's language arts teacher for the upper grades and I attended a Renaissance Reading Seminar in June 1999. This seminar allowed us to exchange ideas with other teachers, administrators, and librarians and helped to prepare us for the problems we might face with our reading program. The booklets, which we obtained at this seminar, contained many wonderful ideas for developing our program and ways in which we can motivate our students to read and succeed. We are implementing many of the ideas that were talked about at this seminar. Some of these things, such as reading to the children, allowing more time for classroom reading, and having older children read to the younger children were already used last year. The third grade students read books to the kindergarten children. They are doing this again this year. Both the children who were reading and the children in the kindergarten class who were read to seemed to enjoy this activity very much. Most of these ideas seemed to be successful. But since our students were not all able to use the Accelerated Reader quizzes, we cannot definitely say that this contributed to higher reading performances or helped alleviate the reading problems in our elementary school.

The school library was opened in the summer during the morning from nine to twelve Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The library was closed during the month of July because of the hot weather. Attendance was sparse, but should improve this school year with all of the new books we have purchased for the library and the availability of computers to take Accelerated Reader quizzes.

The elementary school promoted Banned Book Week September 27 through October 1, 1999 in the library with posters, banners, and lists of some books that have been banned over the years. Following are some of the books that have been banned: the Bible, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Beauty and the Beast, The Chocolate War, The Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales and Merriam Webster's Dictionary are only a few of the books that are on the lengthy list. Our Family Reading Night was planned to start on Thursday, September 30, 1999. Our library is not in an air-conditioned building and we were waiting until the weather was cooler to begin having our library open in the evening for Family Reading Night.

Our second grade teacher managed to get all of her students to read twenty books in two weeks by saying that she would eat an apple with a worm in it. The worm was only a gummy worm, but the children didn't object, because they all received a package of gummy worms for all their hard work in reading. Since our funds are somewhat limited, we are hoping to use imaginative ideas such as this to encourage the reading of more books.

Damiansville Elementary School is using S.T.A.R., Standardized Test for Assessment, a computerized program that evaluates children to find their present reading level at the beginning of this school year. This computerized test gives an accurate reading assessment of a student's grade equivalent in reading comprehension, their percentile rank, their instructional reading level, and their normal curve equivalent according to other students at this grade level. This test also gives the ZPD, Zone of Proximal Development, for each student. This enables students, parents, and teachers to maximize reading improvement by making sure books are chosen which will help to develop fluency and comprehension. In order for someone to become an accomplished reader, students need to develop an automatic understanding of a vocabulary of fifty thousand or more words. This requires someone to have repeated exposure to less frequent or more difficult words in a meaningful context. Using the Zone of Proximal Development allows the child to read at a level where he is being challenged by exposure to new vocabulary and concepts without being frustrated. It is in this zone that reading practice will promote maximum development.

The teachers and I were especially interested to see how well the second graders would do, because they were the one classroom that used the accelerated books and quizzes a great deal last year. This class tested at reading levels of 1.4 to 3.7 which seems very good, since two of the children did not speak English when they started kindergarten here. The girl tested at 2.2 level, which is where an average child should be now. Seventeen percent of the class tested below grade level, twenty-five percent of the students were reading above grade level, and fifty-eight percent of the children tested at grade level. Hopefully by the end of the school year, we will achieve good results with all of our students using the Accelerated Reader books and quizzes.

The library purchased several books in Spanish for our bilingual teacher to use with our students who do

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not speak English. We have two kindergarten students who cannot speak English this year again. Our bilingual teacher is reading storybooks in Spanish to these children to help prepare these students for reading. I found one book that has both English and Spanish versions of the text in the same storybook; we would like to find more books like this to use with these children.

The school has bought several items to use as reading incentives. We are planning a Reading Store in the library approximately once a month. There will be things the children can buy for points earned from passing quizzes with at least eighty percent correct on their Accelerated Reader books. We will also have other things such as lunch with the principal, first person in the lunch line, and free passes from homework for prizes for Accelerated Reader points. Prizes will be awarded at approximately ten cents for each point earned. We will be contacting local businesses for donations in this area also.

A Reading Wall of Fame will be placed in our library that also serves as the cafeteria and the computer lab. This will change the Accelerated Reader from a classroom activity to a school-wide event. The teachers and I have not worked out all of the details for this, but we want to use this as another motivational tool to encourage children to read more books and improve their reading skills.

Charts will also be used in the hallways and classrooms to recognize the reading achievements of our students; a reader certification program will be established to highlight significant stages in the student's development as a reader. The Institute for Academic Excellence recommends that the school treat certification as an event - almost a rite of passage recognizing a child's progression from emergent literacy skills to fully independent reading of chapter books. Students will receive a certificate and a button when they reach each of the certification levels.

A student is considered an Independent Reader when he reads three books and passes the tests on them entirely on his own, and has accumulated ten points from his accelerated reader quizzes.

At the next stage of reading development, students are considered Super Readers when they have read three books worth one point or more, passed the tests on them entirely on their own, and have accumulated fifteen points. Since Super Reader status is a higher certification level, students should be given extra rewards and incentives.

A student reaches the stage of Advanced Reader when he has read three books rated at two points or better entirely independently, and accumulates twenty points. At this level children should be reading books with more text and fewer illustrations.

The next level of achievement is called Star Reader. Star Reader Certification emphasizes reading level over point accumulation and motivates students to match or surpass their grade level placement. Students are called Star Readers when they have read three books of at least a 5.0 level with a point value of five points or more.

The next certification level is Classic Reader. This certification level is designed to motivate students to tackle novels and other more advanced literature. A child achieves Classic Reader certification when he has read and passed the tests on three books rated at ten points or more at a seventh grade or higher reading level. In the upper elementary grades to keep the best readers challenged, students should be encouraged to re-certify as Classic Readers each semester.

The last level of certification is called an Honors Reader. Certification at this level requires students to read books on a college preparatory reading list and to earn one hundred points from taking Accelerated Reader quizzes on these books. Honors Reader certification gives direction to student's reading while still giving them a wide choice of books that will appeal to them.

Recertification at various levels can be made an important part of the Reader Certification program. At the Star and Classic levels, there is much more reading material available than students will ever need to read to certify the first time; recertification will encourage a wider experience with literature at those levels. Additional practice at these levels of reading will strengthen fluency. Bonus passes for extra points will be given for books read at the current certification level with an eighty-five to ninety-two percent score. Stickers will also be posted on a chart in the hallway for each time the student recertifies; a different progression of colored stickers will be used.

Special recognition will also be given for the top point earners in each class and for the school as a

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whole. The point totals that the best readers in a class receive should set the standard for the rest of the class and their classmates will see what constitutes excellent performance and set their own goals accordingly.

Many people benefited from Project Read in our local community. Three percent of the children in this program did not speak English when school started. Three percent of the students had some type of handicap. Two percent of the people who attended the Family Reading Night were students at our local college. Three percent of the children were preschoolers. Nine percent of the people benefiting from this program have graduated from college. Ninety percent of the participants in Project Read were elementary students. Seven percent of the people who participated in Project Read were senior citizens.

In summary, although our project has had many set backs and delays due to the changing of staff and problems with getting all of the necessary wiring done to hook our computers together with a server, this reading program should prove to be beneficial to our school and the community. The faculty, the principal, the school board members, the librarian, and the Parent Teachers Organization feel that this has been a very worthwhile community project. Most of the children in our school seem to enjoy reading now and are getting more practice to develop their fluency and reading skills. Some students are even bringing books to the playground to read. The Accelerated Reader quizzes are based on reading comprehension, which is one area in which our school children especially need to improve.

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