Reading Incentive Programs and Links

West University students participate in a number of reading incentive programs offered through the classroom and supported by the library. Two such programs are the Accelerated Reader program in grades 1-5 and the Texas Bluebonnet Award program for grades 3-5. We also participate in the "Book It" program offered by Pizza Hut.

In May 2007, for the first time, West University Elementary participated in the HISD "Name That Book" contest. Children in grades 3-5 read a list of 35 books, participated in discussion and team practices, and competed against other HISD schools. Our team won their preliminary contest and advanced to the finals. Watch the Pony Express for continuing details about this year's contest.

Interested participants in the 2007-08 team should download a list from the HISD Library Services website and begin reading the books over the summer. If parent volunteers would like to help with a team for Kinder - 2nd grade, please watch the Pony Express for details in the fall. That booklist may also be downloaded from the Library Services website.

READING TIP FOR PARENTS: Help your child choose appropriate reading material that will build comprehension and vocabulary skills!

Your child's reading level is reported to you on standardized testing and the STAR test as "reading level". (RL) The reading level of an AR book is listed as "book level" (BL) - which is one in the same. This information is important in helping a child choose appropriate reading material. Another very important consideration in recommending books to children is "interest level." An example of interest vs. reading level is seen with the Harry Potter series. Many children had enough "interest" in the phenomenally popular series to persevere through the reading of hundreds of pages, so the interest in reading the book was there, yet they cannot answer the 20 questions on an AR test. True comprehension of any book read independently would be evident in a quiz passed with an 80% or above. 85% is the recommended score on each book - a true indicator of comprehension and vocabulary understanding. AR research shows the 85% averages are most effective in producing true reading growth. Be sure to listen to your child read a page out loud to determine that they are reading fluently. Ask questions to make sure they understand what they are reading. Discuss the meaning of words that they may not know. The AR program is just one way to motivate students, but please know it does not motivate all of them!

The best advice for parents to encourage reading is to just enjoy books together and remember reading should be FUN! Go to the public library together, read children's magazines, newspapers, comics, and lots of different types of literature. Don't forget to read poetry, jokes and riddles, and craft, hobby, and recipe books together.

Online Card Catalog - shows you the books and other materials available in our school library. Available to you 24 hours a day at any internet computer. Just click on the link to your left. Search by author, title, subject, or a key word search. Read a description of the book and see if the book is available. Copy the call number and come in on Tuesday or Thursday after school to check out the book.

ACCELERATED READING PROGRAM (AR)

The AR program is a commercial reading program used in many schools nationwide. Participating students in grades 1-5 read a book, take a short comprehension quiz (on any school computer) and earn points based on that score. We have quizzes on over 3,000 books. Our AR list includes excellent children's literature titles from the classics, to award winners, to new and popular titles. When parents ask for a good reading list for their children, it is suggested they start with our AR list sorted by reading levels or any of the attached reading lists.

The CLASSROOM READING TEACHER administrates the program for each class. The teacher gives the STAR test which places the student at an appropriate reading level range which can then be used by the student to choose books to read independently for AR. (The AR list refers to Reading Level as "Book Level" - BL) That teacher also follows the child's progress during the year. Any questions regarding student participation should be directed to the classroom teacher.

The LIBRARY supports the AR program by selecting books appropriate for all reading levels as part of our collection development as well as marking all books with AR reading level color-coded stickers. A different color is assigned to each reading level, and students learn the color system quickly during library skill lessons. Our school quiz list ranges from 0.5 to 8th grade reading levels. Quizzes are available on both fiction and nonfiction books. The AR quiz list can be downloaded and printed from the school's website. During library time, children are instructed how to choose books of all types and genres, including AR books. Students quickly learn to choose books within their "comfort zone" which is actually a reading range and not an absolute number. A measure of flexibility must be exercised when choosing AR books. NOTE: Books used for AR may be obtained anywhere - classroom, home, public library or school library.

TEXAS BLUEBONNET AWARD READING PROGRAM

logo for the Texas Blubonnet Award

Each year, the Texas Library Association chooses 20 excellent recently published books for readers in grades 3-6. Students who read AT LEAST five of these books are eligible to vote for their favorite at a school balloting event in late January. Our votes are tallied, a school winner is selected, and vote tallies are sent to the state library association. On the day of voting, eligible children are rewarded for their efforts with a special breakfast of blueberry muffins served by parent volunteers.

In 2007-2008: 428 West U students enjoyed reading many of the 20 books and voted for their favorite at the Bluebonnet Breakfast on January 25th . We had more students participate this year than any previous year! Our chosen school favorite was Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye. Our ballots were submitted to the Texas Library Assocation on January 30th. The state winner was announced on February 4th: Down Girl and Sit: On the Road by Lucy Nolan! Even though our chosen book favorite did not win, our students truly love participating in this statewide contest. The students who read all twenty Texas Bluebonnet books on the list are featured in this photograph below. We are so proud of them!