Prairie students thrive with Accelerated Reader

• Reading

Submitted photo Olivia Wiener (right) reads to her father, Chad Wiener, during Parent Accelerated Reader Day Friday at Prairie Elementary.

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WORTHINGTON — Taking their parent by one hand and their book by the other, the second-graders at Prairie Elementary were eager to show off their reading skills.

The school hosted a Parent Accelerated Reader Day on Friday, offering parents a chance to learn about the reading curriculum their children use.

“We explain the program to parents and the children get very excited to have their parents come to school,” said second-grade teacher Sheryl Hoekstra. “The activity where parents come in gives them first-hand experience with what the kids are doing at school.”

Accelerated Reader, often called AR, is a program that aims to build a lifelong love of reading, personalize reading practice to each student’s ability level and assess student’s skills through computer quizzes.

It allows teachers to receive feedback on each student’s progress, and has been used in Worthington for more than a decade.

“We can intervene if they’re having difficulties,” Hoekstra added.

After a short session in which parents learned tools to help their children with reading at home, each student shared a book or two with a parent.

Young bibliophile Olivia Wiener selected a chapter book to read aloud to her parents, Chad and Lori Wiener of Fulda: “Judy Moody Was in a Mood. Not a Good Mood. A Bad Mood,” by Megan McDonald.

“Every time I go to the library, I get a chapter book,” explained Olivia, who also devours the occasional non-fiction read.

Her older siblings also completed the AR program, and sister Brittanny, now a student at the University of Sioux Falls, fills Olivia in on what she reads in her textbooks, too.

Lori said her daughter spends a good portion of her free time reading (or playing with the family puppy), and is likely the most avid reader of her siblings.

Added Lori, “(AR) must be effective if they’re still doing it.”

Tags: accelerated reader , news, program, reading, children, parents, ar