Completion of reading program done by the book

Sarah Cummins

7/10/2001 12:00:00 AM

Area elementary students have completed a novel program to become accelerated readers.

A class of 16 students has read 2,406 books as part of the Accelerated Reading Program, according to Kim Price, a Saginaw Chippewa Academy Binoojiinh Montessori lower elementary teacher.

"Every time they read a book, they go to the library and take a computerized comprehension test," Price explained.

Through this 17-week computerized reading assessment program, the children read books alone or with a friend using a system structured to let students progress at their own pace. Students are assigned points depending on the level of the book they have read. As a class, they have accumulated 1,356 points.

"My favorite subject is reading, because all the books have different subjects and they're really fun to read," explained Sarah Ballew, a second-year student. "Sometimes they surprise you."

Eight-year-old Ballew has read 193 books as part of this program and has earned 117.3 points.

Ballew said one of her favorite books is "Bunnicula" by James Howe.

"I like that it's full of laughter and horror," she stated. "I also like �Little House in the Big Woods' because the little girl, Laura, is like me, but she lives in the 1800s." This book was written by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Victoria Merrill, 7, said she didn't like taking the tests "not until I knew how to do them." However, Merrill still managed to read 126 books and earned 55.9 points.

Her favorite book is "Green Eggs & Ham" by Dr. Seuss.

"There's a Dr. Seuss restaurant in Orlando," she explained.

The number of points a student could earn per book was based on the length and difficulty of the book. Some of the longer quizzes contained 20 questions although some may have been as short as five questions.

"My favorite book is �Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'" said third-year student Sam Mitchell. "I just like it because it's good and it has a lot of mysteries. I just read it, because I wanted to."

Mitchell explained that the J. K. Rowling story was the biggest book he had ever read. It contained 734 pages. Mitchell completed 83 books and earned 162.5 points.

Price said the students previously had a bowling trip as incentive to participate in the program. Now that it is completed, she said they will do something special to celebrate.

The class average number of questions answered correctly was 83.3 percent.