Reader's Workshop

I am a middle school librarian about to begin my fourth year in my current district. For the first three years we used a program called Accelerated Reader which was a program built around student quizzes. Students would read a book and then take a 5, 10 or 20 question quiz based on that book. The books had reading levels indicated and based on that level and the number of words in the book, the book was given a point value. Students were to earn a certain number of points per semester as a part of their English grade. 

I am very happy that this year, AR will be gone. Not every book in the library had an AR test and students would want to read something but it wouldn't be AR or wouldn't be enough points or they wouldn't be able to finish it by the deadline. It caused a lot of grief in students because they would actually find a book interesting, but feel that they couldn't read it. Sometimes these were reluctant readers and I feel they are missing the opportunity to become very confident readers. 

I understood the reason teachers loved AR. They literally had to check quiz grades and add them into their averages for the rest of the course work. But I also know that kids cheat on AR tests or just read little dinky books that are well below their level just to get the points. They look at reading as a chore because there is little choice involved. Some teachers took it a step further and required certain genres or authors, giving even less choice. 

This year we are beginning Reader's Workshop in lieu of AR and I am so excited. Students will be given time to read in class several times a week and will be allowed to read whatever they choose. Teacher's will be responsible for talking to several students each day about what they are reading, and are even able to tell students to stop reading a book if it isn't to their liking. There is no pressure to finish as long as you are reading. Teachers may choose to have students write in a journal about their reading, or perhaps blog about it, but this will not be a requirement. .The only requirement is to read something. 

I believe that Reader's Workshop is going to change the way all the students in my school read. There will still be reluctance, of course, but to have such low pressure is going to make it easier for a student to find something they enjoy reading, even if it's a magazine. Once students find that they are getting something out of their reading, it will only cause them to want to read more and more! I cannot wait for this year to start!