Reading Across the Curriculum

Every week the allocated English homework for all Year 7 and 8 students is to read a reading book (either chosen from the library, or a relevant and appropriate book from home).

Students will need to read EVERY day (including weekends) for at least 20 minutes as a minimum - but may, of course, read for longer. They will also complete 20 minutes of reading once a day in an allocated lesson. This is called Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.), and their subject teachers will tell them when this is happening. Students will also have a fortnightly Accelerated Reader lesson in the library. This will fall on the same lesson, every fortnight in the school year, unless their teacher instructs them otherwise.

Ideally, students should be reading a book which is from their ZPD range (reading 'zone' or area, attached to their reading age) as they will frequently be completing an 'Accelerated Reader' quiz online either in library lessons, at breaks or lunchtimes, in Tutor or at home, using the Accelerated Reader website and their logins and passwords, so we will be able to tell if they haven't been reading and therefore haven't completed their homework!

In their first few library lessons, students' teachers and the school librarian will be around to set up usernames and passwords on the below website, and will help students to complete their first STAR tests and Accelerated Reader quizzes. 

This is our unique school URL that should be used for AR quizzes, and for STAR testing once a term:

https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/2239606

Students should really aim to complete the AR quizzes at any point at school or home, as soon as they have finished a book, as they'll need to remember what they've read to get a score of 90% or more (the pass mark).

So, the advice is, whenever they've finished a book and are near an accessible computer, they should complete an AR quiz.

Remember, students should have a reading book in their bag every day, for every single lesson. Whenever they read, whether it is during D.E.A.R time, library lessons or at home, they will be expected to fill in their reading log. This should include the author’s name and the book title as a minimum, and can include details of the page number they read from and up to, and a recommendation or star review.

Happy reading!