“Students need to be reading a minimum of 1,000,000 words per grade level once they reach middle school to maintain reading proficiency and be able to handle difficult textbook reading they will encounter in high school.”
National Standards For Literacy
Accelerated Reader
is our school-wide independent reading program. We utilize Accelerated
Reader to supplement classroom instruction and to ensure students
are building reading into their daily
learning activities. Our goal at Douglass is to have
every student gain at least
one year of reading literacy
growth over the course of
this school year.
Reading is not just a basic skill. Many people think of reading as a skill that is
taught once and for all in the
first few years of school. In reality, reading is a complex
process that requires the reader
to make sense
of text, often difficult, not just for
the words and sentence on
the page, but also for
the ideas, memories and knowledge evoked
by those words and sentences. In addition, fluent reading is not the
same as decoding (sounding out words). Students who faithfully, with parental support,
execute the Accelerated Reader program at home
will make significant gains in language growth and reading ability.
Every student
at Douglass Middle School is required to
earn 6.0 Accelerated Reader points during
each grading period. Students who fail
to earn the
required minimum will be attending CLM (Collaborative Learning Model), after-school
or Saturday reading until the
requirement is fulfilled. This requirement can be easily met if
your child is reading the
necessary 30 minutes each evening at home. Moreover, students will meet
the 1,000,000 word reading goal which
is critical to our students
growth as learners.
Your child will be providing his/her
English teacher with a book list
of Accelerated Reader books he/she intends to
read for this school year. We have encouraged students to select
books that are appropriate for their reading level. Previously-read books are not acceptable and all books
need teacher approval. Accelerated Reader
books can be checked out of the Douglass Library, Yolo County
Library, or purchased at any
local bookstore.
The Accelerated Reader booklist is available on
the Douglass Website (http://www.dms.wjusd.org/new_index.shtml)
and in the Douglass library. We also provide
free copies of our list to local bookstores
that request it.
Your support
at home is
critical to the success of
our reading program. Please contact your child’s English
teacher if you have any
further questions.
Regards,
Gary Callahan
Principal
Douglass
Middle School