Selinsgrove Area

Intermediate Library

November/December 2008 Edition

Accelerated Reader is up And Running

Accelerated Reader is a web-based reading program from Renaissance Learning.  The program is a tool for teachers and students to help students to practice their reading skills.  The program is not new to Selinsgrove Area School District as Selinsgrove Area Middle School has been using the program for many years, but this year the program is available to teachers and students at the Intermediate School as well.  Teachers at the Intermediate School are using the program in various ways to strengthen students' reading skills.  Some teachers are giving students the option to quiz in Accelerated Reader in lieu of book reports while other teachers are having their students quiz as part of their regular reading classes. 

In Accelerated Reader, students are able to choose a book of their choice from tens of thousands of titles, many of which are available at the library.  Ideally, to insure the greatest success, students should choose a book within their range of reading ability, as determined by their classroom teacher.  Students should quiz on their book of choice within twenty-four hours of completing the book.  Most quizzes are ten questions, but they could be as few as five questions or as many as twenty questions, based on the length of the book.  Students that earn 60-100% on their quiz, earn that percentage of points that the book is worth.  Students may quiz anywhere in school during school hours.

So far the feedback from teachers and students has been outstanding.  The kids enjoy taking the quizzes and the teachers appreciate the extra practice the students are receiving by reading.

Books! Books! Books!

Christmas has come early to the Intermediate Library.  Currently there is about $10,000.00 worth of books that have arrived and are just waiting to be cataloged and processed by Mrs. Williamson and Mrs. Steffen and get into students' hands.  By week's end, half of those books will be done and are available to students.  Many of the first books that have been cataloged are books needed to support the curriculum and are used by students for research. 

The next step is to catalog another $5,000.00 worth of books purchased through Scholastic Book Fair vouchers.  These vouchers were the result of last year's book fair proceeds, so a great big THANK YOU goes out to all of the students and families for all of the books that they purchased.  Not only do the students enjoy buying books for their personal libraries, but a portion of every sale is turned into more books to be added to the library for the entire school to enjoy. 

In addition to all of the books mentioned above, the library purchased $500.00 worth of books at this year's book fair.  The titles purchased are some of the most popular among the students and include Dear Dumb Diary, Black Lagoon, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars.

Students may view new books as they are added to the library's catalog by visiting the library's catalog at Destiny Quest.