Stansbury Park Elementary in Stansbury Park, Utah has been using the Scholastic Reading Counts! program for about 2 years. Our school has about 1,000 students and the teachers that use the program love it and its various uses. I teach 6th grade and have found that this program is the best way to monitor my student’s independent reading. It enables me to keep track of their improvement. Where they are doing well and where they are struggling. I was really surprised how many books I had that were already apart of the program and it has been great to see the kids ask for quizzes for some of their favorite books. I have been happy to see that every time I need to purchase a quiz for my class, there has been a quiz available. I watch what books my students purchase from the book order and I use my bonus points to get the quizzes available for that book order. This causes the children to be more excited about the program because they are still reading books that they are interested in.

The thing that I enjoy the most about Scholastic Reading Counts! is seeing the kids grow into their reading abilities. They see how important it is to not just finish a book, but to understand it as well. Some of the best readers I have are often surprised when they miss a question or two. Almost all my students are picking up books that are either on their level or more challenging. With the SRI test and the Scholastic Reading Counts! program it makes it easy for them to see exactly what books they should be reading. It also helps me to see who is choosing books below their grade level. I then in turn, am able to talk with my students’ and their parents about their book choices and why it is important to pick books on or a little above their level.

I have also had a great response from the parents of my students. Last year I had a parent make a special trip in to see me. She told me how much she enjoyed getting the reports I sent because it let her track how her son was doing. She also mentioned how it helped her to understand what she needed to do. It has been great to have something to support my thoughts and opinions on my students’ reading. When parents come in and I have some concerns, I am able to use the Scholastic Reading Counts! Reports to support my feelings.

Scholastic Reading Counts! fits so well into our curriculum. We use a small part of our day doing independent reading. I use SRC to give my students’ a grade. Their points are based on the point value on the books that are on their level. I estimate how many books I would like them to read that term and find an average point value for that number. The point value varies from term to term. They take the quizzes and I check their progress-it makes grading easy! This past month I had a struggling reader whose goal was to finish a book while working on her comprehension. I will never forget the look on her face when her score popped up–10 out of 10!

Last but not least, I use SRC with my guided reading. As the students work in their groups, knowing that they have to take a quiz at the end, they are motivated to stay on task. It enables me to see who is working well as a group and who is not. The quizzes make it easy to assess how they are doing.

In the future they are going to split our school. This means they are building a new school in our community that will be finished by the next school year. Half of our 1,000 students will be attending the new school, while the other half stay here. The same thing is happening with our staff. My hope is to make SRC used by every teacher in our school and use it for our school-wide reading programs. I enjoy the awards that are given and all the options that are available to those who embrace and use the program!