November 6, 2024
At The English College in Prague (ECP), the academic environment is dynamic and rigorous, filled with ambitious students eager to excel. But it’s more than just academics that define ECP; it’s the school’s commitment to fostering well-rounded, passionate readers. In our pursuit of engaging resources, we found Renaissance’s Accelerated Reader (AR) Programme. The AR programme encourages independent reading, allowing students to pick books that resonate with their interests – a perfect match for our motivated students.
Beyond offering freedom of choice, AR also provides teachers with meaningful data on students’ reading progress and comprehension. But what truly stood out were AR’s built-in quizzes. These quizzes introduce an engaging way for students to assess their understanding and celebrate their reading accomplishments, turning reading into an interactive experience.
Custom quizzes for a personalised experience
Our only challenge? Some students were keen to read books not included in the AR programme. Since ECP prioritises cultivating a genuine love of reading, it was essential to adapt. This led us to the “Create Your Own Quiz” feature within AR, allowing us to keep students engaged by adding quizzes for popular books outside of AR’s library. Our Czech librarian and other teachers read new books and design quizzes for titles they know will excite students, even adding English quizzes for Czech books that wouldn’t otherwise be part of the programme.
To make the programme even more student-centred, we encouraged students to write their own quizzes for the books they wanted to read if they couldn’t find a corresponding AR quiz. After a bit of coaching on crafting effective questions, students embraced the idea, deepening their engagement as they thought critically about their books and created quizzes that other students could enjoy.
Building a global network of educators and readers
While student-created quizzes are exclusive to ECP’s AR system, we quickly realised we weren’t alone in this journey. Inspired by our efforts, a Facebook group emerged, where educators and librarians globally began sharing quizzes they’d crafted. With over 240 members, this online community has grown into a vibrant network of educators united by a shared goal: inspiring students to read more and read widely.
Redefining learning beyond the classroom
At ECP, AR is more than a tool – it’s part of our mission to cultivate a thriving reading culture. We believe that fostering a love for reading is about more than assigned texts or reading goals; it’s about inspiring curiosity, exploration, and personal growth. By giving students the freedom to choose any book that sparks their interest – whether it’s the latest young adult novel or an inspiring self-help book—we send a clear message: their reading choices matter. This approach fosters autonomy and ownership over their learning journey, making reading an enriching experience and reinforcing a love for books that extends beyond school.
Empowering educators and students alike
The new head librarian Jade Slee also adds:
Having worked in two different schools now that both use AR, one of the biggest and most positive differences I have found is the use of teacher-made quizzes at the English College in Prague. Previously, students reading books that ‘didn’t have a quiz’ was an obstacle when it came to balancing students reading for pleasure while also using Accelerated Reader to its full potential. It meant students might have a book ‘just to do a quiz’, which felt like it defeated the purpose.
Now, with the use of teacher-made quizzes, it is less of a problem. I have made two of my own since starting, and I find it makes me more engaged with the book, as I’m then thinking about it in terms of questions. I’ve used that experience to encourage some of our first-year students to create quizzes for their own books that don’t yet have a quiz available, and I plan to use it with the students participating in this year’s IRIS book awards. When they joke about getting an easy set of points, I remind them that the challenge in this case is thinking of the best questions, as they only have ten – and I know, from trying to do a quiz on R.F. Kuang’s ‘Babel’, that it is sometimes nowhere near enough!
Overall, I think it’s a game-changer, and one I wish I had utilised more in my previous school.
Renaissance’s perspective: A programme powered by educators
The UK Content team was so excited to hear how The English College in Prague was using Accelerated Reader to develop a culture of reading amongst its students. Over the years, we have watched with pride as students who use our program become true lovers of reading as they develop their reading skills. That stems from the fact that AR offers an individualized reading program, allowing students to choose books that speak directly to them.
The comprehension quizzes that form the Accelerated Reader database are written to exacting standards and go through a rigorous three-stage edit process to ensure their validity as part of an assessment tool. They take time to create, and though we work tirelessly to add new quizzes each week, we simply can’t keep up with all the requests that we get for new quizzes. We hate to keep children waiting to take quizzes on books that they love, so it’s always great when we hear that teachers are using the “Create a Quiz” function to fulfil this need. The success of AR is always based on the educators and librarians who implement the program. ECP has taken the program into new dimensions by allowing the children themselves to create quizzes on books that speak directly to them. While we’re focusing on developing reading skills through AR, ECP has developed an innovative way to develop writing skills as well! On top of that, you have expanded the reading culture you have created to other educators. We salute you!
