Technology encourages students to read

The success of a computer program that encourages students to read has prompted the Northwest Catholic District School Board to expand the program to include math.
Students at St. Francis School have been benefitting from the Accelerated Reader program for the last two years, as have the board’s other schools.
The program gives points to students for each book they read. Certain books in the library and in classrooms are designated as acceptable books for the program.
Books of a higher level are worth more points.
After reading the book, students then write a computer quiz to test their comprehension. Classes that passed the most quizzes, or which earned the most points, win a pizza party.
This year, Terry Hrychuk’s Grade 4 class passed 307 quizzes in first term. Dick Botsford’s Grade 4 class earned 236 points while Lisa George’s Grade 7 class earned 128 points in their novel studies.
Students write the quizzes on laptop computers that travel from room to room on a cart.
In addition to encouraging kids to read, the program is about “getting technology into the classrooms,” said Mike Belluz, site administrator for the local Catholic school board.
“The principal [Brendan Hyatt] has been really instrumental in supporting technology,” he added.
As a result of the success of the Accelerated Reader program, St. Francis soon will introduce a similar program called Accelerated Math.
“The students complete a math strand, like fractions,” Belluz explained, then write a test on what they have learned on a bubble card.
The students enter their answers into the bubble card reader and “the computer tells them where their weaknesses are. It’s like an individual program for each student,” Belluz said.
Hyatt said St. Francis is the first school to run the new math program.
“We’re going to do it as a pilot,” he explained, adding the board would expand it to its other schools if pleased with the results.
Intermediate teachers will begin training in the program later this month, and are expected to begin using it in the classroom in May.