Rainy Day Schedule

What are 3 words every teacher hates to hear? Rainy Day Schedule! Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often in this beautiful sunny state of ours but now, with the Final Four Challenge in full swing, Rainy Day Schedule can take on a whole new meaning.

Rainy Day Schedule now means that your students have extra time in class to read on myON and earn those precious few minutes that just might give you an edge in the contest.

Rainy Day Schedule now means that instead of a noisy classroom full of antsy kids, your classroom will be blissfully quiet as students engage with one of the 5,500 books available on myON.

Rainy Day Schedule now means that students can take time to explore the literacy tools that are available on myON like journaling and highlighting as well as the built in supports like audio and the dictionary.

Rainy Day Schedule now means that after finishing a book, students have time to write a review about what they just read and share it with their peers.

Rainy Day Schedule also means that students have the time to explore new genres and unfamiliar topics.

So teachers, embrace the Rainy Day Schedule and take a tip from your kids!  Login to myON and start reading!

Frank Elementary School Makes a Slam Dunk With Reading

The students at Frank Elementary School in the Tempe Elementary School District are serious about their reading! Especially in Miss Blanchard's ELD class. Because most of the 22 students in the class don't have access to computers at home, they have been getting to school an hour and a half early every day just to read on myON. Here is what Miss Blanchard has to say:

"myON is my favorite reading website because it provides students the opportunity to read, learn early researching skills, learn how to use a computer, track their Lexile, and answer comprehension questions at home and at school. Students can annotate in the text and write reviews, which provides them with time to reflect on their reading. myON provides students with an engaging way to practice reading, testing and computer skills. I have seen students who hate reading fall in love with it because it incorporates technology. Students get to read books at their level as well as challenge books. Students are also able to use a highlighter, a narrator, and a dictionary if they need help with reading. They get to read books on topics they actually want to read about. Teachers can differentiate by creating book lists. There are also bilingual books!"

The students are also excited about myON. Check out their pictures and their thoughts below.

One student loves reading about other countries on myON.                     

"I love myON because it has activities, helps me learn, and is a great way to explore new places!"- Lucero

                      "myON is super AMAZING!  I love it because it is fun and you  can learn about new                               stuff by reading books."- Alex

                                              "I like it because you can read on any electronic stuff that has wifi.                                                 They let us pick avatars. They show us different kinds of books."-Andrew

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK FRANK ELEMENTARY!  YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!!

A MILLION

At 3:12 MST, on January 17, 2017 Arizona 3rd graders hit the ONE MILLION MINUTES READ mark!  

Way to go AZ 3rd graders!  This is only the tip off phase and there is still a lot of contest left so keep reading!  

Deer Valley Unified School District Rises to the Challenge!

What are 3rd grade teachers and students in the Deer Valley Unified School District saying about myON and the Read to the Final Four Literacy Challenge?  

"I like myON because there are a lot books to read about and they are interesting."-3rd grade student

"I like myON because I get to read new books and learn about them."-3rd grade student

"Our kids are amazing. The love the program and are always on it reading."- DRyan 3rd grade teacher

Other teachers say that their students love myON and that they find it to be an amazing resource. One school reported that while preparing for the challenge they saw a growth of 200+ Lexile points with their students.

Deer Valley Unified School District has definitely risen to the challenge and are not slowing down any time soon! Cherryl Paul, Director of Organizational Improvement & Professional Learning for DVUSD says, "Our kids are on FIRE for reading!"

Great job DVUSD 3rd graders! Your parents and teachers are so proud of you!  Keep reading! There is only one week left until Round 1 begins.

*If you have good stories or pictures of your kids Reading to the Final Four send them to me so we can feature them on our blog!

We Are On Twitter

If you are on Twitter, be sure to tweet about all the great reading your students are doing in the Read to the Final Four Literacy Challenge!  Don't forget to use the #ReadToTheFinalFour and tag @myONreader.  You can check out all the latest tweets at readtothefinalfour.com.

What Is A Benchmark Test and How Does It work.

When your students logged into myON for the first time, they completed an initial Lexile placement test. That test helped set a baseline Lexile score for them. As your students continue to read on myON, once they have read 5 books or completed 3 hours of total reading time in a 14 day period, a Benchmark test will appear. Students may also notice a purple envelope in the upper left-hand corner of their dashboard. This indicates that a Benchmark assessment is available. The student can click on the envelope to start the assessment.

Once a student starts a Benchmark test, they will need to complete it in one setting. Benchmarks can not be exited and returned to later. Benchmarks show how students are progressing in reading and comprehension skills. The system continues to track student performance through each Benchmark test.

As a student's Lexile level changes, the Recommended Library will grow with them. The books in the Recommended tab will always stay 100 Lexiles below to 50 Lexiles above their current Lexile score.