READ 180: More Powerful Than Ever!

READ 180 Community Newsletter - Spring 2009

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Have you been wondering where you can find READ 180 apparel and gear to reward students in your classroom? Look no further—you can now motivate students with great READ 180 incentives!

READ 180 Classroom Incentives Include:

Pencils

Notebooks

Polo Shirts

Wristbands

Drawstring Bags

Chairs

To order READ 180 Classroom Incentives, visit www.scholastic.com/shopread180.

Get your SRC! Quizzes through SAM Connect!

In SAM EE v1.9, newly published Scholastic Reading Counts! quizzes can be delivered to your servers through SAM Connect linking your SAM servers to Scholastic via the Internet. This option provides faster access to quizzes and saves valuable time. No more discs to manage. No more installations to schedule.

Interested in receiving your quiz subscription through SAM Connect? Call Customer Service at 1-877-268-6871 for information. This service will be available in Summer 2009.

READ 180, Revised rSkills Tests
Based on customer feedback and requests, rSkills tests have been revised.

READ 180 rSkills tests were designed as a progress monitoring assessment to be taken after every other rSkills Workshop. A revised edition of Stages A and B rSkills will be available with Versions 1.8.1 and above (available February 2009).

Stages A and B rSkills have been enhanced to include the following features:

• Summative assessments for mid year and end of year
• Grade Level—Test A
• Below Grade Level—Test B
• More comprehensive assessments to follow rSkills workshops including:
• Writing Prompts aligned to rBook writing style; for example, expository response to literature, and persuasive
• Additional items were added to the Vocabulary/Word Study, and the Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics subtests in order to offer a more valid assessment of student knowledge

Important note for READ 180 Stage A and Stage B Customers who purchased System 44 v1.8.1
For any schools that are actively using the rSkills tests for the 2008-2009 school year, in order to not lose the data from the rSkills tests taken to date you must run your rSkills Student Summary and Student Skills Reports BEFORE YOU UPGRADE TO v1.8.1. After your students begin taking the new rSkills tests, the Student Summary and Student Skills Reports will only show data from the new tests with 30 questions. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure this will only be an issue for existing READ 180 customers for the '08-'09 school year. For further assistance, please contact 1-877-234-READ.

For customers who administer the printed version of the rSkills:  If your students take the printed version of the tests, please DO NOT USE the rSkills Black Line Masters(BLMs) from your teacher bookshelf. All new rSkills Tests and Answer Keys are NOW downloadable through SAM Resources (SAM keyword rSkills).

The version of the tests in the printed rSkills tests book included in your teacher bookshelf are the 20 question tests, in order to administer printed 30 question versions; you must go into SAM and print the new version of the test (SAM keyword rSkills).

For customers running versions prior to v1.8.1, you can still print the 20 question version via the rSkills student preview section in SAM. The rSkills available in the SAM Resources are only for versions 1.8.1 or higher.

READ 180 Community Newsletter - Summer 2009
Nothing Else to Say But Thank You! With summer rapidly approaching, we at Scholastic and READ 180 want to thank you for what you do every day to raise reading achievement and turn around the lives of students. What you accomplish is incredible. Thank you!

A Conversation with Dr. Marilyn Jager Adams and Dr. Ted Hasselbring, Principal Scientists for System 44
A Conversation with Dr. Marilyn Jager Adams and Dr. Ted Hasselbring, Principal Scientists for System 44, appearing in the READ 180 Community Newsletter, Fall 2008.

LESSON PLAN	Let's Learn About Firefighters! Presents a lesson plan focusing on fire safety and prevention through reading, writing, and brain storming sessions.
UNIT PLAN	Time Travel Writing Assignment using A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury Use this unit plan to take advantage of students' fascination with technology, by having them prepare and execute a PowerPoint presentation.