I Earned a Medal

Aaron had his Fifth Grade Awards Ceremony this morning.  Like many schools across the country, his school participates in the Accelerated Reader Program.  Each book in the program is awarded a point value based on the difficulty.  After reading a book, a student takes a short test to evaluate comprehension.  Points are then awarded based on the score.

Until Aaron was in third grade, we really struggled with getting him to read.  He knew how to read, he just didn't enjoy it.  I had suggested book after book in an effort to help him find something he might like.  Finally, his Scout leader suggested a series that his boys had read and that is all it took.  Since then, Aaron reads every night.

A few months ago, I challenged Aaron to read the Harry Potter series.  I promised to read them along with him.  I thought it would motivate him a bit and since so many parents have been anti-Harry Potter, I thought I would read along as "Parental Guidance."  He LOVED the series.  He couldn't put them down and scored 100% on EVERY. SINGLE. AR. TEST!  The books are worth a lot of AR points.  After reading the first book, he doubled the points he had already earned.

During the awards ceremony, the Media Specialist awards certificates to the top ten AR points earners.  Once the first five were called and their points announced, I thought Aaron was out of the running.  Names continued to be called.  The top three point earners received a certificate and a medal.  The Media Specialist said, "The third place points earner for fifth grade is Aaron Ray."  YES!!!  That was such a huge accomplishment for him.

Each week Aaron brings home a progress report for the week.  He has to write one thing he thought he did well for the week and one thing he will work on for the next week.  For his thing he did well this week he wrote, "I am proud I earned a medal."

Here he is showing us his medal!