Extended Learning

Students at Liberty have multiple ways to extend their learning beyond the regular school day. We currently have three web-based programs that provide extended opportunities for learning. These programs are Accelerated Reader, First in Math, and Study Island.

Accelerated Reader is a program that promotes reading. Students read books, preferably at their reading level, and have quizzes that gives them points according to book difficulty and length. We currently have two distinct incentive programs with Accelerated Reader. Students earn their way to point clubs, and they receive various incentives for their achievement throughout the school year. Also, students who earn fifteen points and answer 85% of their questions correctly each month receive an invitation to an ice cream party.

First in Math is a program that promotes math facts and problem solving in math. Students play different games that reinforce math computation and problem solving skills. They earn virtual stickers according to the difficulty of the problems solved. We currently have classroom and individual incentives with this program. For classroom incentives, the classroom at each grade level with the most stickers earned in a given month will win an ice cream party. For individual incentives, each classroom has a designated "Player of the Day' that gets to wear a lanyard identifying him/her as the player of the day. This student gets to go first in line at lunch and take a buddy with him/her.

Study Island is the newest of our web-based programs, but has the potential to be the most effective. This program provides standards-based games and activities for students in grades 2-6 in both language arts and mathematics. We are in the process of creating individual incentives with Study Island.

I encourage you to learn more about these three programs with your child. We are taking time in each of our next three parent meetings to show you how to navigate through these programs. The potential impact for these programs in regards to student learning is enormous. Please take advantage.