Accountable Independent Reading (AIR) is an expectation that all students find, read, and respond to reading material written at their independent reading level. The purpose of AIR is to have students practice reading outside of the classroom and stimulate an interest and enjoyment of reading as well the skills you have learned in the class.
As the year progresses, students will be held accountable for their reading in a variety of ways as more Common Core Standards will be addressed.
In writing their AIR logs, students focus on a specific reading standard addressed in the current unit to direct their reading. They then demonstrate their understanding of the standard by providing a response to the text they have closely read.
For example, reading the first standard for informational texts asks students to “cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.” Students who have read an article on performance enhancing drugs in sports might say, “The article talked about how substances are bad for baseball players as well as everyone else.” A strong and thorough piece of evidence students might use to support this is to say, “For example, they described how high school students are now using these substances and before this was unheard of—this was just seen in the pros,” etc.
Another reading standard (RL.9-10.4 )is to “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and ton” can be illustrated in the following response-
Tex: Romeo and Juliet
Through Romeo’ choice of words (considering both form –how Romeo speaks and content –what he says) when he describes Rosaline, we can make several inferences about Romeo’s character.
- Romeo describes his romantic pursuit of Rosaline as a battle in which he is the aggressor and she is the victim—his “loving terms” are a “siege” and his gazes “assail” her. He thinks of himself as a romantic hero or warrior, armed with “Cupid’s arrows” (208). This self-perception seems to influence his understanding of love as ultimately about overpowering and conquering the object of his affection.
- Romeo’s love for Rosaline seems to be entirely dependent on her good looks, as is indicated by his repeated reference to Rosaline’s beauty (“O, she is rich in beauty” (214)) and his repeated use of the word fair. Rosaline’s beauty is all Romeo talks about; he doesn’t mention anything else that he admires about her.
- Romeo takes himself very seriously—perhaps more seriously than he deserves, as is suggested by Benvolio’s dismissal of Romeo’s love for Rosaline as a passing crush when he says “forget to think of her…examine other beauties” (224–227).