Achieve 3000

Achieve 3000 is a new program we're using at school that our English department really pushed for because of the motivating, educational features that help enhance reading and reading comprehension. Since I work at a middle school, we use teenbiz3000.com which is directed towards a teen audience. This isn't a free resource, but I highly recommend this program if you or your school is looking for a motivating resource that helps improve reading and comprehension. Students take a lexile/level set test at the beginning to determine reading levels and then daily, students are sent high interest articles tailored to their individual reading levels. Students then complete activities involved with the text in order to practice reading skills. Seemingly, this seems like a dull resource, but the cool thing about Achieve 3000 is that students have avatars, earn points, and can collect achievements that boost their daily point totals. It's a highly competitive program.

Attention: Students instantly attach to this program because of the attention grabbing headlines they are sent in their mailboxes. Each day teenbiz sends all students enrolled in the program a high interest article with attention grabbing pictures to student teenbiz mailboxes. Students actually get excit ed to read because the articles are interesting and they continue to read because they are at a reading level they can comprehend. Not to mention, the minute students take their initial placement assessment to determine reading levels, students have the opportunity to set up their profile with an avatar of their choice. The avatar really grabs students attention because it makes the program seem more game like.

Relevance: The program aligns with English standards due to the reading and writing activities shown in the program. The articles reaffirm relevance because they are usually based on current events so students relate the content to the world around them...they see the information as useful outside of the classroom. Lastly, a really incredible feature on achieve3000 is the ability to search and assign articles to your students. So if we're studying something in English I can look for an article that relates to what we're studying on achieve 3000 and assign it to my students. This means that students make better content to life connections inside and outside of the classroom.

Confidence: Achieve 3000 definitely builds confidence to to the point system and achievement system the program uses. Each activity gives students points. There are also achievements students can earn based on exceptional work. Teachers can also assign some of the achievements available. So, as students progress through the program they gain confidence because they get instant feedback on their activities, earn points, and earn achievements. Another confidence builder is feature that students can be featured as the "daily high score" for the school. So all students are striving to get the daily high score. Not to mention, as students progress through articles and activities they learn better reading strategies and that starts reflecting in their scores therefore giving them confidence.

Satisfaction: The more points students earn the more satisfaction they feel with the program. Achieve 3000 doesn't just track daily points but also keeps record of the cumulative value. Students feel satisfied when their points are high because they know they are mastering language arts skills. Students feel satisfied as they earn achievements for showing their skills. Students feel satisfied when I get to enable the "game" features when they show successful achieve 3000 use because they know they get to play the games when they've accomplished a task with success.