Did anyone else have to take those Accelerated Reader quiz thingies in junior high (and/or elementary school and/or high school)? For us, these started in sixth grade and went through junior high. We would read a book and then have to take a quiz on it in order for the book to “count” for our English class. I think you had to get like an 85% or something on…I don’t know…15 multiple choice questions in order to “pass.”

I don’t know what reminded me of those things today, but I remember how much I hated them. I always found them very difficult because the multiple choice questions were always about very specific things. That’s fine if you’re reading a relatively short book, but I remember reading Gone with the Wind in 7th grade and having to take one of these AR quizzes on it. That book is 1,000+ pages and the quiz still focused on incredibly specific things. Like…ask me about the major themes or events, not about the color of Rhett’s shirt the first time he met Scarlett.

I much preferred the way we “proved” that we read books in 10th grade. We’d finish a book and our teacher, Mr. Murray, would sit down with us for a short one-on-one conference where we’d very openly and informally discuss the book. I remember doing this with As I Lay Dying and feeling like I got to explain more of what I got out of the book rather than having to demonstrate that I remembered which sibling drilled holes through their mother’s coffin.

Anyway.