One of the many "tools" in the "toolbox" of reading instruction at Braelinn is Accelerated Reader (AR). AR is utilized both to increase a student’s reading practice and his/her comprehension. It also fosters the life-skill of responsibility in that a student is responsible for reading a certain number of books and completing a quiz on the books during a particular timeframe. The student must plan accordingly to meet this responsibility. The program operates simply by having a student choose a book, read it and then complete a short series of questions on the selection. The questions are sequential so that one can easily see if a student has failed to completely read the book. If a problem, such as a low-test score on two or more tests, is detected, the student may be asked to read a lower reading level book or a shorter book. The student is working to increase his/her level of comprehension and not to compete with anyone else. (The list of AR quizzes available to Braelinn students may be found with this link). Books from home or the public library may also be used. Both the Peachtree City and the Fayetteville Libraries have a copy of the quizzes available in our school.

The Media Center supports the Fayette County Reading Invitational, formerly known as the Battle of the Books, for fourth and fifth graders. Avid readers in these two grades are provided an opportunity to expand their reading interests and skills by completing the list of books independently since the books will not be read in class. Students from each grade level will compete for a spot on the fourth and fifth grade teams that will represent Braelinn in the county-level competition in the spring. Several copies of the individual books are available for checkout in the Media Center. AR quizzes will be available for all titles. (A list of current selections for the Fayette County Reading Invitational can be found through this link).

Fifth graders present a daily closed-circuit television broadcast from the Media Center. Each homeroom is responsible for the broadcast for a certain period of time. Some students serve as the anchors while others are responsible for the cameras, mixer, music, props/recording, and computer graphics. In addition to giving students the opportunity to be in front of their peers, they also gain insight into what goes into producing a good show. Each student learns responsibility and flexibility among other life-skills from this experience. The accomplishments of younger students are recognized by the student announcers or by the administration. Students have the opportunity to participate in weekly trivia contests for their grade level as a part of each week’s show.

Braelinn has three Book Fairs each year. The first one is held in November in conjunction with Children’s’ Book Week. The profit from these is used to purchase books, software, and computers for student use.

Parent volunteers are an integral part of the day-to-day operation of our Media Center. Among the many tasks they perform is book check-in/check-out, shelving and helping students locate materials. Volunteers make a weekly commitment to help keep the Media Center functioning smoothly.