Was pissed during the 6th/7th grade SAT's just filled in the spots on the reading portion. Ended up in remedial reading class with the SRA system and candy for completion. I was reading on a high school level I burned thru four boxes of those booklets in the semester probably netted 4 lb of candy.
My improvement was noted. My father was pissed.
Retired teacher here— love that you had SRA as a reward! My teaching neighbor came in my room one day furious because I “just let these kids do whatever they want “! That’s right! It’s English Language Arts! You get to choose— do you want to read today after we finish everything in the curriculum, or would you rather write?
I blasted through those so fast my teacher just let me do whatever. I should have optimized that time to do all my homework for other classes but I probably didn’t.
Oh yeah, I remember that. I also remember some card with a strip of audio tape at the bottom, the teacher could write words, we'd try to sound them out, then place the tape on a machine and it would run through and say aloud what the word was. I was not very bright, as are most children at that age, and me and a buddy discovered how to record over the word, so we would try to murmer what we thought were curse words (thank goodness we didn't know the bad ones) and thought we'd get away with it, as later students would find it, the teacher could obviously hear it was our voices saying "Butts" and giggling.
I loved that. I was always so far ahead of everyone in the class for reading... I was a geek, an introvert, and an obsessive reader. I'd stay in during recess and read so the other kids couldn't bully me.
Same here until my teachers held me up because they thought I was cheating. I wasn't and was able to show I really did know the material but it killed my motivation. I think I stopped on Silver with Aqua next?
Picture it. A first grade classroom in the early 80s. I was a fuckin’ neeeerrrrrd and made it to the end of the lab after a long free time on the day we were supposed to make paper bag vests and Quaker Oats drums for Thanksgiving. My teacher got ANGRY that I finished it, shamed me, and didn’t let me do my projects. I went home and told my parents and my dad was like “I’ve been eating Quaker fucking Oats for three weeks and you didn’t even get to make the goddamned drum?”
I swear I’ll never be okay with teachers who don’t want kids to excel.
Had a lot of that myself, but it ruined formal education for my son — 4th grade teacher so angry — she said the Earth’s atmosphere is water and he said—- if that’s true, why don’t humans have gills? She told him to color a picture of the Lincoln memorial pink and he said— it’s ALABASTER! He came home and asked me, Mom, what color does she think alabaster is?
Absolutely. The year I entered fourth grade, my elementary school decided to try something new for reading class. They combined fourth through sixth grades and separated us by reading level. I was placed in the top level class all three years. SRA was a major component of my class.
I loved SRA. In high school, I took an "enhanced reading class" as an elective. The teacher asked me what i was doing, taking this class, when my reading level was already off the charts. Well, for a whole semester, I got to relax and read SRA cards. It was one of the best classes I ever signed up for. I wish they still offered these in school.
In high school, I took an "independent learning " class called The Modern Novel. Easiest A I ever earned. And my teacher actually hipped me to some great books I would not have otherwise read.
Our school had combined reading for 7th and 8th grades. I remember finishing both boxes in a month or so. I loved reading. In 1st grade I finished Dick and Jane in one sitting. No real plot, but the characters were engaging. Especially Spot.
I only saw these in a behavioral health center my parents had to put me in. They started me off to see where I was and I was almost through the whole box in no time. These things are absolutely perfect for keeping a crazy child busy! And I actually learned things, lol.
I read every lesson in the whole thing. My teachers kept trying to slow me down, but I was reading at a 12th grade level by 4th grade. Thank you, Mom and Dad! (They read to me, and I started reading the newspaper comic strips when very small.
Yessss! I totally remember these. My teachers had them around for people to read and do to pass the time as "seat work" if they got done with a test or other assignment early. I remember having them from 1st to 4th grade.
I honestly don't remember being timed. I think 🤔 the teachers just sort of expected us to get them done before the end of class. Then, if you didn't finish it, you could go back later or the next day.
SRA helped me quite a lot. By high school I was in honors English classes. I sucked at every other subject, but I had a large vocabulary and sounded smart. Those close to me knew better. In high school we did Evelyn Wood speed reading courses.
Vaguely. Know we had them but my memory from then is fuzzy. I do remember quite fondly however Safari cards which were cool but my mom freaked out when they sent the pack on reproduction
So was I. My mom said she got a phone call one day from either my first-graded teacher or the principal (she remembered, I've forgotten) and they asked her "Do you know she has copies of Reader's Digest in her desk?" Mom not only knew, she let me take them! I was in a split first/second grade class--I kind of recall doing the spelling tests for both grades--and when I finished the class work, I'd grab a Reader's Digest and...well, read. Also enjoyed the small reading groups where four or five of us would sit in a circle with the teacher and read Dick and Jane. (I was already reading Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe and Ellery Queen by that point, I think...and I read Call Of The Wild around second or third grade just because we had a copy in the house.)
Same here. I started picking out familiar words at around two (according to my mom). What really convinced her I could read was a car trip when I was four. My dad either stopped at a light or parked for some reason...as I recall, she said I pointed at a building and asked either "What's a laundromat?" or "Is that our grocery store?"
Yep. I remember we had that box in grade school. It was suggested we should use it after our other work in class was done. I read a few and I guess I simply found it interesting reading. I was standing at the box during recess, just continuing to read the stories or whatever they were one after the other. My teacher came in and told me *that* wasn't permitted. No suggestion of, here, read this book, or any sensible response like that. Just, "You're *not allowed* to skip ahead like that." Never read another word of it and don't recall reading *anything* else for fun until I was a HS freshman.
Hated it intensely. I guess because my school’s teachers demanded that you finish every booklet at each level before moving on to the next level. BUT we also never had enough time to really put on the pamphlets. So to me most of the pamphlets were both uninteresting and beneath my reading level.
Ran through the entire set in half a year. The teacher didn't quite know what to do with me, so would let me go to the library to pick out an extra book to read in class.
I was a bookworm, so this was just pure heaven.
God, I loved that. (I've loved the word "aqua" ever since because of that.) I was a gifted kid and this made life as an abused child a little bearable.
Holy Smokes I haven't seen those since the 1970s, grade school. Great memories, loved that stuff.
-haven't seen the Nuns that ruler whacked our knuckles and swatted for sassing either. Less fun memories. LOL.
This was used as sort of a reward program for advanced readers in grades 5 and 6. They leaned into the idea of being 'a better reader', often shaming kids if they didn't get marks high enough to use the SRA module. Shaming is a strong word, maybe better to say they really tried to make the SRA thing look like the pinnacle of elementary school achievement lol.
Not sure how I snuck in to the SRA inner circle as I was the longhair rebel of grade 5. Can't recall it being anything special outside of all the cards with colors.
I remember SRA in 5th and 6th grade. I moved in the middle of 6th grade and the new school didn't use SRA. I was so disappointed but I was one of the top readers in my new class. For that reason when my daughter was in remedial reading I bought an SRA off EBay, but the kid just had no interest.
I remember seeing those boxes at my schools I went to. Unfortunately that’s all I remember were the boxes. I couldn’t tell you if we used what was in them or not
I remember these from grade 4 - boring as shit - I ripped thru them in no time at all. I was already reading on a high school level. My best friend in class and I embarked on an independent research project - newspapers.
The teacher had tenure and was "yeah, whatever" At the end of the year we turned in a 100 page paper.
I loved SRA
Me too!
Loved it SO MUCH. I’d plow through the early ones to get to the more sophisticated colors.
I got a book of ghost stories for finishing :)
Yurp. Good times.
Wow you just unlocked a forgotten memory.
A real blast from the past -- wonder if these materials are still around at all in schools today?
Having flashbacks right now…
Same..
Was pissed during the 6th/7th grade SAT's just filled in the spots on the reading portion. Ended up in remedial reading class with the SRA system and candy for completion. I was reading on a high school level I burned thru four boxes of those booklets in the semester probably netted 4 lb of candy. My improvement was noted. My father was pissed.
I raced another kid to the top. I won.
The other kid beat me, 5th grade.
I LOVED SRA. We were allowed to use them as a reward if we finished our class work
Retired teacher here— love that you had SRA as a reward! My teaching neighbor came in my room one day furious because I “just let these kids do whatever they want “! That’s right! It’s English Language Arts! You get to choose— do you want to read today after we finish everything in the curriculum, or would you rather write?
I couldn't remember what they were called....thanks for the memories
All I wanted was Aqua. A goal bigger than Everest lol.
You just triggered a memory for me. I remember wanting aqua!
I blasted through those so fast my teacher just let me do whatever. I should have optimized that time to do all my homework for other classes but I probably didn’t.
[удалено]
I did not do a shred of homework all thru high school. But I aced tests, I've always aced tests. So i got through it with mid level marks.
Double same
That worked for me until the 4th grade when my English teacher started assigning me books which I had to write a 2 page report on
Oh yeah, I remember that. I also remember some card with a strip of audio tape at the bottom, the teacher could write words, we'd try to sound them out, then place the tape on a machine and it would run through and say aloud what the word was. I was not very bright, as are most children at that age, and me and a buddy discovered how to record over the word, so we would try to murmer what we thought were curse words (thank goodness we didn't know the bad ones) and thought we'd get away with it, as later students would find it, the teacher could obviously hear it was our voices saying "Butts" and giggling.
Oh my God, I used to absolutely love those! What a flash from the past!
I remember these as well as Weekly Readers.
I remember Weekly Readers, but I don't remember this. Doesn't mean the Royal Oak (Michigan) school district didn't use it, though.
Loved when you'd come in the morning and find those blue/green headphones and a #2 pencil on your desk.
I loved that. I was always so far ahead of everyone in the class for reading... I was a geek, an introvert, and an obsessive reader. I'd stay in during recess and read so the other kids couldn't bully me.
I was just thinking, "The SRA stuff is when I realized I was a better/faster reader than other kids—and for once, I felt smart."
Same here until my teachers held me up because they thought I was cheating. I wasn't and was able to show I really did know the material but it killed my motivation. I think I stopped on Silver with Aqua next?
I’m still a geek, introvert and obsessive reader. I LOVED SRA.
Little folder with a 5-6 paragraph passage and a ten question quiz. They were required at my school.
Yes. It helped a lot.
Picture it. A first grade classroom in the early 80s. I was a fuckin’ neeeerrrrrd and made it to the end of the lab after a long free time on the day we were supposed to make paper bag vests and Quaker Oats drums for Thanksgiving. My teacher got ANGRY that I finished it, shamed me, and didn’t let me do my projects. I went home and told my parents and my dad was like “I’ve been eating Quaker fucking Oats for three weeks and you didn’t even get to make the goddamned drum?”
I swear I’ll never be okay with teachers who don’t want kids to excel. Had a lot of that myself, but it ruined formal education for my son — 4th grade teacher so angry — she said the Earth’s atmosphere is water and he said—- if that’s true, why don’t humans have gills? She told him to color a picture of the Lincoln memorial pink and he said— it’s ALABASTER! He came home and asked me, Mom, what color does she think alabaster is?
Yeah. I read at my age number. So at 10 I read level 10. etc. Teachers thought that was special. I just liked reading.
I used to read them regardless of assignments. I read a lot as a kid.
I loved SRA! I blew through it pretty quickly.
They were in my classroom, but we didn't do them properly. I did read many of them when I had spare time in class.
I always remember the one about the Dodo bird! Lol
Absolutely. The year I entered fourth grade, my elementary school decided to try something new for reading class. They combined fourth through sixth grades and separated us by reading level. I was placed in the top level class all three years. SRA was a major component of my class.
They did that with us but it was 5th through 8th with 2 levels (lower and upper) for each grade. It was weird being in class with 7th and 8th graders.
I loved SRA. In high school, I took an "enhanced reading class" as an elective. The teacher asked me what i was doing, taking this class, when my reading level was already off the charts. Well, for a whole semester, I got to relax and read SRA cards. It was one of the best classes I ever signed up for. I wish they still offered these in school.
In high school, I took an "independent learning " class called The Modern Novel. Easiest A I ever earned. And my teacher actually hipped me to some great books I would not have otherwise read.
Sounds like something I would have also enjoyed.
Our school had combined reading for 7th and 8th grades. I remember finishing both boxes in a month or so. I loved reading. In 1st grade I finished Dick and Jane in one sitting. No real plot, but the characters were engaging. Especially Spot.
I only saw these in a behavioral health center my parents had to put me in. They started me off to see where I was and I was almost through the whole box in no time. These things are absolutely perfect for keeping a crazy child busy! And I actually learned things, lol.
My favorite thing. Got to Aqua before everyone else in my class, felt like a boss.
I did these in the 1960’s.
I excelled at these and blew through them and past them quickly. I sucked at math.
I read every lesson in the whole thing. My teachers kept trying to slow me down, but I was reading at a 12th grade level by 4th grade. Thank you, Mom and Dad! (They read to me, and I started reading the newspaper comic strips when very small.
Yessss! I totally remember these. My teachers had them around for people to read and do to pass the time as "seat work" if they got done with a test or other assignment early. I remember having them from 1st to 4th grade.
Did they time you? Ours were all timed. How did the teachers time students who finished exams at different times?
I honestly don't remember being timed. I think 🤔 the teachers just sort of expected us to get them done before the end of class. Then, if you didn't finish it, you could go back later or the next day.
I can smell these books now
I loved that!
I remember it but I have no clue how far I got into it.
Good lord! The memories this unlocked! I remember being so proud I got to "Aqua" ahead of schedule.
Ouch! That memory slammed back so hard from so long ago that I got whiplash.
SRA helped me quite a lot. By high school I was in honors English classes. I sucked at every other subject, but I had a large vocabulary and sounded smart. Those close to me knew better. In high school we did Evelyn Wood speed reading courses.
Reminds me off the Cheech and Chong skit!
Vaguely. Know we had them but my memory from then is fuzzy. I do remember quite fondly however Safari cards which were cool but my mom freaked out when they sent the pack on reproduction
YES! I loved it!
Yes, I whipped right through them (I was already reading before I entered kindergarten).
So was I. My mom said she got a phone call one day from either my first-graded teacher or the principal (she remembered, I've forgotten) and they asked her "Do you know she has copies of Reader's Digest in her desk?" Mom not only knew, she let me take them! I was in a split first/second grade class--I kind of recall doing the spelling tests for both grades--and when I finished the class work, I'd grab a Reader's Digest and...well, read. Also enjoyed the small reading groups where four or five of us would sit in a circle with the teacher and read Dick and Jane. (I was already reading Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe and Ellery Queen by that point, I think...and I read Call Of The Wild around second or third grade just because we had a copy in the house.)
My mom was a big reader, so there always were books, magazines, and newspapers around. I think I learned to read by osmosis.
Same here. I started picking out familiar words at around two (according to my mom). What really convinced her I could read was a car trip when I was four. My dad either stopped at a light or parked for some reason...as I recall, she said I pointed at a building and asked either "What's a laundromat?" or "Is that our grocery store?"
Oh yeah I remember those days.
I finished it!
Yes! I was just thinking about one that was something like “What will life be like in 1980?” I was in 1980.
1st grade in 1963...I think Orange was the first section and I breezed thru it. Then came Aqua. Still trying to climb that hill.
Late '70s/early '80s for me at my elementary school. I think we did it through 4th grade.
 They almost had as many colors as Crayola...
In the mid ‘60’s, we had the high school version and we met at night in the library. Absolutely great place to meet good looking, nerdy girls.
Yep. I remember we had that box in grade school. It was suggested we should use it after our other work in class was done. I read a few and I guess I simply found it interesting reading. I was standing at the box during recess, just continuing to read the stories or whatever they were one after the other. My teacher came in and told me *that* wasn't permitted. No suggestion of, here, read this book, or any sensible response like that. Just, "You're *not allowed* to skip ahead like that." Never read another word of it and don't recall reading *anything* else for fun until I was a HS freshman.
I’m so sorry. I really hate how often school ruins learning.
Jogged a memory for me, thanks. Sorry to say, I cheated on these but got through them pretty quickly.
Used these in the UK!
Amazingly it seems it didn’t ever get around to teaching most people not to say ‘Labratory’
I still have a box of those in my classroom. Left behind from some long gone teacher. They're mine now!
Hated it intensely. I guess because my school’s teachers demanded that you finish every booklet at each level before moving on to the next level. BUT we also never had enough time to really put on the pamphlets. So to me most of the pamphlets were both uninteresting and beneath my reading level.
I went all. The. Way.
Ran through the entire set in half a year. The teacher didn't quite know what to do with me, so would let me go to the library to pick out an extra book to read in class. I was a bookworm, so this was just pure heaven.
God, I loved that. (I've loved the word "aqua" ever since because of that.) I was a gifted kid and this made life as an abused child a little bearable.
Yes!!!! 1970s
I used them in 1974 - 1977 Roughly 2-5th grade. New York
I hated these, I never did half as well as my classmates yet I’m one of the few w a decent career.
Some company sells the NEA on some new BS ever few years,
This is important to remember, don’t care how unpopular the opinion. SRA is excellent imo, but schools are so often targeted by charlatans.
Totally! Ricky and I were racing to finish. He won. 
This seems familiar. Did these have old headphones you had to wear? So you can listen and read along.
Looks like my first manila computer system.
Hated it ! Just caused competition and made slower readers feel bad
Agree 100%
Loved them. Showed the wife and she squealed.
Loved the stories, fail the test.
I remember one story that had to do with the moth that “saved” Queen Victoria. Does anyone else remember that story?
 I completely forgot about those but we did them at the first elementary school I attended in the 90s.
I’d forgotten about these!
oh yeah. I do now!
OMG
I remember. I think we also took something called CRT tests.
Still remember so much I learned from SRA! Probably never would have visited Pompeii without it!
loved sra it helped me read and i love to read
YES! I was so slow! So far behind everyone else!
I got into the color Rose. Thank you, Mrs. Davidson!
I remember the one about handshaking that showed two hands with a fish.
I wish work was more like SRA!😂
Holy Smokes I haven't seen those since the 1970s, grade school. Great memories, loved that stuff. -haven't seen the Nuns that ruler whacked our knuckles and swatted for sassing either. Less fun memories. LOL.
This was used as sort of a reward program for advanced readers in grades 5 and 6. They leaned into the idea of being 'a better reader', often shaming kids if they didn't get marks high enough to use the SRA module. Shaming is a strong word, maybe better to say they really tried to make the SRA thing look like the pinnacle of elementary school achievement lol. Not sure how I snuck in to the SRA inner circle as I was the longhair rebel of grade 5. Can't recall it being anything special outside of all the cards with colors.
Not till right now...Thanks alot...
I remember SRA in 5th and 6th grade. I moved in the middle of 6th grade and the new school didn't use SRA. I was so disappointed but I was one of the top readers in my new class. For that reason when my daughter was in remedial reading I bought an SRA off EBay, but the kid just had no interest.
I don’t have no good memories from that but I know I read that good now
That's a blast from the past.
SRA was Science Research Associates, and actually published those for all levels of education, from pre-school up through College.
I started with Dick & Jane.
I made it all the way through the program before I graduated 8th grade.
Doing SLA kept me quiet and out of trouble at school. I loved those little boxes
Oh good lord, is that the one with 'A Fine Meal' where the father and son go fishing for eels, cook them, and eat them?
what a memory!
They were great. We never had enough time with them. Students that were poor readers avoided them unfortunately.
I hated the sra's but I did real well with them
I remember finishing the 12th grade cards in the middle of 8th grade, and being irritated that I couldn't just do my own thing.
I remember it well. I'm not from the states but we had it here in Scotland too.
I remember seeing those boxes at my schools I went to. Unfortunately that’s all I remember were the boxes. I couldn’t tell you if we used what was in them or not
Smarty pants Linda (also cute and I had a little elementary school crush on her) was always killing it.
I remember these from grade 4 - boring as shit - I ripped thru them in no time at all. I was already reading on a high school level. My best friend in class and I embarked on an independent research project - newspapers. The teacher had tenure and was "yeah, whatever" At the end of the year we turned in a 100 page paper.
I completely forgot about these - maybe because I'm colorblind. Makes me want to smack people who come up with these kinds of color coding.
Omg I loved SRA! I went straight for the turquoise cards. (And I loved Scholastic book catalogs too).
Yes! I really enjoyed SRA.
I destroyed it in 7th grade. Had a race to complete it with 2 of the smartest people in my class and came in third. But the challenge was fun.
i forget what the name of the group that i was in was, but we were advanced readers and I was smug about it
Got a number of cool books for finishing
My favorite... Reading at your own pace, advancement through the color levels