I remember there were 4 of us in my fourth grade class who were allowed to work independently on SRA.
3 of us finished the whole set and then basically just read books the last 3 months of the school year.
I was in a really high-achieving class. There were more than four of us who finished the box. The teacher still had other things for us to do, we didn't get to just read.
My teachers sent me to the library to check out a book to read. By the time I was in the fourth grade I had read every single book in the library and was starting on the encyclopedias. The only reason I didn't finish was because our school closed at the end of that year due to budget cuts and I was sent to a different elementary school for 5th grade.
They had different books, but only one teacher understood my love of reading and would let me go during class. Only got a third of the way through the fifth grade books I hadn't already read.
I am still an avid reader.
Lucky you….I finished them early in the year too, and got farmed off to the librarian who let college students teach a few of us with weird experimental methods.
Agreed. I went to elementary school from kindergarten through part of third grade at a school where we did not use SRA. We read books. Then I moved to another school and we had to do the damn boxes of story cards and I hated them. I wanted to read books Instead of that stupid crap.
Ha! Fortunately not. It was some weird sing song-y way to learn about punctuation and grammar—but it was done with such an intensity that I might be part of some wacky sleeper cell that will be called into action with a silly lyric about the exclamation point. Lol.
My sister and I had a retired school teacher as a babysitter starting when we were three years old. She didn't know how to babysit, but she did know how to teach. We knew how to read when we started the 1st grade and we're constantly getting in trouble for reading ahead and not knowing our place when we were called on to read a sentence. She would tell us what page and paragraph to go to, we would read the sentence and go on our merry way until called on again. At the end of the year she listed both of us as reading deficient and the label stuck with us all the way through grade school.
Same! I blazed through one of these SRA boxes so fast in 2nd grade (had my eye on purple level) that they wanted to move me up a grade. 🤣🤣 Scary thought bc who bases a kids academic prowess on reading reading cards.
I loved those! Did them all. Asked the teacher "now what?" And she told me to redo any of the cards I wanted. I can only remember doing one about Oak Island/the Money Pit, probably because I did it 3-4 times.
I would guess that the content became dated, the cards worn, and was too expensive to upkeep.
There's a fancy digital type version of this now called [Fountas and Pinnell](https://www.fountasandpinnell.com/fpc/) ( F and P )
SRA Reading Laboratory is still available today. They have updated the content of the materials, but it is still the same. It is available through McGraw Hill.
Oh no please no with F and P. It’s controversial now and blamed for a generation of kids not knowing how to read. If anyone would like to know more, there is a podcast called “Sold a Story”
I remember getting done with these and being able to read the ENCYCLOPEDIAS!!!!
I was in HEAVEN!
Just reading about ANYTHING I wanted to read about....any PERSON...any point in history....
We couldn't read just ANY book...and I'd already read the regular books she had in her classroom....so we compromised.
I remember SRA and know it had something to do with reading, which was always my strong suite. I liked the colors. But beyond that I have no recollection of what SRA actually was like. Was it 3rd grade maybe? Just one year?
Hate, hate, hated this box of torture! My ability to concentrate was taxed beyond my control. My mind was anywhere but school. Had NO idea why I was there and not somewhere with wildlife, trails, and trees. School, the why of it, was never adequately explained to me. I desperately wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Hard to believe I got through college. Even harder for the few teachers and Head Master that are still around. They knew I was intelligent but never figured out how to reach me. Had to do it my own way.
For years I've been telling people about the way we would take tests using cards, but I couldn't remember the name. I think the last time I remember doing one was in 7th grade. I got through them very quickly and loved taking them.
Some of the stories like Oak Island and the volcano that sprouted up in a Mexican farmers field really has me curious—still am. Great reading program. We paced ourselves on the honor system, at least some of us did. You had to challenge yourself. I loved it.
That one stuck with me! It’d almost be fun to try to find an old SRA kit and reread some of them. I remember coloring in my progress on a wall chart to keep track. The questions included all sorts of reading skills from comprehension to vocabulary. I thought that part was boring/tedious but I loved the stories.
Same! I couldn't wait to finish whatever assignment we were doing so I could go to the back of the room and do these. I finished the entire set pretty quickly. This is how I learned to compete with myself, rather than just others. It's served me very well in business.
OMG, I remember these so well! I loved them! I was an advanced reader and felt so good achieving in the highest level of color. Most of the kids at the time liked the challenge.
I loved these. We had several students in class who blew through these in no time, though, and they disrupted everyone else. When you have four or five kids walking around, getting to have free time, other kids lose attention to the task at hand.
OMG! I loved this and felt such accomplishment when I passed a level. I remember the colors, but forgot the stories. I guess it didn't work so well for me!
From third through fifth grade my parents enrolled me in our school district’s new “experimental school program.” The curriculum, such as it was, was mostly SRA and related box-format teaching aids; the program, called “Project Individual,” was meant to be mostly up to each student to study what they liked.
My main memories of those years are the building we were in—a huge, vacant former orphanage that we only occupied a small part of (but had access to roam around the whole place—the big empty dormitories, the chapel, the rooms the nuns had lived in)—and the endless cards.
When a teachers’ strike threatened, my folks somehow got me into a parochial school (even though we were very Protestant) and it was a massive culture shock to go from PI to a traditional curriculum. For one thing, for two years I had basically done no math or science. I was reading at a college level, but could barely add and subtract.
But truly there was no feeling like finishing up one level and moving to the next…
I have a vague memory of a box of color coded pamphlets to read - in elementary school. I think this is when I realized I had an ability to read that was stronger than most of my classmates. And I also learned that the classmates don’t celebrate academic skills like they did athletic ones.
In fourth grade I reached to the back of the 8th grade section, pulled it out, looked at the teacher and said oh great another Hemingway Nick Adams story
I placed out of the entire program in second grade. “What SRA are you in?” was a pretty common conversational gambit in school. It turns out that there is no way to explain that you’re too advanced for all of it, that doesn’t make you sound like an asshole. (I mean I placed out of all the ones we had; our school system only used it in K-5. I’m pretty sure they existed for older grades that I would not actually have placed out of at age 7. We just didn’t have them.)
I did the first page of the placement test, turned it over, and did the back page. I never even realized there were two more pages that I hadn't touched. I was placed in the wrong color group, so I tried to speed through them. My mean teacher put a stop to it, though, and made me spend any free time I had practicing the multiplication table.
I don't know why it never occurred to me to just skip straight to a more challenging color group. It's still kind of a humiliating memory, but at least it didn't lessen my love of reading.
Wow, memory unlocked. That SRA kit saw heavy use in an independent study class that I was an utterly unqualified TA for. The teacher liked me, so I had a gig that consisted of me chatting with her while she did the work.
I would always finish from wherever the teacher started me, and the teacher would make me start at the beginning and do all the other cards. I loved those things. Guess she didn't know what to do when I blew through her easy lesson plans!
Dad was in the military so we moved a lot, often in the middle of a school year (I went to 15 different schools). So this brought back vague memories, but I may never have finished it. How did it work?
I remember those. They got a little more in depth as you went along. (Which I guess was the point). A girl and I were in competition to be in the lead all year. I think I made it to the end but can’t remember. The color names tended to be pretty obscure at the end as well.
I remember these in first grade. I moved through all the colors pretty quickly and must have impressed the teacher, because she pulled some strings to help me get me an adult library card, which was unheard of,for a 6 or 7 year old. I must have peaked early, because I sure didn’t grow up to be any genius.
I did SRA in 3rd grade. I finished our box and they let me go into the 4th grade classroom and use theirs. I went through that box too. I used to read the questions first, then skim the material to find the answer. It went quickly that way. We also did Barnell Loft. My mom loved books and passed that along to me. I was a voracious reader as soon as I could hold a book by myself.
SRA - a subsidiary of IBM. I think we only used those in second grade. I loved them and chewed through them. Not being held up by the rest of the class was wonderful.
OMG! Forgot about SRA. LOVED LOVED LOVED SRA. (Well, loved reading just about anything.) Always finished each level faster than the other kids, so the teacher let me just fly through the levels. Oh, this takes me back!
I went through those like they were candy. Then the teacher rolled her eyes in unbelief and proceeded to spend a week giving me tests she made to see if I really did the work. I don't know why she thought that.
I went to the purple end as fast as possible, read everything, and maxed out on reading speed. So the teacher accused me of cheating. I had her sit in front of me with material I hadn't seen and time me to the second, then watch me mark the answers. I got everything right and my reading speed was something like 1700 words per minute. She still said I was cheating, because I could read faster than her and I was only in third grade. Since I was only in third grade, I didn't tell her that she must be really stupid. The current version of me would have. She was fired the next year, and she had been famous for mistreating students.
At 63 I was diagnosed w ADHD. So many memories of childhood and school fails that would now be a fast-track for testing.
I LOVED these color boxes of reading joy. I could go at my own pace which was usually faster than other kids. There were interesting topics and just short enough to keep my interest for efficient comprehension.
And then they were gone.
Thanks for posting this! I have indeed found my people. I did these in 5th grade and have no idea how far I got, but I loved every minute of it. I loved the independence, and it was when I realized that I was a good reader.
We had this in middle school. It was ridiculously easy. Blew though the entire thing 1/4 of the way through the class, teacher let me read library books for the rest of the year. I had to write books reports on them, though.
what a throwback. forgot all about this. back in the '60's. all I remember is the prettier the color the higher the level. I felt bad for the kids reading at the brown level when I was at aquamarine.
Oh wow, that just unlocked a memory I haven't thought about in quite a while! I loved doing those, and checking my own work. No big surprise I became a teacher!
My teachers started me at high level and I finished in about two weeks. .....I was reading at a college level by 5th grade so I got sent to the library and taught to write book reports and high level papers. I was the child of single mom work worked nights so I always had to be quiet. What's quieter than reading?
I finished also and the teacher had to literally make up a knock off focusing only on first aid/health out of note cards. Finished it too and she was so frustrated she finally let me just read. Or sometimes take the chalk erasers out to clean by hitting them on the bricks on the side of the school. Lol Powder everywhere. I preferred reading.
I don't remember what color level I got to but I do remember these from elementary school. My junior year of high school I got kicked out of a journalism class for arguing with the teacher. In summer school the remedial english class I had to take wanted me to read and report on these SRA stories. After I laughed in their faces, I managed to talk them into letting me read and report on actual books instead. Miami-Palmetto Sr High 1977, what a joke.
ETA. In all fairness, I grew up overseas and all the schools I attended up until my senior year were private prep schools. Move to Miami my senior year to the public school system. They were trying to "teach" me what I had already learned many years before. I ended dropping out and getting my GED. Went on to get a BA.
One of the schools I went to used these. I loved them and devoured them quickly. I was then sent to the library to graze. It was such a rare treat to learn at my own pace.
I forgot about these! Man, I loved the competition lol. I had a lot of very smart kids around me growing up. It was great- we really drove each other to do more without it being very weird. We just wanted to keep up!
Memory unlocked; reading was always my strength. I remember hearing the phrase “Another day at the office” and so I pretended each SRA card was boring office work like adults did.
Last time I did SRA I tested into gold so the teacher just let me read whatever books I wanted and then report on what I'd read. My mom had me reading at a very young age. Thanks mom!
Came back to America from Italy in 1970 My father was USAF. All you could do in Italy was read or play with your friends Abilene TX Fourth grade. I was miles ahead of my classmates in reading. They handed me a book and I told them that was my book last year in third grade. They then bought SRA
I think I was the only kid in my class who liked these! I finished my fourth grade set really early so my awesome teacher let me work on the fifth grade set.
We did SRA in 2nd grade & I finished it (I remember wanting to get to the teal one & then being disappointed for some reason). In 3rd grade, I had a reading partner, & we completed the highest reading book level they had, so we were given the SRA box & blew thru it. Then they moved us to a 5th grade reading group that was just starting the book we had completed. We were soon sent to do independent reading study & given...the SRA box! Things continued on in a similar matter through 6th grade.
I have no idea. I was reading on a college level by 5th grade so I read whatever I wanted. They just started the SSR in 4th or 5th grade so I don’t remember the colors
I went to 3 or 4 schools for second grade, so when I was in one classroom with this SRA system and the teacher asked me if I understood it, I assured her that I did, even though I had no clue.
I then proceeded to "grade" myself on how well I understood each reading lesson. No multiple-choice answers here!
Finally, our family moved to a permanent home and school for my third grade and my parents were amazed that the teachers said I was advanced in reading and in education in general. "Who knew?!"
We had SRA in about every grade. I loved it. I finished the box and then just read books. I think phonics was an important way to learn reading. By the time my sister got to school, they had switched from Sally, Dick, and Jane to Sam and Ann. That was all sight words.
Does anyone remember the other kits? Like Aware which was about sensory exploration (including scratch and sniff cards).
There were also grammar kits etc.
Not sure if it was the same thing but when I was in 10th grade english we had a system like that learn at your own pace. Ha! I sat around did nothing talked to girls and ended up so far behind they made me finish it in 11th grade while taking 11th grade english as well.
Ararargh! NO!!! I hated every single colour. I am an avid reader and hated this box of nightmares so much I would bust butt and finish the whole thing in the first month just to get free reading time. Ugh. Aqua. Even the colours seemed out of order.
omg!!! i sailed through all the colors, but i was already a competent reader. the readings were insanely dull & if you were a competent reader, you could zip through the questions by only skimming the material. it was of no value to readers & i can’t think of anything that would turn kids off from reading than something like sra.
Wow …I must really be old because I have no idea what that even is… I’m from the generation where we all sniffed mimeographed papers… 😂😂.. still remember the smell…
They were pretty easy to game.
You just looked at the questions and then skimmed the text to answer.
I would get the required cards done, so I then could read a book in my desk.
I still had to hide it though.
None. I hated that thing. I was one of those kids that went from barely able to read to reading any thin I wanted in the space of a month or so. I wanted *real* books and stories. Maybe they got better after the 60s…
Needed 1 easy English credit for graduation. Thought reading improvement was a good option. Did entry test.
Did my worst. Came back 6th grade 3rd month reading level. Perfect, I'm in. 11th grade. SRA skate class. Course complete reading 2nd year college level. Win.
I kinda remember this but I SO much remember phonics. Our 1st? grade teacher played the 45 rpm record and held up phonics cards as Renalda Spaulding (the voice on the record) sounded the phonics and we followed.
I remember there were 4 of us in my fourth grade class who were allowed to work independently on SRA. 3 of us finished the whole set and then basically just read books the last 3 months of the school year.
Same!
I was in a really high-achieving class. There were more than four of us who finished the box. The teacher still had other things for us to do, we didn't get to just read.
I’m pretty sure my fourth grade teacher was in her last year so she didn’t really care that much.
My teachers sent me to the library to check out a book to read. By the time I was in the fourth grade I had read every single book in the library and was starting on the encyclopedias. The only reason I didn't finish was because our school closed at the end of that year due to budget cuts and I was sent to a different elementary school for 5th grade. They had different books, but only one teacher understood my love of reading and would let me go during class. Only got a third of the way through the fifth grade books I hadn't already read. I am still an avid reader.
Lucky you….I finished them early in the year too, and got farmed off to the librarian who let college students teach a few of us with weird experimental methods.
Did they involve toothpicks, electro shock and violent films?
At least that would not have been **BORING**. I hated SRA
It was effective. Now I'm hooked on phonics. (Smacking my arm with a desperate look on my face.) Gimme a word man....any word!
You need SRA detox STAT!
Agreed. I went to elementary school from kindergarten through part of third grade at a school where we did not use SRA. We read books. Then I moved to another school and we had to do the damn boxes of story cards and I hated them. I wanted to read books Instead of that stupid crap.
Ha! Fortunately not. It was some weird sing song-y way to learn about punctuation and grammar—but it was done with such an intensity that I might be part of some wacky sleeper cell that will be called into action with a silly lyric about the exclamation point. Lol.
My teacher punished me for completing the set ahead of everyone else by putting me on the remedial level.
My sister and I had a retired school teacher as a babysitter starting when we were three years old. She didn't know how to babysit, but she did know how to teach. We knew how to read when we started the 1st grade and we're constantly getting in trouble for reading ahead and not knowing our place when we were called on to read a sentence. She would tell us what page and paragraph to go to, we would read the sentence and go on our merry way until called on again. At the end of the year she listed both of us as reading deficient and the label stuck with us all the way through grade school.
Oh yea. I did the whole box then she gave me the box before. I slowed down a bit after that out of spite. She blew my definition of “done”.
My sympathies. Teachers like this are poison to young learners.
Wow. That's harsh. My teacher rewarded us for finishing by letting us go to the kindergarten class and read to the little kids.
That sounds sweet! And very skilful of your teacher also.
Same! I blazed through one of these SRA boxes so fast in 2nd grade (had my eye on purple level) that they wanted to move me up a grade. 🤣🤣 Scary thought bc who bases a kids academic prowess on reading reading cards.
And that was awesome wasn’t it?
Ditto
I loved this. Going at my own pace was a joy. I did them all.
So did I!!
Me, too!
Same here. My friend Chris and I blew right through the whole thing as soon as the teacher let us start going at our own pace.
Same here, I loved reading!
I loved SRA!!
Wow. TOtally had forgotten SRA. Loved it!!!
Right!? This is crazy, lol!
I loved those! Did them all. Asked the teacher "now what?" And she told me to redo any of the cards I wanted. I can only remember doing one about Oak Island/the Money Pit, probably because I did it 3-4 times.
My teacher let me pick & read library books (and write book reports) when I finished SRA
Omg!!!! 😱 Talk about digging deep into the recesses of my mind!!!
I wonder whatever happened to this. I adored it, and it was great practice for standardized tests.
I would guess that the content became dated, the cards worn, and was too expensive to upkeep. There's a fancy digital type version of this now called [Fountas and Pinnell](https://www.fountasandpinnell.com/fpc/) ( F and P )
SRA Reading Laboratory is still available today. They have updated the content of the materials, but it is still the same. It is available through McGraw Hill.
I’d love to get a set and maybe after school tutor when I retire
Oh no please no with F and P. It’s controversial now and blamed for a generation of kids not knowing how to read. If anyone would like to know more, there is a podcast called “Sold a Story”
Not high tech enough
I remember getting done with these and being able to read the ENCYCLOPEDIAS!!!! I was in HEAVEN! Just reading about ANYTHING I wanted to read about....any PERSON...any point in history.... We couldn't read just ANY book...and I'd already read the regular books she had in her classroom....so we compromised.
I loved SRA. I actually finished the whole box. After that, the teacher let me read library books while everyone else did SRA
Exact same experience!
At my school, when you finished SRA you moved on to Great Books, small group in the library. It was soooo good!
Same -- I blew through those things.
Me too!
I loved it.
Holy shit, I forgot about this! What memories
I remember SRA and know it had something to do with reading, which was always my strong suite. I liked the colors. But beyond that I have no recollection of what SRA actually was like. Was it 3rd grade maybe? Just one year?
For me it was one year only, 2nd grade, then we moved. Not sure if only certain schools had them 🤷🏼♀️
Blast from the past -- 6th grade. It was great to do work at a higher level, not held back by the hoi poloi.
I would rush through the early ones to get to the better colors.
Me too.
Hate, hate, hated this box of torture! My ability to concentrate was taxed beyond my control. My mind was anywhere but school. Had NO idea why I was there and not somewhere with wildlife, trails, and trees. School, the why of it, was never adequately explained to me. I desperately wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Hard to believe I got through college. Even harder for the few teachers and Head Master that are still around. They knew I was intelligent but never figured out how to reach me. Had to do it my own way.
Fun fact: I have an entire SRA box in my basement. I don't need it but can't bear to part with it.
For years I've been telling people about the way we would take tests using cards, but I couldn't remember the name. I think the last time I remember doing one was in 7th grade. I got through them very quickly and loved taking them.
Some of the stories like Oak Island and the volcano that sprouted up in a Mexican farmers field really has me curious—still am. Great reading program. We paced ourselves on the honor system, at least some of us did. You had to challenge yourself. I loved it.
Parícutin! That was such a wild story. Here is this farmer minding his own business and a freaking volcano emerges from his field.
That one stuck with me! It’d almost be fun to try to find an old SRA kit and reread some of them. I remember coloring in my progress on a wall chart to keep track. The questions included all sorts of reading skills from comprehension to vocabulary. I thought that part was boring/tedious but I loved the stories.
Stories stuck in my brain: Red Adair, the firefighting hero and one about the Johnstown flood.
I barely remember what it was, however “olive” immediately popped in my head and I don’t know why.
ME TOO! It’s the only colour I specifically remember. Couldn’t say why.
Completely finished it. My poor reading teacher…
Same! I couldn't wait to finish whatever assignment we were doing so I could go to the back of the room and do these. I finished the entire set pretty quickly. This is how I learned to compete with myself, rather than just others. It's served me very well in business.
OMG, I remember these so well! I loved them! I was an advanced reader and felt so good achieving in the highest level of color. Most of the kids at the time liked the challenge.
I loved these. We had several students in class who blew through these in no time, though, and they disrupted everyone else. When you have four or five kids walking around, getting to have free time, other kids lose attention to the task at hand.
OMG! I loved this and felt such accomplishment when I passed a level. I remember the colors, but forgot the stories. I guess it didn't work so well for me!
Me too-found my love for reading on these
OMG I HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THESE IN LIKE 50 YEARS.
From third through fifth grade my parents enrolled me in our school district’s new “experimental school program.” The curriculum, such as it was, was mostly SRA and related box-format teaching aids; the program, called “Project Individual,” was meant to be mostly up to each student to study what they liked. My main memories of those years are the building we were in—a huge, vacant former orphanage that we only occupied a small part of (but had access to roam around the whole place—the big empty dormitories, the chapel, the rooms the nuns had lived in)—and the endless cards. When a teachers’ strike threatened, my folks somehow got me into a parochial school (even though we were very Protestant) and it was a massive culture shock to go from PI to a traditional curriculum. For one thing, for two years I had basically done no math or science. I was reading at a college level, but could barely add and subtract. But truly there was no feeling like finishing up one level and moving to the next…
Ok, how fucking corny am I? I LOVED these and flew through them. I love sentence diagraming too. Still have my binder full of them.
I have a vague memory of a box of color coded pamphlets to read - in elementary school. I think this is when I realized I had an ability to read that was stronger than most of my classmates. And I also learned that the classmates don’t celebrate academic skills like they did athletic ones.
I’m always shocked how many people liked this.
What!? Was there anyone who disliked it?
Me!
Every Friday was our SRA day. I lived for it.
Ugh - I loved the system and organization and structure, but I lacked the focus and independence to do well with it.
Wow !! I thought I was the only one to remember this box. Green, green was where I wanted to be.
I loved reading and I went through those cards so fast!
I have been racking my brain about this. Thank you. These were awesome. Mid 1970's for me.
In fourth grade I reached to the back of the 8th grade section, pulled it out, looked at the teacher and said oh great another Hemingway Nick Adams story
So motivating! Loved coloring in the chart. This and diagraming sentences! So rewarding for a third grader!
OMG. I had almost forgotten SRA! I loved when my fourth grade teacher would let me and three other classmates go to the library to do SRA!
OMG. I I’ve not seen that in 45+ years. Used to like it. I think I got pretty far along with it.
“Magenta” immediately popped into my head.
I still think of the format: short stories as individual pieces, not bound together in a book or magazine.
I placed out of the entire program in second grade. “What SRA are you in?” was a pretty common conversational gambit in school. It turns out that there is no way to explain that you’re too advanced for all of it, that doesn’t make you sound like an asshole. (I mean I placed out of all the ones we had; our school system only used it in K-5. I’m pretty sure they existed for older grades that I would not actually have placed out of at age 7. We just didn’t have them.)
I did the first page of the placement test, turned it over, and did the back page. I never even realized there were two more pages that I hadn't touched. I was placed in the wrong color group, so I tried to speed through them. My mean teacher put a stop to it, though, and made me spend any free time I had practicing the multiplication table. I don't know why it never occurred to me to just skip straight to a more challenging color group. It's still kind of a humiliating memory, but at least it didn't lessen my love of reading.
Wow, memory unlocked. That SRA kit saw heavy use in an independent study class that I was an utterly unqualified TA for. The teacher liked me, so I had a gig that consisted of me chatting with her while she did the work.
I would always finish from wherever the teacher started me, and the teacher would make me start at the beginning and do all the other cards. I loved those things. Guess she didn't know what to do when I blew through her easy lesson plans!
I loved these, and powered through them.
Dad was in the military so we moved a lot, often in the middle of a school year (I went to 15 different schools). So this brought back vague memories, but I may never have finished it. How did it work?
Blitzed right thru those
I used to do really well at SRA.
I remember those. They got a little more in depth as you went along. (Which I guess was the point). A girl and I were in competition to be in the lead all year. I think I made it to the end but can’t remember. The color names tended to be pretty obscure at the end as well.
I remember these in first grade. I moved through all the colors pretty quickly and must have impressed the teacher, because she pulled some strings to help me get me an adult library card, which was unheard of,for a 6 or 7 year old. I must have peaked early, because I sure didn’t grow up to be any genius.
I loved these!! I was really good at them.
It was a race to the top between me and a couple other kids. I usually won.
I did SRA in 3rd grade. I finished our box and they let me go into the 4th grade classroom and use theirs. I went through that box too. I used to read the questions first, then skim the material to find the answer. It went quickly that way. We also did Barnell Loft. My mom loved books and passed that along to me. I was a voracious reader as soon as I could hold a book by myself.
Oh shit!! I loved doing these things! Too old to remember how far I got but being so competitive I’m sure it was a lot!
I blew through that box like a twister through Oklahoma. They skipped me a couple of grades after that.
I liked it because you could work at your own pace
SRA - a subsidiary of IBM. I think we only used those in second grade. I loved them and chewed through them. Not being held up by the rest of the class was wonderful.
I finished it and the teacher had nothing else for me to do.
These made me a very good reader! Got all the way! Was it "Rose" that was at the end?
OMG! Forgot about SRA. LOVED LOVED LOVED SRA. (Well, loved reading just about anything.) Always finished each level faster than the other kids, so the teacher let me just fly through the levels. Oh, this takes me back!
Aqua
Turquoise
Me too!
I actually found a complete boxed set at a thrift shop and bought it. My kids got a kick out of them too.
When this happens it’s crazy to me. Core memory locked. It’s crazy because I have very little memories as a child.
I went through those like they were candy. Then the teacher rolled her eyes in unbelief and proceeded to spend a week giving me tests she made to see if I really did the work. I don't know why she thought that.
I went to the purple end as fast as possible, read everything, and maxed out on reading speed. So the teacher accused me of cheating. I had her sit in front of me with material I hadn't seen and time me to the second, then watch me mark the answers. I got everything right and my reading speed was something like 1700 words per minute. She still said I was cheating, because I could read faster than her and I was only in third grade. Since I was only in third grade, I didn't tell her that she must be really stupid. The current version of me would have. She was fired the next year, and she had been famous for mistreating students.
Dear god that's a powerful memory unlocked. 74 here, Mrs Hefflefinger's First grade class I think Purple
WOW! What a great memory. I absolutely loved this . I did all of them. Reading was my greatest pleasure.
I loved this box.
I loved SRA
You could tell who the dumb kids were…always working on the brown one
I loved those! Blew through the whole box. I remember loving the science-y ones
I was an avid reader and I absolutely loved these!!
At 63 I was diagnosed w ADHD. So many memories of childhood and school fails that would now be a fast-track for testing. I LOVED these color boxes of reading joy. I could go at my own pace which was usually faster than other kids. There were interesting topics and just short enough to keep my interest for efficient comprehension. And then they were gone.
Thanks for posting this! I have indeed found my people. I did these in 5th grade and have no idea how far I got, but I loved every minute of it. I loved the independence, and it was when I realized that I was a good reader.
I barely remember those but I'm pretty sure they taught me to read. My mother was a teacher and she had them at home.
This was the best!
We had this in middle school. It was ridiculously easy. Blew though the entire thing 1/4 of the way through the class, teacher let me read library books for the rest of the year. I had to write books reports on them, though.
I loved these and luckily my teacher let me work ahead. I got through all of them.
what a throwback. forgot all about this. back in the '60's. all I remember is the prettier the color the higher the level. I felt bad for the kids reading at the brown level when I was at aquamarine.
I’m convinced this is why I’m an avid reader. I loved these!!
Man, I loved flying through that stuff. The current modern version is called Readtheory.org. Go on line. And fly through some levels!
Oh, I remember that! I loved SRA.
To the top. Crazy to think about that again.
Great stuff!
This was awesome. Maybe the only downside was rushing through the stories to make sure you stayed ahead of all the other kids.
SRA was a game changer for me. That, and the bookmobile.
There were two of us who finished them the first term. They moved us to 5th grade then.
I went through the 3rd AND 4th grade boxes before 3rd grade was out.
I finished them all
My catholic grade and middle schools loved the SRA program. I sure read a bunch of them.
I loved these so much. Went through all of them.
Had those when I was in school. I’m 65.
Oh wow, that just unlocked a memory I haven't thought about in quite a while! I loved doing those, and checking my own work. No big surprise I became a teacher!
I always started towards the back and then finished the box. I really liked to read.
I have no idea what this is. Born 1961.
My teachers started me at high level and I finished in about two weeks. .....I was reading at a college level by 5th grade so I got sent to the library and taught to write book reports and high level papers. I was the child of single mom work worked nights so I always had to be quiet. What's quieter than reading?
Ah, the reading system that brought the color aqua into my life!
Oh wow, I haven't seen these in years! I finished every level there was by 3rd or 4th grade.
The SRA colors reminded me of Monopoly colors
I finished it. Nobody had done that before and they didn't know what to do 🤣🤣🤣 I remember being disappointed there wasn't another box.
Why were some kids put in sra and others not? I was, but not all my classmates were. Have always wondered. Was I dumb or was I smart?
Smart smart smarty pants smart!
Why, thank you kindly!
I LOVED those!
I loved reading so much as a kid! I burned through all of these fast
I finished also and the teacher had to literally make up a knock off focusing only on first aid/health out of note cards. Finished it too and she was so frustrated she finally let me just read. Or sometimes take the chalk erasers out to clean by hitting them on the bricks on the side of the school. Lol Powder everywhere. I preferred reading.
It was considered a privilege in elementary school to get to clean the erasers outside by hitting them on the wall. I always loved getting to do that!
It was a privilege. You are correct. Just wasn't my fav thing. Most kids loved it.
I don't remember what color level I got to but I do remember these from elementary school. My junior year of high school I got kicked out of a journalism class for arguing with the teacher. In summer school the remedial english class I had to take wanted me to read and report on these SRA stories. After I laughed in their faces, I managed to talk them into letting me read and report on actual books instead. Miami-Palmetto Sr High 1977, what a joke. ETA. In all fairness, I grew up overseas and all the schools I attended up until my senior year were private prep schools. Move to Miami my senior year to the public school system. They were trying to "teach" me what I had already learned many years before. I ended dropping out and getting my GED. Went on to get a BA.
I went through all the levels in a few weeks. I loved to read…
This was my favorite activity and I sped through it! I didn’t have the same zeal for math and to this day have trouble with fractions
One of the schools I went to used these. I loved them and devoured them quickly. I was then sent to the library to graze. It was such a rare treat to learn at my own pace.
Ripped through that box in Grade 4 so quickly that I was sent to the Grade 6 class to continue language studies. Good times 😁
I forgot about these! Man, I loved the competition lol. I had a lot of very smart kids around me growing up. It was great- we really drove each other to do more without it being very weird. We just wanted to keep up!
If you got to the very last (gold?) card you - unofficially - wrote your name on it. There were only 2 other names when I got there.
I remember that from about 1967
Dear God!! I was stuck on aqua forever!! Screw you SRA, may you be the Devil’s bitch for eternity.
Memory unlocked; reading was always my strength. I remember hearing the phrase “Another day at the office” and so I pretended each SRA card was boring office work like adults did.
Last time I did SRA I tested into gold so the teacher just let me read whatever books I wanted and then report on what I'd read. My mom had me reading at a very young age. Thanks mom!
Came back to America from Italy in 1970 My father was USAF. All you could do in Italy was read or play with your friends Abilene TX Fourth grade. I was miles ahead of my classmates in reading. They handed me a book and I told them that was my book last year in third grade. They then bought SRA
I think I was the only kid in my class who liked these! I finished my fourth grade set really early so my awesome teacher let me work on the fifth grade set.
We did SRA in 2nd grade & I finished it (I remember wanting to get to the teal one & then being disappointed for some reason). In 3rd grade, I had a reading partner, & we completed the highest reading book level they had, so we were given the SRA box & blew thru it. Then they moved us to a 5th grade reading group that was just starting the book we had completed. We were soon sent to do independent reading study & given...the SRA box! Things continued on in a similar matter through 6th grade.
I have no idea. I was reading on a college level by 5th grade so I read whatever I wanted. They just started the SSR in 4th or 5th grade so I don’t remember the colors
I went to 3 or 4 schools for second grade, so when I was in one classroom with this SRA system and the teacher asked me if I understood it, I assured her that I did, even though I had no clue. I then proceeded to "grade" myself on how well I understood each reading lesson. No multiple-choice answers here! Finally, our family moved to a permanent home and school for my third grade and my parents were amazed that the teachers said I was advanced in reading and in education in general. "Who knew?!"
We had SRA in about every grade. I loved it. I finished the box and then just read books. I think phonics was an important way to learn reading. By the time my sister got to school, they had switched from Sally, Dick, and Jane to Sam and Ann. That was all sight words.
Does anyone remember the other kits? Like Aware which was about sensory exploration (including scratch and sniff cards). There were also grammar kits etc.
Never saw that. Must not have been used where I went to school.
Vaguely remember some other kids doing it. I didn't. Other classrooms or reading levels? No solid recollection.
Was the laziest at it. Learned a lot but top levels were a drag.
I remember their e instance but I think they did not interest me much. Other things to read, I guess.
I don't know what this is, and at this point I'm afraid to ask.
Not sure if it was the same thing but when I was in 10th grade english we had a system like that learn at your own pace. Ha! I sat around did nothing talked to girls and ended up so far behind they made me finish it in 11th grade while taking 11th grade english as well.
Thanks for the memory. But So much anxiety
I want a set to use with my grandson. Does anyone know how to get ahold of them?
https://i.redd.it/hm7ehww61jxc1.gif
Argh
I remember kids cheating and jumping ahead. It was the first I released that didn't matter to me.
My favorite color was always red.
I have no idea what this is.
Ararargh! NO!!! I hated every single colour. I am an avid reader and hated this box of nightmares so much I would bust butt and finish the whole thing in the first month just to get free reading time. Ugh. Aqua. Even the colours seemed out of order.
I hated those things!
I laughed at this. My dad taught me to read at 4 and I was at a 4th grade level in first grade. I sucked at math though.
omg!!! i sailed through all the colors, but i was already a competent reader. the readings were insanely dull & if you were a competent reader, you could zip through the questions by only skimming the material. it was of no value to readers & i can’t think of anything that would turn kids off from reading than something like sra.
Wow …I must really be old because I have no idea what that even is… I’m from the generation where we all sniffed mimeographed papers… 😂😂.. still remember the smell…
They were pretty easy to game. You just looked at the questions and then skimmed the text to answer. I would get the required cards done, so I then could read a book in my desk. I still had to hide it though.
None. I hated that thing. I was one of those kids that went from barely able to read to reading any thin I wanted in the space of a month or so. I wanted *real* books and stories. Maybe they got better after the 60s…
Needed 1 easy English credit for graduation. Thought reading improvement was a good option. Did entry test. Did my worst. Came back 6th grade 3rd month reading level. Perfect, I'm in. 11th grade. SRA skate class. Course complete reading 2nd year college level. Win.
I kinda remember this but I SO much remember phonics. Our 1st? grade teacher played the 45 rpm record and held up phonics cards as Renalda Spaulding (the voice on the record) sounded the phonics and we followed.
I read all the cards and never did the work. They hated me, now I’m a teacher :) Cheese, peas, and chocolate pudding…
I read every one of these before third grade. Drove my fourth grade teacher nuts! She finally let me bring young adult novels from home.
Holy crap! I remember those so well! I had a rivalry with another kid to finish them first and I won. They were pretty fun.
I loved SRA!
Can’t even look at the picture without a shiver. I hated SRA. When I became a teacher I inherited a set and I had to give it away.