In Elementary classes this year, we have made Read to Self (Independent Reading) a priority. We know from decades of research that one of the simplest and most effective way to increase reading skills is to increase the amount of time students spend reading. We have no control of how much our students read at home, but we are able to give them opportunities to read at school. In grades Kindergarten through 5th grade, students are building stamina in independent reading. By the time students are in the middle of third grade, we hope to have them really engaged in independent reading for 20 minutes per day. I hope that in Middle School and High School we can find creative ways to carve out independent reading time as well. Time Matters Check this graphic out to see the correlation between the minutes a student reads and his/her achievement on standardized tests: Source: confluenceacademy.com Choosing Text For Independent