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 reading to be enjoyable and meaningful, students should be able to choose their own texts according to their own interests, purposes for reading, and ability levels. I sometimes encounter frustrated teachers who say, "But my kids are reading books that are too easy". My response is, "How is that a bad thing? They are reading!"
I think about what I've personally read over the past couple of weeks:
"Accountability"
I put "accountability" in quotation marks because I have mixed feelings about it, at least the way we use it. I love anecdote about Lucy Calkins, reading and writing guru. She notes that when she finishes a book late at night in bed, she doesn't grab her husband by the arm and say "Oh, I just can't wait to get downstairs and make a diorama!" To me, that just hits the nail on the head.
If we are trying to authentically teach our kids how to be real readers and real writers, why are we having them prove they read something by making these contrived projects like shadow boxes, word searches, posters, and dioramas? Those types of projects are just for the teacher to be able to rest assured that the student read their book and this is their proof. (This is not to say that these can never be used, but just for special occasions/ purposes.)
But, can't we have them "prove" their work in a more authentic way? What is more realistic and simple than talking about what we read or even writing about what we read? Students can talk to the teacher or peers about what he/she read or they can journal some of their thoughts about what they read. Aren't those more in line with the skills they'll need in the real world? Can't the teacher still get an accurate measure of what kind of information the student gleaned from his reading by listening to him talk, having a conversation with him, or reading his response journal?
The best part is that talking about reading, perfectly aligns with one of our major goals in our district this year, which is about helping students to have meaningful verbal discourse. Look at how it all fits together so nicely!!
I could go on and on about the beauty, effectiveness, and simplicity of independent reading, but I think you catch my drift, right? All I'm asking is that you make resources (time and reading materials) available to our kids and help them unlock the magic of reading!
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:
Choosing Text
For Independent reading to be enjoyable and meaningful, students should be able to choose their own texts according to their own interests, purposes for reading, and ability levels. I sometimes encounter frustrated teachers who say, "But my kids are reading books that are too easy". My response is, "How is that a bad thing? They are reading!"
I think about what I've personally read over the past couple of weeks:
- Mistress by John Grisham (mystery/ thriller novel)
- Hundreds of Facebook posts
- The Last Cab Ride by A.X. Ahmad (mystery/ thriller novel)
- Spinach Muffin recipe from Pinterest
- Sections of information from Stephanie Harvey's Strategies that Work
- Dozens of emails
- An article about how to get static cling out of my clothes
- Sections of information from Fountas & Pinnell's Guided Reading
- Texts from various friends and family
I am capable of reading and comprehend college level text and beyond, but only 2 items on my list above even come somewhat close to that. Everything else is at a high school level or even middle school level - heck, maybe those Facebook posts and texts are at an elementary level! Does that mean I'm not still gathering information and growing from those texts? No.
Adults and students alike can increase their overall knowledge, vocabulary, grammar, and fluency by reading a variety of texts, at all different levels. The key is VARIETY. So, next time you find yourself chastising a student for choosing a 2nd grade level book when he's capable of reading a 4th grade level book, keep in mind that there are still things he/she can learn and take away from those easier texts.
I put "accountability" in quotation marks because I have mixed feelings about it, at least the way we use it. I love anecdote about Lucy Calkins, reading and writing guru. She notes that when she finishes a book late at night in bed, she doesn't grab her husband by the arm and say "Oh, I just can't wait to get downstairs and make a diorama!" To me, that just hits the nail on the head.
If we are trying to authentically teach our kids how to be real readers and real writers, why are we having them prove they read something by making these contrived projects like shadow boxes, word searches, posters, and dioramas? Those types of projects are just for the teacher to be able to rest assured that the student read their book and this is their proof. (This is not to say that these can never be used, but just for special occasions/ purposes.)
But, can't we have them "prove" their work in a more authentic way? What is more realistic and simple than talking about what we read or even writing about what we read? Students can talk to the teacher or peers about what he/she read or they can journal some of their thoughts about what they read. Aren't those more in line with the skills they'll need in the real world? Can't the teacher still get an accurate measure of what kind of information the student gleaned from his reading by listening to him talk, having a conversation with him, or reading his response journal?
The best part is that talking about reading, perfectly aligns with one of our major goals in our district this year, which is about helping students to have meaningful verbal discourse. Look at how it all fits together so nicely!!
I could go on and on about the beauty, effectiveness, and simplicity of independent reading, but I think you catch my drift, right? All I'm asking is that you make resources (time and reading materials) available to our kids and help them unlock the magic of reading!
I never thought about how much I read or what I read in a day. If we can use 20 minutes as a minimum think of the potential on academic success.
ReplyDeleteWow! Being a math/science person I just had about 10 light-bulb moments! I know that the elementary librarians are working on implementing a plan for students to start blogging about their reading! My co-teacher for my last two years in the classroom, Janice Thompson, used to always pull aside and they would have conversations about what the student was reading, I was always impressed by how excited the students were to share their book with her and predict what would happen next.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!