Gerald Steven Mills

Plan for and Monitor Independent Reading #4

                During independent reading time I have found that students usually do whatever it is they want to do. Most students read, but several students stare off into space, and know that if they are quiet then they will be ok. This is a very important component to each day that seems to be the hardest to get in. It has been proven that students who read independently make higher scores on standardized test, therefore it is important to have a structured independent reading time for all students in the classroom. This chapter goes in-depth and discuss ways to facilitate and improve independent reading in your classroom. In my class I allow students to select any book of their choice during Independent reading. I try to encourage students to read a wide range of genre’s from the classroom library. I walk around and ask questions while they are reading. I also like to make sure that the child is reading a book that is appropriate for their reading level, by asking them to read a small exert from a chapter or page. These practices were aligned with the suggestions from the chapter, but listed were several other strategies that can be done during independent reading. I agree that classroom procedure must be in place to control the amount of activity and distractions that may occur. One thing that was discussed in the chapter is paired or partner reading. This is a strategy that I used during SRA and it worked well, but this year I have not done as much. Reading with a partner helps students, “become more self- sufficient and less reliant on the teacher for assistance.

 I plan on modeling what partner reading should look like using the strategies presented in this chapter, and implementing it into independent reading. There is a list of question labeled Teacher Talk that can facilitate discussions about what they read and how they read. There are also sections labeled Try it and Apply it, these sections have step by step guidelines to practice presented strategies in the chapter. I find this extremely helpful because, great advice is presented to help both the teacher and the students. For example it states, “That if a student is interested in a book that is too difficult right now, send a note home requesting that a caregiver read the book aloud. Now this wouldn’t work for every student, but I just feel like things like side notes like this is really helpful when trying to help struggling readers. Overall I think having independent reading time is very beneficial to all readers In the classroom. It is important that we just don’t tell students to read quietly, but model how this should be done. This time should be structured like a program using several of the skills and strategies presented in this chapter. Naturally most independent reading times are structured the same, but key components like, allowing students to discuss what they have read aloud with peers, can be a helpful strategy. I enjoyed reading this chapter and discovered many ways to make my independent reading time better.