To grow as independent readers, students need
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Classroom time to read
·
To choose what they read
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Explicit instruction about what, why, and how
readers read
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To read a lot: a large number of books and
variety of texts
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Access to texts
·
Teacher monitoring, assessment, and support
during IR
·
To talk about what they read
I feel that my students get most of this during their
independent reading time. However, they do not get to choose everything they
read. Miller says “Students need to be able to choose what they read.” I do not
totally agree with this statement. My students are allowed to get four books
from the library and three of the four have to be on or slightly above their
instructional reading level and one book can be any book of their choice. I do
this because I have several students reading on a 4th and 5th grade
level and they are getting books on a first grade level and vice versa. I have
had one student read the same book about three times a day since the first day
of school. If I let him, he would read the same book all day every day until
summer break. Shamefully, I hid the book from him.
“Core reading programs don’t provide that “volumizing” boost
that students, especially poorer readers, need.” ( Miller 24)
Some teachers rely only on basal readers to give students
reading practices and it may work in some classrooms. I noticed, right of the
bat, that it was not going to work in my classroom. The basal reader may have
been on one of my students levels. For the others, it was either too hard or
too easy and they were bored. I decided to offer a variety of texts during guided reading and so far they love it!
Great idea! Then, they can practice the strategies you are teaching with the books they are reading. Awesome! I also think it is fine for them to get 3 books on their level and one that isn't. I am sure that the books they are choosing on their level are books that they have chosen . . . and by allowing them to read one that isn't on their level, you are giving that reader even more choice. Good idea!
ReplyDeleteI love that you are letting students read books they choose (with structured choice)! That is more meaningful than the non-choice of the basal. When students gravitate towards a single book or read below their instructional level, have you tried conferencing with them to see why they are doing this? Instead of "punishing" readers for these behaviors, I like to investigate and see what the reasoning is. Maybe your friend who reads the same book has to read another book or two before he can read that favorite book each day!
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