Fueling the Brain with Independent Reading

Reading is essential because it fuels the brain. —middle school student on exam

One experiment I've run this year is giving 6th and 7th graders 10 minutes per class for independent reading. (Except while reading the whole class novel Wonder, when reading time was devoted to that book.) As a part of the exam before Christmas, I asked students to reflect on the reading they’d done (questions taken from Larry Ferlazzo’s book The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox—Strategy 1 Independent Reading, Figure 1.1 End-of-Quarter Reading Reflection). Through that reflection, I was reminded what a good practice it is, I learned some things about my students, they set some goals for themselves.

First, what we did: Students brought a book of their choice and read for the first 10 minutes of the period. Most of the time I read with them. This has been shown to correlate highly with the success of independent reading—whether the teacher demonstrates her own value for the activity. Sometimes I gave a quick book ad for one I’d finished, and sometimes I gave a quick reminder of the value of reading and why we were spending this time "just reading": growth in vocabulary, knowledge of the world, writing skill, empathy, focus, enjoyment… 

Once a week I circulated and recorded the book and page number for each student. We could have a conversation if a student isn’t making much progress (or are on an earlier page than last week!). Sometimes I suggested a change of book if it was too difficult or not interesting. I have a classroom library, and I always had a couple of recommendations on hand when I saw a student was nearing the end of a book. 

Sometimes we made connections between independent reading books and what we were studying in class. We finished the term with students each giving a book ad for one of the books they had read.

Frindle by Andrew Clements was very popular with the boys. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo with the girls. Auggie and Me with everyone when we had finished Wonder by Patricia Palaccio. One boy will read anything by Alan Gratz. A couple discovered Percy Jackson and are racing through the series. One loves A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata, one Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and another Genius: The Game by Leopoldo Gout. 

I learned that students have read an average of 5 books each this fall trimester. That's a pace that would mean 15 books in a year! I think they surprised themselves. I was also surprised to learn that one student reads voraciously in another language. 

Here are a few more of the questions and student answers:

How do you feel about your progress in reading? 

• I feel like I’m getting faster at reading, able to zip through sentences in a matter of seconds. 
• I think I’m improving in focusing on the book. 
• When I used to read, I would read the same line twice, but now I don’t do it as often. 

What strategies are you using to help you understand your book?

• Summarizing chapters into a long sentence. 
• Looking up words I don’t know. 
• First I read the front and back. 
• I would visualize what’s going on and re-read the sentence until I understand. 
• Ask questions to people who have read the book.

What changes will you make as a reader next term? 

• I will read longer, more challenging books. 
• I think I will try to make time to read every day. 
• I want to read more books than I read this term.  
• After finishing The Famous Five series, I’d like to read books that are thicker.

What do you need to become an even better reader? 

• I need a place where it’s quiet and I can focus on my book more. 
• Ask for more book recommendations.
• Partner to talk about my book with.

Finally, here are some of the ways students filled in the sentence "Reading is ___ because ___":

• Reading is essential because it helps improve your vocabulary and focus.
• Reading is hard because there are words I don’t understand.
• Reading is soothing because it reduces my daily stress.
• Reading is important because by reading a book you can get knowledge and can be a better writer. Unlike the internet it is more likely for the information you got from a book to remain in your brain. And obviously it is fun.

Love that last one. Especially the way all that information about reading had to be crammed into a 1-1/2 inch blank!