Independent Choice Reading Builds a Culture of Reading

 Reading is important because you can learn more things that you can’t learn at school. —Middle school student

Independent choice reading—We just finished the 2nd trimester of the 2nd year of making it an important fixture of 6th and 7th grade English language arts. Students did an end-of-term reflection on their independent reading. As I read over their reflections, I was really excited about the growth that I saw—not just in average number of books read (up to 7 this fall term from 5 last fall term) and in the reading level of the books (from Frindle being the most frequently read to Ground Zero), but also in the maturity of their reflections: less emphasis on learning vocabulary (though that’s still important, especially with a lot of English language learners) and more on gaining understanding of the world.

First, what does independent choice reading look like in my room? Students bring 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 share a brief book ad for a book I’ve finished, and sometimes I give 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 circulate and record the book and page number for each student. We could have a conversation if a student isn’t making much progress (or is on an earlier page than last week!). Sometimes I suggested a change of book if it is too difficult or not interesting. I have a classroom library, and I always have a couple of recommendations on hand when I see a student is nearing the end of a book. 

Once a week I also try to have a 1-2-minute conference with each student—just a conversation about what they’re reading. Often I start with, “Tell me something about what you’re reading,” or “Tell me something you’re learning from your reading.”  

Sometimes at the end of the 10 minutes we make connections between independent reading books and what we were studying in class. For example, we did a tournament of opening sentences, or identified a simile, or found a sentence starting with a dependent clause, or talked to a partner about an obstacle their main character faces. We finished the term with students each giving a book ad for one of the books they had read.

What did I learn from reading students' independent reading reflections? I got answers to 6 questions:

(1) What were their favorite books? 

• Fantasy/sci-fi is by far the favorite genre, with 2 books from the Ranger’s Apprentice series and one Percy Jackson, also Half a King by Joe Abercrombie, Firestar’s Quest (Warriors series), A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat, and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card earning votes. 
• Next was historical fiction. Anything by Alan Gratz gets devoured, but Ground Zero got 2 votes for best of term and Grenade got one. Students also rated When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson as favorites. 
• Then there was contemporary realistic fiction with R.J. Palacio’s Auggie and Me and Dusti Bowling’s Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus.
• Finally, adventure/survival garnered one vote for Brian’s Winter (though many of the boys and one of the girls read through all the Gary Paulsen books I have). 

These were my 2 favorite responses to “Give at least 3 reasons why it was your favorite”:

• When My Name Was Keoko: (1) I didn’t know about Korea and Japan, so I was pretty interested in this. (2) Since I don’t have courage, after I read this, I think my courage to do things has risen. (3) I liked how this is fiction, but it is really like non-fiction.
• Ground Zero: (1) The feelings and emotions of the characters are realistic. (2) The end of each chapter has an exciting ending, so it made me want to read more. (3) Though the main character’s father died, the main character could grow stronger.

(2) How did students feel about their progress in reading?

• I didn’t read a lot this term, and I’m not satisfied.
• It’s getting easier to actually understand what’s happening.
• It is now easier to read longer books. And it feels good.
• I am able to understand vocabulary better.

(3) What strategies are they using to help them understand their books?

• I predict a lot.
• I worked on visualizing.
• Predict what the word means by reading before and after, then search at home.
• Usually I summarize and think of theories of what might happen next. It helps me interact more with the book, and you can also feel like an author.

(4) What changes do they want to make as a reader next term?

• Make reading a habit. Normalize it in my life. Don’t stop reading the book before the chapter ends. 
• Read 3 books! (Student who read 2 books this term.)
• I will try to read more nonfiction books

(5) What winter break reading goals are you going to set for yourself?

• A chapter a day
• Read every day 20 minutes and finish a book!

(6) And my favorite, where I ask the students to fill in the blanks: Reading is _____ because _____.

• Reading is good because it moves and exercises your brain.
• Reading is exciting because it lets me get a movie going on in my head.
• Reading is good because you can know many words and style of sentences.
• Reading is important because it can extend your creativity and imagination.
• Reading is cool because it can extend your knowledge in many different ways.
• Reading is important because you can learn more things that you can’t learn at school.

Brain exercise, movies in your head, words and sentence styles, creativity and imagination, knowledge, and things you can’t learn at school. How else could you get all that from the investment of 10 minutes per class?

How do you nurture a culture of reading in your classroom?

Of Waffles, Pandemics, and Angels

The ring was pressed into my hand as a gift from a friend 15 or 20 years ago. I seldom take it off. It says, “Peace.” The bracelet I gave to my daughter when she was navigating the confusion of adolescence. It says, “Fear not.” When she left home, she left it behind, and I took to wearing it. Now she’s 30 and has 3 kids of her own. 

I haven’t worn the bracelet recently, but today I dug it out of the back of my jewelry box. Almost 2 years into this pandemic, I finally got to see my kids and grandkids for a week, and made it back into Japan as the world is closing down against the Omicron variant. Plus, it’s Christmas Eve. Plus, just before Christmas break, I read Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr with my 4th and 5th graders.

Adventures with Waffles is a gem of a book, and if you haven’t read it yet, I’m jealous because you’ll enjoy it so much. The scrapes the two main characters get into are laugh-out-loud funny, the bumps of family and friendship are heart-tuggingly real, and you get a little taste of Norway thrown in. 

Woven through it all is a picture of Jesus, the good shepherd, rescuing a lost lamb. It surfaces first when Auntie Granny, Trille’s great-aunt and stand-in grandmother is telling Trille and his friend Lena about what it was like in Norway during World War 2. Lena, always bold and brash, asked Auntie Granny, “How scared were you?” Trille jumped in:

“Auntie Granny is never scared,” I said before she had a chance to answer. “She has Jesus above her head when she sleeps.” I took Lena into Auntie Granny’s bedroom to show her.

“There,” I said, pointing to a picture above her bed. In it there’s a steep rock face with a little lamb standing on a narrow ledge, unable to get up or down. The mother ewe is standing at the top, bleating, very afraid for her lamb. But Jesus is there too, and he has fastened his staff to a tree and is leaning out over the cliff edge to rescue the lamb. (115)

Lena was clearly processing this, because the next day she found a lost sheep, and in re-enacting the scene ended up with a helicopter ride and a cast.

When Auntie Granny died and Trille could pick any one thing from her house for his inheritance, he picked the picture of Jesus. He told Lena, “It’s hanging above my bed, so now I don’t need to be afraid anymore” (149). Trille passed the picture on to Lena when she needed it, and she kept it through several adventures before finally returning it to Trille once all her fears are resolved.

I asked students what the picture of Jesus meant to each of the characters who hung it by their bed. They wrote, “It means Jesus always protects you,” and “A picture that makes scared go away.” I asked what Jesus meant to them, and they wrote, “Jesus helps us and forgives us,” “He is strong,” “He’s the important and only God of us” and “Super awesome.” 

Life is scary and uncertain enough right now—school shouldn’t be. There’s a lot being written about making classrooms safe spaces for students—academically, socially, and emotionally as well as physically. I want to create a classroom community where it is safe to make mistakes, take risks, and fail on the way to growth. I want to create a classroom community where students care for, support, and protect each other, and know there are adults to turn to when that doesn’t happen. And as I’ve been reading about making classrooms safe spaces, and thinking about Adventures with Waffles, and getting ready for Christmas, I had this thought. 

I get to echo the Christmas angels every day in my classroom: 

• "Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife." (Matthew 1:20)
• "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard." (Luke 1:13)
• "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God." (Luke 1:30)
• "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." (Luke 2:10)

Do not be afraid. 

It seems that fear is not a new problem. It's one God has been holding out the answer to for a long time. 

But before I can proclaim it to my students, I have to believe it myself. So I’m putting on my bracelet, shutting my computer, and celebrating God moving into the neighborhood. 

Merry Christmas.  Peace. Shalom. Do not be afraid.

2021 in Review: Sharing a Literate Life with Children

Husband and grandson sharing a literate life at the end of 2021

I played blog post hooky a few weeks ago. It was intentional, and I was glad I did it—the break was important. However, when I asked myself if I’d like to skip more often, I knew the answer was no. It’s become a part of my teaching DNA to be looking throughout the week for a topic worth reflecting on and sharing, and to have that closure, that foothold or handhold—here’s something important I tried or thought about. 

At the end of the calendar year, I can look back and see a trail of about 50 such bumps or cracks that have brought me and my students to this point. It’s become my practice in the last 4 years to look back over that trail—especially the ones that stood out most to readers—to see what I can learn from that. This year’s top 5 most viewed posts highlight my move into elementary, experiments with inductive grammar (Patterns of Power) and independent reading, and a continued value for professional book discussions.

2021 Top Blogs--ending with the most viewed:

(5) Learning to Teach Writing to Littlers: Summer Goal #1 (July 24) One big adventure for me this year picking up an elementary class—4th and 5th grade English language arts—beginning in April. Spring term was a learning curve, and a summer online course helped me identify what had gone well, and what I could modify to do even better.

 
(4) Staying Curious about Language (April 24) When inductive grammar meets independent reading and true curiosity is sparked.

(3) Still My Best Professional Development: Discuss a Book (July 3) This post both describes why I love a good professional book discussion in general, and gives a glimpse into the discussion my department had this spring of The ELL Teacher’s Toolbox by Larry Ferlazzo.

(2) Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher (January 2) My first blog post of this year was about a professional development book I read over break—Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher—and how I would use it in one of my first units back to school. That proved a significant forecast for the year, as this fall my department began a discussion of the same book, resulting in 2 more recent blog posts, “Books: One Key to Fostering Empathy and Multiple Perspectives” and “Global Competence: What Do My Students Celebrate?” 

(1) Cultivating a Culture of Reading in Every Class as the Year Begins (April 17) The beginning of my experiment expanding starting class with 10 minutes of independent reading from just grade 6/7 English language arts (ELA) into upper elementary ELA and middle school English as a foreign language (EFL).

What are some of the markers of your path in 2021?

Past Annual Blog Reflections:

• 2020: What Blogging in 2020 Taught Me  
• 2019: 5 Top Posts of 2019 
• 2018: Best and Worst of My 2018 Blogs 
• 2017: What and Why I Blog  

Global Competence: What Do My Students Celebrate?

 

What I heard was, “Yesterday was finish independence. We watched a movie.” One of my 6th graders had paused to confide this to me in the hubbub of students pouring out of English class on Tuesday. In addition to the background tumult, there was the muffling effects of face masks and the distance of my ears above this year’s crop of sixth graders. 

My brain was spinning wildly, trying to construct meaning. Independent reading? But we hadn’t finished it—I’d briefly wondered about skipping, just for the first 3 days of this week, the first 10 minutes of class dedicated to independent reading. Should we spend the whole class on exam review? No, I’d finally decided it was most important to support the message that reading is always the foundational thing, a valued part of the routine, more important, even, than exams. And a movie—we definitely hadn’t watched a movie. I sometimes show clips, but the last ones I’d shown were several weeks ago. 

I bent down and put my ear next to his mask and asked him to repeat himself. As he did, the pieces clicked into place, and it suddenly all made sense: “Yesterday was Finnish Independence. We watched a movie.” I gave a thumbs-up and thanked him for sharing, and he joined the flow of half-grown humanity toward the door. 

I wavered between chagrin and pleasure as I thought about the EFL department discussion just a week earlier about chapter 3 of Becoming a Globally Competent Teacher, “Understanding of Global Conditions and Current Events.” We’d talked about the story of a first year teacher who told his class repeatedly the importance of being aware of global events, and the resentment one student directed at him when he failed to acknowledge the assassination of her country’s prime minister the day it happened. 

I was chagrined that in my long history of collecting the literature of my students’ heritage countries, it had never occurred to me to know the independence day. (Except Korea—because when I taught 10th grade we read the poem “August River”!) While I was disappointed in my own enormous oversight, I was pleased that the student somehow thought I would be interested in that bit of information.

So I’ve been sitting here researching Finland’s history. Sure enough—December 6 is the celebration of Finnish independence—104 years this year. The movie must have been The Unknown Soldier, based on a novel of the same name. As an educator, most of what I know about Finland has to do with its much-touted schools, so I figured a little more research was in order. Did you know that Finland was the world’s first country to give its citizens a legal right to internet broadband? That was in 2010.   

Here’s my Christmas holiday assignment: Research a significant national holiday from each country represented by my students. Make a calendar. Take some notice of the holidays in class. What a great opportunity to celebrate each student’s heritage and all the ways people around the world have fulfilled their roles as God’s image bearers to fashion cultures, societies, and political structures where humans can flourish.

Six Questions for Growing Readers: Elementary, Too!

Students were all quietly reading the second-to-last chapter of Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr. Suddenly one fifth grader gasped and started waving her arm wildly at me, “Mrs. Essenburg! Mrs. Essenburg! Oh! Oh!” When I approached her desk, she shoved her book under my nose, pointing at the sentence, “I didn’t want my best friend to go up in smoke, did I?” (222).

“She finally said it! He IS her best friend!” The student’s eyes shone. It was one of teaching's magical moments.

I happy not just for that one student’s book joy, but that my experiment with my six-question reading journal is working with elementary students. I stopped using guided chapter questions with high school students long ago. It's much more interesting to give students the strategies to find meaning in the text on their own. This, after all, is how they will read as adults, looking for the answers to their own questions, not the teacher's.  

The six questions I’m using with the 4th and 5th graders are nearly the same as what I wrote about using with 6th and 7th graders last year:

1. Summarize an important plot development
2. Observation or inference about a character
3. Choose a significant quote
4. Explain the quote’s significance
5. Visualize (sketch)
6. Ask a question or make a prediction

I started with a lot of modeling—read aloud, think aloud, and writing my journal entry on the white board—a lot more than was necessary with the 6th and 7th graders. But it’s paying off. One big misunderstanding I uncovered among students: that having questions is a bad thing. One boy proudly showed me an empty “ask a question” block, proclaiming that he didn’t have any questions—he understood everything! I explained again that asking questions is what good readers do—they wonder. Suddenly his eyes widened and he said, “Oh! Like thinking!” Later in the period I heard him explaining to his neighbor what he could put in his question box. 

The next day, when we were sharing our questions, I shared mine. The same student lit up again and burst out, “We had the same question!” pointing to his neighbor. 

It is so exciting to see students making reading strategies their own. I wonder how many will have chosen “I didn’t want my best friend to go up in smoke, did I?” for their significant quote. I can’t wait to find out.

What kind of transferrable tools do you give students for growing as readers?