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?