Independent Reading

If we took a stroll down memory lane to my college years, we would find all of my essays, papers, projects - anything in writing - to be all about reading.  I’m a reader.  I always have been, and I pray to God I always will be.  In every paper I wrote about “Why I Want to Be a Teacher” I stated that I had the overwhelming desire to instill in students the love of reading.  I want students to enjoy a book just like I enjoyed my Sunday afternoons reading my Nancy Drew books.  I want students to wipe away a tear silently in their seat when they read that Johnny has died from his injuries after saving those children in the fire.  I want students to feel in their hearts the desire to cheer for the underdogs such as August Pullman and Freak the Mighty.  I want students to ask to be put on a waiting list for Dust and Decay because they just finished Rot and Ruin and have to know what is going on with Benny and Nix.  I want students to read. 

However, it saddened me to find in the first few years of teaching that some students don’t/won’t/can’t read.  There are many, many reasons they don’t read.  Some aren’t on level and struggle with everything they do in the ELA classroom.  Some can’t focus long enough to read a sentence much less a book unless they are on meds for whatever they have going on.  Some are shocked at the concept because they have never been told they MUST be reading in the reading classroom.  I love the cliché about

If you say you don’t like to read, you just haven’t found the right book.   

There is a lot of truth to that!! 

Thus began my quest to discover what needs to be done, what works, what doesn’t work, and how I get students to “get into” their self-chosen book.

Enter the absolutely beautiful world and work of Kylene Beers and Robert Probst and their Notice and Note…

https://www.amazon.com/Notice-Note-Strategies-Close-Reading/dp/032504693X

If you haven’t heard of this book, I encourage you to dive headfirst into an immediate read/study of their work.  As an ELA teacher, I found myself saying, “YESSSSS!!” out loud as I read this book.  You know a book is a great one when you need to take notes!!  Be prepared to take tons of notes!!  Be prepared to stalk blogs, Pinterest, Amazon, etc. to get all the information you possibly can about this phenomenal close-reading strategy.  Follow the Facebook pages for Notice and Note.  Pin away on Pinterest.  Enjoy the fact that, Yes, there are really people out there who believe just as you do…Reading IS the most important thing in the world, and our students need to be doing more of it!!!

Here are my procedures to have students read, read, read, read, read. 

First, I spend the first two weeks of the new school year introducing the Fiction Signposts.  I teach them just as Beers and Probst have outlined in the book.  My students travel to all 6 stations within my classroom and read the short texts, write answers to the questions for each signpost,, and then spend time discussing their answers and digging DEEPER into the texts than can be imagined.  What quality discussions we have when using this technique!

Once I have them understanding the signposts , I distribute the beautifully colored and laminated bookmarks downloaded from TpT for free.  I shorten the bookmarks a little in order to type each student’s name on the bottom before laminating.  I explain they are to ALWAYS have this bookmark with them until the day they die or later!  They are then instructed to check out a book…any book…within reason.  I then proceed to explain my homework.

If you have never heard the name Laura Randazzo, I encourage you to stalk this teacher’s blog…

https://laurarandazzo.com/

and her TpT page…

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Laura-Randazzo

and download this free resource for your classroom…

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/SSR-Tired-of-Book-Reports-Try-this-FREE-idea-instead-Easy-grading-for-you-494444

I explain to my students that we will be having Book Talks every 3 week which is explained in Laura Randazzo’s resource.  At that time, they are to bring their book and their bookmark.  They are told to be prepared to pick one of the signposts and discuss it THOROUGHLY with me.  We have a practice session with silliness and shenanigans because I want them to talk to me as practice for a job interview.  I begin by pretending to be the student and sounding like Kim Kardashian trying to have a book talk.  I want them to look me in the eye, not say “like” every 2 seconds like a Kardashian, and be able to explain themselves without filler words.  Once they understand the seriousness of the Book Talk, we proceed to read, read, read.  It is crucial to give them time to read in the classroom.  I know our time is valuable, but reading for 10 minutes is my bell-ringer.  Because of my classroom management, rarely do students forget their book.  When they realize they have disappointed the entire class - not just me- by forgetting their book, it makes a difference and tends to not happen much. 

Side note:  We also go a little cross-curriculum here.  I realize there are some students who will NEVER take their book home.  How uncool it is to be seen with a book, for heaven’s sake!!!  So we work a little math problem in our groups.  How many minutes per day do I have to read in school in order to read 250 pages every 3 weeks and NEVER take my book home. 

17 pages.  The answer is 17 pages. 

There’s your reading goal! 

10 minutes every day.  Silence except for Pandora soothing us in the background.  17 pages per day which means you MUST carry that book around all day (your colleagues will thank you because now they have something to do when they finish that quiz early)

Book Talks have become these deeper conversations that have true meaning.  I used to only use Signposts when we were doing in-class readings of texts.  I was having GREAT conversations about texts and saw great improvements in discussions, writing, assessments, and overall understanding of texts by using the Signposts.  However, I was only asking students to summarize their books when we were having Book Talks - which I realize can be done by reading the back of the book if you have a lot of talent.  No longer can they plot-map that novel because they binge-watched Maze Runner the weekend before our Book Talk.  No longer can you explain that Hazel Grace and Gus feel sad because they have cancer and go to this place in this foreign country where she had to walk up a lot of steps in this museum about that girl - you know that girl - she was, like, you know, like hiding or sumthin. 

Signposts + Book Talks = Beautiful