Week Three- Independent Reading

During this week’s reading of “No More Independent Reading Without Support”, I’ve read about several different reading studies that are nationally proven to help struggling readers. I’ve also learned that it is beneficial to allot varying times for struggling and good readers in the classroom. Teachers should allow their students to choose their own types of reading sources or genres so that they feel comfortable with what they read. I strategy that I will change is the reading time allotted to each of my students in the classroom. Allowing the same amount of time for SSR or DEAR would not normally benefit struggling readers due to their inability to comprehend what they are reading (based upon the complexity of the book) within the same amount of time that it would take a good reader to read. I will continuously monitor my struggling readers while providing individualized and small group instruction when needed. Reducing the number of minutes during independent reading can help prevent boredom with struggling readers. I will remember to always differentiate my instruction when it comes to having diverse learners in the classroom, and to provide multiple avenues or mini-assessments to determine what my students know and what they choose to do in order to meet standards or mastery of the daily activities assigned to them. “The research says that IR is most effective when students choose their own reading materials” (Miller & Moss, pg. 18, 2013). I’ve experienced success for the past several weeks ago once I began giving my students the option of “choice” when it comes to reading selections (low, mid & high level texts). I have my students write summaries of book chapters that they have read, and how it relates to health and real-world experiences. “Letting kids choose what to read motivates them to read even when it is not required and gives students practice in selecting their own books, which can contribute to out-of-school reading” (Miller & Moss, pg. 19, 2013).

Week Two- Instructional Practices

In this week’s reading of “No More Independent Reading Without Support” I’ve learned many different instructional reading practices that I can use with my students. Some of the instructional practices that I’ve learned to reach struggling readers are differentiating reading instruction, guided reading groups, learning centers, and planning for reading instruction. Some of the other instructional practices that reaffirmed what I currently do in my classroom are whole-class reading discussions, read alouds, independent reading, explicit direct instruction, individualized reading assistance and interventions, and small group work (Jigsaw). I find myself using whole-class reading discussions, individualized interventions, and direct instruction the most in my classroom. I utilize my instructional time efficiently with different activities so that each of my students have an opportunity to engage in different learning scenarios and modalities, as well as for them to demonstrate success each day. In order to gain student feedback in a prompt manner, I use exit slips at the end of each class period as a formative assessment to asses my teaching effectiveness and students’ knowledge and comprehension. I think exit slips are a great tool to assess students’ readiness to move on to more complex and challenging reading tasks or book levels. “For students to do more than race through lots of books, they need a teacher to show them what behaviors they need to practice as they read, and the teacher needs opportunities to monitor and give feedback on how students are using those behaviors” (Miller & Moss, pg. 8, 2013). I agree that teachers should model/demonstrate what effective reading skills look like in front of their students. Each day, I read effectively with my students. I ask comprehension check questions to see if they are understanding what I have read (segments of a book) before I continue on. I then have my students write a summary of the topic(s) that the class had talked about (as a whole-class) or about the book. I always observe how well my students read independently as well as when they read for and in front of the class.

Week Two- Instructional Practices

In this week’s reading of “No More Independent Reading Without Support” I’ve learned many different instructional reading practices that I can use with my students. Some of the instructional practices that I’ve learned to reach struggling readers are differentiating reading instruction, guided reading groups, learning centers, and planning for reading instruction. Some of the other instructional practices that reaffirmed what I currently do in my classroom are whole-class reading discussions, read alouds, independent reading, explicit direct instruction, individualized reading assistance and interventions, and small group work (Jigsaw). I find myself using whole-class reading discussions, individualized interventions, and direct instruction the most in my classroom. I utilize my instructional time efficiently with different activities so that each of my students have an opportunity to engage in different learning scenarios and modalities, as well as for them to demonstrate success each day. In order to gain student feedback in a prompt manner, I use exit slips at the end of each class period as a formative assessment to asses my teaching effectiveness and students’ knowledge and comprehension. I think exit slips are a great tool to assess students’ readiness to move on to more complex and challenging reading tasks or book levels. “For students to do more than race through lots of books, they need a teacher to show them what behaviors they need to practice as they read, and the teacher needs opportunities to monitor and give feedback on how students are using those behaviors” (Miller & Moss, pg. 8, 2013). I agree that teachers should model/demonstrate what effective reading skills look like in front of their students. Each day, I read effectively with my students. I ask comprehension check questions to see if they are understanding what I have read (segments of a book) before I continue on. I then have my students write a summary of the topic(s) that the class had talked about (as a whole-class) or about the book. I always observe how well my students read independently as well as when they read for and in front of the class.

Blog 1

What I’ve read so far in the book (Chapters One and Two) entitled, “No More Independent Reading Without Support”, by Miller & Moss (2013), is that the teacher must provide support and effective interventions for all of their students, which includes developing and good readers. Helping students to time-manage their reading inside and outside of class is important to help better their reading habits. It is important for teachers to find time for their students to read for meaning and to discuss their reading with others. Encouraging collaboration amongst students and teachers during reading instruction is a proven reading strategy to help students construct their ideas and to learn from each other. “Teachers need to talk about how they make meaning of a text so that the process is “visible” to students” (Miller & Moss, pg. 18, 2013). I incorporate many different strategies to encourage open and constructive dialogue before and after a reading activity or lesson. “For children to develop the habits and identity of thoughtful, strategic, proficient readers, they need to practice and, to make their practice productive, they need the tools that we can provide through interaction” (Miller & Moss, pg. 1). I always try to get my students motivated and involved in real-life situations and debates regarding important health issues (reading materials) so that they share ideas and assist one another through problem-solving techniques for finding common solutions. I focus on building content vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, phonemic awareness, and accuracy. I’ve read about the importance of reading scaffolding techniques that my developing readers can use to help them with information texts and other reading genres. Before I introduce different reading texts to my students, I observe to see what they know from the reading, and to see if the reading is comprehensible for them. I think it is important for all teachers to implement similar independent and whole-class reading practices in the school so students know how to read productively, and that they are supported during the entire day when it comes to reading for mastery. School administrators should also be willing to support a school-wide literacy/reading program and allow their teachers to try new proven reading practices for diverse readers.

 Finding consistent reading time in my daily instructional day for reading can be a challenge for me. Being as though I teacher high school physical education courses, my daily interactions with my students consist primarily of physical activities, rather than reading content material. However, I always find time at the beginning of class to incorporate a reading activity that focuses and builds upon prior knowledge and critical thinking skills. “Perhaps most advisable at this point is encouraging engagement with texts of varying levels of difficulty, providing greater support for students when they select more difficult texts” (Miller & Moss, pg. 22, 2013). I have students set reading goals (based upon academic reading progress) throughout each quarter and reward them for their accomplishments.

Catching Young Readers Before They Fall Chapters

I have continued reading the book, "Catching Young Readers Before They Fall." I am reviewing the last two chapters, 11 and 12.

Chapter 11 focuses on, Sharing Information with Families. It goes over sample questions that teachers may get from parents regarding strategies that parents can use to help their child at home. An example would be, "My child still does not know all his letters and sounds. What can I do to help him at home?" The book suggests answering that question by saying, "I think it is very important to have a partnership between home and school, so I am glad you asked. Not every child progresses at the same rate. You can read books to him at night, play alphabet games, keep a family journal to help build letter/ sound knowledge, etc." (Johnson and Keier, 2010) Some other key points that the book suggests when sharing information with parents is to honor the parent's concern, don't overwhelm the parent with too much information, and always follow through with parents. (Johnson and Keier, 2010)

Chapter 12 focuses on, Teachers Make the Difference. This chapter gives suggestions for how we can make a difference. It also states, "The teacher of a struggling reader will help determine whether that child succeeds or not, based on the teacher's instruction, attitude, and support." Some of the suggestions this chapter gives are, join a teachers as readers book discussion group with other professionals, gently push to include discussions about instruction for struggling readers at team meetings, and keep track of the time that your struggling students are involved in real reading and writing. (Johnson and Keier, 2010)

Overall, I think this is a great book for all teachers. We need to stay educated on ways that we can help educate our students to read. Reading is so important and it is a key skill that everyone needs to succeed in life. We need to catch all of these young readers before they fall!

Blog 5: Reading Essentials: Teach Comprehension

 During this blog I chose to read the chapter titled "Teach Comprehension" from the Reading
Essentials text. Routman opens up the chapter with a powerful statement saying, "If we want kids to
wind up with comprehension, we have to begin with comprehension." She also states, "When we
spend most of our energy focusing on words, students get the message that reading is about words
rather than meaning." So, that means that there is not enough teaching on meaning because the focus
is more on fluency (which is also important). Routman states that teachers cannot start teaching
comprehension in grade 3 because it can begin in preschool. Students must be introduced to
challenging, but interesting text in order for them to problem solve while reading. Some of the
reading strategies discussed in the chapter are what I am focusing on at this point with my focus
student and his guided reading group. The strategies I am focusing on with them include: making
connections, monitoring for meaning, asking questions, and making inferences in the form of
predictions. My students who are receiving this instruction at this point have moved up one or two
reading text levels. Routman states that teachers should not encourage students to just use one
strategy while reading because many are usually used at a time. After I teach my mini-lessons I
always ask my students, "What strategies can you use while reading today during independent
reading?" This shows my students that they can use more than one strategy instead of the lesson's focus strategy for that day. When teaching and modeling the strategies teachers can ask themselves: Are students using and applying the strategies I am teaching? How do I know that? What's my evidence? Am I teaching for understanding of text? How am I assessing for understanding? Routman also includes in this chapter questions teachers should teach their students to ask while reading for meaning: Does this make sense? Does this sound like language? (Does it sound right), and Do I know what is happening in the text? During my conferences and small groups I usually ask my students the first two questions and encourage them to ask themselves. Some days during running records I hear them ask themselves the questions out loud. Lastly, in the text Routman talks about the importance of collaborative talk. I realized it connects to grand conversations and Socratic Seminars because the students are making meaning. Routman also discussed "in-depth" questions in the text and I thought about the similarity these questions have with the article from this week about Socratic Seminars that was called "in your head" questions.

Blog 5 No More Independent Reading Without Support

Blog 5

Making the Most of Independent Reading

The Afterword section of this book has the very important quote that says, “There is no greater impact on students’ reading growth than giving them time to read.’ That kind of sums the object of this book up in a nutshell. This book has explained why we need to give students time to read, how we can find time in our day to give our students time to read, where we can gather the hundreds of appropriate books we need to have available in our classrooms for students to read, what we do to hold students accountable for their reading, how to share their ideas about reading in book clubs, among so many other things.

The beginning of the last section of this book describe how we monitor independent reading. Teachers should actively confer with students as they are reading. During these conferences, you are “ . . . actively gathering information about how they’re reading and what they need to grow as readers.” You are gathering information as much as you’re instructing. You “. . . use that information to set goals with students, share with parents during conferences, and inform small-group instruction.”

This section also introduced to me the idea of book clubs. This seemed to go hand in hand with the focus of this module about talk. The expectations for and the prompts used during book clubs were almost identical to those listed in one of our videos for this section.

I recommend this book for any teacher who is trying to reorganize her classroom so that it offers children more time to practice independent reading. It reminds me of one of my favorite sayings attributed to Mark Twain, “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who can’t read.” Many of our children don’t have the opportunity to read or to learn to cherish reading in their homes. It is up to us to give them the time to read and support them in learning to love reading.