Blog 3 - No More Independent Reading Without Support

Continuing Section 2 - In the last part of this section, the authors sum up a lot of what we have already learned in this course. Teachers need to conference with their students and provide instruction based on their observations in a variety of methods. whole groups, small groups, pairs, and one-on-one. Also, something that Miller and Moss talk about to an extent is classroom libraries and varieties of text. Actually they support Fountas and Pinell's claim that a classroom library should have "between 300 and 600 titles."  Wow! Miller and Moss also speak the level of texts that students should be reading during IR time. They note that may independent texts are not the best. That actually students may benefit more from more difficult texts. Finally, the authors examine the idea that this cannot be done without the proper tools and support. Students needs incentive programs in order to want to strive to make progress and read more. They also need a variety of text to choose from. However, the key lies within the teachers. Teachers need ongoing professional development in order to continue to help their students. 

Not being a classroom teacher, I do not know the struggle of stocking a classroom library, but I do know that our literacy coach has worked really hard to get materials   for our teachers to use and stock their libraries with. So, this is something that other people are taking note of as well. I also truly enjoyed the notion that not all instruction has to come in whole group. This is something that I think general education teachers have gotten hung up on with the mandated 90 minute ELA block. They feel that they have to teach that mini lesson to the whole group, and they also feel that workshop needs to take place in the same manner and structure every day. I have worked closely with Marilyn Friend over the course of the past two years, and she states that for students with learning disabilities, this cannot be the case. I would think that this would be the same for a heterogeneous group of students regardless. So, it was nice to see some validation in that. We need to be more flexible during that 90 minute block and our teaching methods so that we can reach every student every day!

Blog 2 - No More Independent Reading Without Support

Section 2 - In this section of the text the authors begin to expand on their theory. If you recall the first section was titled "Not This," and the authors explained the issues surrounding independent reading time in most elementary school settings. This section is titled "Why Not? What Works?," and here the authors begin to delve into their rationale about how to make independent reading work and make it purposeful. Here, Miller & Moss make their case for why Independent Reading should become Scaffolded Silent Reading (ScSR). With ScSR, students are supported in their independent reading, they are still allowed to select their text, and read on their own at their own pace, but with support. There is a chart in the text that, in my opinion, outlines this process very well. It states that teachers should support student book selection, so that students find "just right"  books. Also, not only should a variety of genres be represented for each level, but students should be encourage to select different genres by using a "genre wheel" to help them decide.teachers should also conference with students and hold them accountable for what they are reading by asking questions and creating discussions that aide them in their independent reading.

As a special education teacher, I have always been focused on the "can they read?" aspect of student's reading. However, one comment that the authors made, made me realize that  should also be fostering a love of reading. Miller & Moss stated that, "the best readers read the most, and the poorest readers read the least." That one statement made me think that not only should I be focusing on whether or not my students can read, but do they want to read? If they don't want to read when they leave my classroom, what good have I done? They need to be reading both inside of school and outside of school in order to become a successful reader. This section not only made me think about what I should be teaching, but how. So, I guess Miller and Moss have made a believer out of me so far!

Blog 1 - No More Independent Reading Without Support

I chose to read, No More Independent Reading Without Support, by Debbie Miller, and Barbara Moss. 

Chapter 1: This is actually an entire section entitled "Not This." The chapter/section focuses on how independent reading is necessary, yet not utilized effectively in most schools. The authors examine the time constraints that most teachers fear when they try to implement independent reading time. The authors then elude to the issues of wasted time in schools altogether. The examine a specific school and their use of things like "calendar time," "morning announcements," "noisy transitions," and "DEAR time." While the incidents were specific to one school we all know that activities like this take place in manner of fashion in all schools. By merely examining these issues, one can only assume that Miller and Moss plan to offer solutions to these situations, and in turn state that there is indeed time for independent reading in classrooms. 

I have, of course, not yet finished the book. However, it seems like a promising read. I can only hope that Miller and Moss continue their examination of misused time in schools, and that they enlighten us on how to change things. I think most of us know that independent reading time is important in order to foster a love of reading in children. Now, we just need to know how to execute it!

Week Five- Differentiation

In this week’s book report from “No More Independent Reading Without Support” by Miller and Moss, I have learned ways to accommodate and strengthen students’ reading skills through differentiated instruction, support, and assessment techniques that are beneficial not only for struggling readers but for good readers as well. I took notice when I read upon allowing students adequate time to discuss what they have read to others in class. I believe this is a great strategy for me with each of my students because it is a way for them to explain what they know and have understood verbally. It also gets my students to regurgitate what I have taught them in class. As students as discussing their chapter summaries, I reinforce important concepts that relate to what they have read. My students enjoy taking the initiative to read what they enjoy outside of class and connect it to what they are learning from the textbook inside of class. I like to have my students work in small groups to have shared reading responses, to conduct student-led discussions, and to complete a Four Corners activity, where they would post important concepts and ideas from the literary resources that I provide to them relating to the daily lesson that I have recently taught. “Peer discussion is one way that students can demonstrate their knowledge of their reading, which helps to make them accountable and improves comprehension (Miller and Moss, pg. 35, 2013). I also like to have my students keep a daily journal of free-writes of what they have learned during the week. I try to have at least two to three individual student conferences for striving readers as well as good readers so that I can progress monitor their reading skills, strategies, and comprehension levels.

Week Four- Informational Text

As a physical education teacher, I’ve learned how important it is to incorporate a variety of different genres and informational texts that are developmentally or cognitively appropriate for the types of readers I have in the class. It is essential that I teach all of my students how to read for comprehension through different learning modalities. “To become readers who can master the complex texts necessary for college and workplace success, students need to read a lot” (Miller & Moss, pg. 24, 2013). I strive to incorporate time within the week for my students to visit the school’s library for research purposes. I want my students to be skilled in locating resources through traditional print and online/digital print. It is important that my students are well versed in the different genres. When it comes to book reports, I have my students research important facts using technology, and then choose from a different number of online formats to create an informational guide or info-graph to present to their peers. I always find time to listen to my students’ opinions as well as their thoughts regarding the different types of genres that they have read outside of class. “If we want children to become life-long readers, we need to give them materials that interest them, and to do so means including informational texts, historical fiction, poetry, magazines, graphic novels, and other genre” (Miller & Moss, pg. 27, 2013). I’ve learned that some of my struggling readers will have trouble understanding the difference between fiction and nonfiction books, and it is my responsible to show them what fiction and nonfiction books are. It is more than just showing students how to read, it is showing students how to read for mastery. During reading instruction, I will work with individual struggling students and conduct miscue analysis, then create a plan of action to strengthen my students’ phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, accuracy, and fluency.

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.