STUDENTS NEED GOOD BOOK AND TIME TO READ THEM
To enable students to learn to read, you must provide high quality reading material that students want (and are able) to read as well as ample time to read. Like any skill, one needs to practice in order to get better. Would you expect to learn to play the piano if you never practiced? Could you learn to play the piano if you did not have good music to play? Could you learn to play the piano if all the music given to you was too hard?
The general rule of thumb is that 70% to 80% of reading class should involve the independent reading of books that students have selected. 20% to 30% should be spent in instruction. In most classrooms, these percentages are just the opposite. In many classrooms students are asked to find a good book to read only when they finish their “work”. Instead, finding a good book to read should be the main work occurring in reading class.
Instead of reading class, it might be more constructive to think of it as reading practice. Students here are provided a variety of good books to read at their independent level or below, and lots of time to practice and enjoy reading. Activities would include book talks, aesthetic responses to literature, reading logs, book evaluations and critiques, and social interaction around good books. Small bits of targeted skills instruction would be provided based on students’ individual needs.
5th Grade-US History teacher
6 年I am ??happy to hear this. This is what my school district does. ????
Instructional Designer - eLearning Developer
6 年I love the idea that it is the teachers job “to get students to fall in love with reading!” Allowing students to read while the teacher reads for 20 minutes a day is perfect. I especially love the data to show administrators and parents . Thank you!
Lead Teacher - Self Contained Special Education at HighPoint Virtual Academy of Michigan
6 年It was pulling teeth to get some students to read anything in any setting before I won them over on reading. That only happened after I searched high and low for good books at multiple reading levels and created a dynamic classroom library full of engaging texts that my struggling readers could read. Hard to do for 5th and 6th grader’s who read at 3rd grade level and below but it seems to have paid off. Thank you for the great insight. I need to look at the independent reading as an opportunity to teach through instead of the direct instruction being something separate. I worry they are reading independently too much and not gaining specific skills but perhaps I’m thinking about this all wrong. You have given me a great deal to ponder! Thank you for this
Tutor - English, Literature and learning skills.
6 年Good Books