Annie Cherry's October Blog Post 1 - No More Independent Reading Without Support by Debbie Miller

Children need opportunities to read! I think we have all heard that for many years, and I believe, as educators, we are truly striving to give students those opportunities.  We have created classroom libraries, carved out time for the smallest readers to have books in their hands and given them freedom in their selections of texts.  But..now what?  Are they really reading?  We have talked to them about "just right" texts and "real reading" not "fake reading", but do they truly have any understanding of what any of that terminology means?  My immediate answer is NO!
This writing really provided some insight into what we can do better in our classrooms.  While, obviously, in kindergarten, there must be some level of reading instruction, we also have to provide some time where we are individually conferencing with the students over what they are reading.  Are they truly comprehending what they are reading?  While I think we do gain an enormous amount of insight during small group reading instruction, I still think we can do better.  I believe that our grade level this year is making great strides in reading instruction, but, as with anything, there is much room for improvement.
At this time, we are holding five small group instructional activities each morning that are all centered around reading.  We are able to keep them engaged for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, which is a feat in kindergarten.  This lets me know that they are enjoying the activities that we are providing and that they are learning.  During this group time, the children are having a guided reading activity, as well as a chance to read a book of their choosing independently.  After reading this text, we have slightly shifted this time.
During our guided reading time, we have started providing a few moments at the end to discuss how to select a book for reading.  We have taught the children how to find a text that is "just right" for them and they have time to do so.  Each day following, the students have time to read their self selected "just right" text.  At the end of the week, I briefly conference with the students regarding their choice.  The children can read to me, we can discuss if this text was a good choice, we can discuss strategies to improve reading.
Again, I feel there is much room for improvement, but, as a grade level, we are seeing great success in our kindergarten readers.  It is exciting to see how much they are capable of reading if given ample time to read, and most importantly, to learn to enjoy reading!