Sally Gaskins' Blog #4-Routman Ch. 4: Teach With a Sense of Urgency

I like the way Routman explains in this chapter how we must make the most of the little bit of time we have to get students where they need to be. We need to be very aware of our students and their needs and approach each minute of the day with purpose. It's easy to get distracted from this purpose given the many other things that demand our attention on a daily and weekly basis, but we must teach with a sense of urgency in order to challenge our students in appropriate and meaningful ways. Routman goes on to describe in detail a learning model that teachers should employ to best move their students forward. I love that she is so specific! The examples she shares at the end of the chapter are especially helpful.


The section on p. 50 about integrating basic skills into challenging, relevant curriculum really hit home, as I've been feeling like my instruction has been compartmentalized. What I teach in the little bit of time I have should be more connected and the ideas and concepts should be more fluent. I want to get away from using the basal and teach reading with read-alouds, integrating language, science, and social studies. I want to spend more time on writing and start using a writer's workshop approach in my class. Routman says several times in this chapter that there should be joy along with a sense of urgency in teaching reading. I'm looking forward to putting her suggestions into practice in order to feel more joy in my teaching. As a result, my students will experience more joy and therefore more readily become the lovers of reading I long for them to become.

Rhiannon Wyatt November Blog: Chapter 3 Share Your Reading Life (Routman)

Wow!  As I read Routman’s chapter titled “Share Your Reading Life” I was immediately brought to the thought of my own children.  I love to read. I love to get cozy in my bed when everyone else is asleep and read a book.  However, that is just it..I either don’t have time to read at home (especially during the school year) or I read when everyone is asleep so my children do not see me read.  Now we have lots of books in our home.  I have read to both of my children since they were infants yet they have not seen ME read for pleasure.  Sometimes, I feel that this is the reason why my son would rather do lots of other things at home than read.  In addition, as I read this chapter I was also thinking about my classroom of first graders.  I feel that I do a good job of sharing my favorite books such as Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary as well as favorite authors such as Diane DeGroat and Kevin Henkes.  Throughout the year, I read these books during our shared reading time which spark the students’ interests in reading them independently and even checking them out from the library. I try my best to share my enthusiasm for reading and I see that enthusiasm reciprocated back from my students.

        Several components that I would like to include in my independent reading time are mini book clubs and reading records. I feel that having the students share a favorite book or part of the book with a partner would be a fun way for my students to discuss their books and give me insight into their comprehension of the text.  Also, I like the idea of the students keeping an independent reading record listing the title, author and genre. The reading record would give my students and me information on their reading interests as well as the genres they are frequently reading.  I enjoyed reading this chapter because it gave many useful suggestions for my students’ independent reading time. As Routman stated, “While excellent teaching is essential, without time to practice and read extensively, students will not become readers”.

Stephanie Henson's November Post- Miller (2013) Section 2: Why Not? What Works?

During my reading of this section I took away one key point - independent reading impacts students becoming better readers and scoring higher on standardized testing.  Although I have my own opinions of standardized tests, these assessments and score reports are often analyzed to develop student profiles.  I actually shared my own "homework" assignment with my Kidwatching focus group and read to them from page 12, "Students who read independently an hour a day scored at the 98th percentile on standardized tests.." First, my focus group was amazed to hear that I, as their teacher, had to go to "class" and complete "homework." Secondly, having them relate to the information was inspiring. I could see them calculating how much they read at home and discussing this among themselves,  One young lady raised her hand and quietly confessed "I don't read at home very much and when I do I just read to myself." Of course I instantly thought that for her to improve she needed to hear her fluency and the type of mistakes she was making. These thoughts led to developing an incentive chart for her to read aloud into the voice recorder of her cell phone (a device she enjoys using). Hopefully, this plan will allow her to read independently but feel that it is important enough for someone to listen to her efforts. As a special education teacher, providing ways my students can feel ownership of their abilities, is the first step to development of these abilities.

Sarah McClure's November Blog Post: Miller (2013) Section 2: Why Not? What Works?

Sarah McClure's November Blog Post: Miller (2013) Section 2: Why Not? What Works?

In this section Miller does a great job of citing statistics to back up the claim that independent reading among our students matters.  As addressed in the second sub section, If We Know Independent Reading Is Effective, Why Don’t We Do It?, teachers don’t always feel the freedom to do what we know is best practice for our students.  Although many reasons are stated for teachers not giving the time to independent reading, I feel it mainly boils down to fear.  Teachers are under extreme pressure to produce high standardized test scores from their students at the culmination of the year.  We are fearful of not having enough time to “cover” all of our standards.  Ironically, according to multiple studies, it is providing the students with time to read that will increase their achievement.  “The more children read, the better their comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency” (Miller and Moss, 2013, pg. pg. 13).

 I believe that nurturing growing readers and allowing students the opportunity to fall in love with books will produce positive results across the curriculum, however giving up control is never an easy thing to do.  Learning to provide students with structured focus in the context of IR is a process.  Miller and Moss cite time, choice, instruction and modeling as key components for success with independent reading. 

Having a large and diverse classroom library is also an important component in finding success with independent reading.  I love to buy books for my classroom.  I get most of them second hand at thrift stores and yard sales.  I keep them sorted in tubs by genres and favorite authors.  The trouble I find is in creating room in the classroom to display them all.  The students also often put them back in the wrong spot sometimes, making it difficult to find a certain selection.  

Lorraine Walker's November Blog Post: Reading Essentials by Regie Routman - Chapter 3 Share Your Reading Life

Lorraine Walker’s November Blog Post: Reading Essentials by Regie Routman – Chapter 3 Share Your Reading Life

Many teachers have read this chapter and enjoyed it very much. Many of those same teachers also love reading and shared some of their love for reading in their blogs. But for me – the chapter made me feel bad because I do not love reading. Most of my reading life in school revolved around assigned books and then I had to analyze them to death. This was difficult because I do not recall receiving any instruction on transacting with text. Because I have been reading and learning more about reading instruction over the past year, I can look back at my own instruction and see many gaps that impacted the joy of reading. Maybe that is why I keep preaching the importance of independent reading.

Routman explains the importance of sharing one’s own reading life. I had a friend in high school that loved to read and she was the one who shared her reading life with me. She, her mother, and sisters loved reading romance novels. My friend loaned me some of hers and that is when I began to enjoy reading. I read several books but soon lost interest because they were so predictable. However, the joy I received from becoming consumed by a book was enough for me to seek out other books. I soon learned that I enjoyed reading realistic fiction/adventure/mystery novels. I read several books about the Chicago mafia and I have read most of Sydney Sheldon’s books. If I were back in the classroom I would have something to share.

One strategy suggested in the chapter is to create a class chart of favorite authors and books. I meet with my Kidwatching group weekly so I think we will begin our own little list and see where that takes us!

Jordan Varn: Chapter Four: Teach with a Sense of Urgency

Urgency. When I first read this word, my heart felt like it skipped a beat. Teach with urgency. Not a minute wasted. At first, I felt rushed and like a massive weight was weighing on my shoulders. Then, I stop and thought about the word in a sense of reading. I rethought my initial idea of this word, and my shoulders began to relax and new sense of wonder and excitement over took my mind. Students need to learn to read with "urgency". Students need to learn to fall in love with reading and not want to waste a minute while reading their books. In chapter four, Routman discusses how and why we, as teachers, should teach our students with urgency. When students enter fifth grade, they have developed "reading habits". Reteaching students reading behaviors is a daunting task. However, one thing students want to do more than anything is read. And read! And read! If students already have a desire to read, it is my job to lead them to become better and stronger readers. I really enjoyed the lists of things that teachers do to ensure that students become excellent readers. Things that stuck out were "evaluate students regularly", "give students time to talk about their reading", and "set aside a significant block of time for reading". Something that my current class also likes to do is talk! Why not use all the time I have with these students and have them discuss their books with their classmates? This is a great way to have reluctant readers become more interested in reading because they are more likely going to listen to their peers than their teacher. Another thing I need to be sure of is giving my students more time to actually READ. When most students go home, they don't read like they need to do. In my classroom, I can ensure they have the correct environment with many choices of literature that are interesting and engaging. The last thing that stood out was to evaluate students regularly. One thing I noticed when I started teaching was how students loved getting a chance to read with me. Every day they would say "Can I read to you?" As I have started in fifth grade, students are less likely to ask this because they are becoming more mature independent readers. However, they should still be held accountable. Reading conferences are key to evaluating students with their independent reading. The student brings the book he or she is currently reading in that moment. You can quickly listen to the student to see how well his or her fluency and comprehension is with the level of book. While students are reading independently, I need to use the most of my time and teach with urgency and make a difference in as many readers each day.

Marsha Ross Routman-Chapter 3-Share Your Reading Life November Blog

Routman-Chapter 3-Share Your Reading Life

       When I began reading this chapter, I took a moment to think of myself as a reader.  I love to read for pleasure.  I love to cuddle up with a blanket and a warm drink and read.  I like to get lost in the book and not put it down.  There are many nights that I do not want to go to sleep because I have to know what’s going to happen next or how the story is going to end.

       I have lots of friends that read on their Nooks or Kindles but for me I like the feel of the book.  I have always said you can see if a book was good by its wear and tear.  The way it was held, the folds in the pages can tell so much about the reader’s experience.  I do not like to get to books from the library.  I like to own them.

       I once read a book that had a great impact on me, but I don’t remember its title or author.  It was juvenile fiction.  It was about a boy who was an orphan.  On his eighteenth birthday, he was free to leave the orphanage and enter the adult world on his own.  He was able to take all his things with him and he did. All he had was a couple of pairs of clothes and all the books he had ever read.  When asked about them, he referred to them as his history.  They were everything he had accomplished, and every place that he had traveled.  They were his background knowledge to the world.

      I think that is the way that we want our children to see the books they read.  We want them to love them and experience them.  We want them to enjoy them.  I thought it was very sad that reading for enjoyment rarely comes up when asked why you think we spend so much time reading.  Unfortunately, there is a large amount of children in the world today that come from homes that are not full of books and the background knowledge that comes with them.  Sometimes the only books they see are at school and the only readers they see are at school.  At schools where students do not have independent reading times and independent book selections students will only see reading as a way of learning.  Students are like sponges and they learn from watching those around them.  If they see others reading for enjoyment they will want to as well.  They need to know that teachers read when they leave the classroom and they do it because they want to not have to.  If they see us as readers and sharing what we are reading they will want to do it too.  It is no different than the child in the book center sitting at the easel reading a big book copying the teacher’s mannerisms.  Students learn from example.

Annie Cherry November Blog, Reading Essentials Chapter 3, Share Your Reading Life, by Regie Routman

The big idea that I took away from this chapter was to lead by example!  I love to read, I always have a book in progress, perhaps two.  When I am shopping and see books, I am immediately drawn to pour over each jacket and debate whether I need it or not.  I get excited about book shopping like most women get excited about shoe shopping.  I have loved to read my entire life.  Much like the author, I need to own the book, I need to hold it in my hands.   Those of us who feel that way are uninterested in a tablet with a downloaded book on it!  "Reading gives me joy, comfort, perspective, new ideas, questions to ponder, and connections to other lives." (Routman, 24).  I completely agree with that statement, but I have always wondered how to convey that message to my kindergarten students.
I gained so many ideas from reading this chapter.  I believe that I will start a reading record for myself that I can share with my students.  These youngest readers and learners are like little sponges and they will emulate what they see.  I believe that if I show them my love of reading, it will inspire them to read.  I also think that showing them the variety of genres that I enjoy will encourage them to try new things like reading poetry or articles.   I also think that we, as educators, take so much of the joy from reading when we ask the children to do too many assignments with a text.  Simply allow them to read for the joy of reading!  If we do this, I think we will inspire many more children to become life long readers.  And that, after all, is the point, right?  

Laura Emory Post 5 Routman Chapter 3: Share Your Reading Life

     I enjoyed reading the ideas and suggestions Routman had for us to share our love of reading with students.  I love talking with my students about the books I read at their age and what books I still love to read.  Unfortunately, I am not a big reader during the school year, but I read a lot during summer and winter break.  I do however read nonfiction texts like magazines, newspaper articles, recipes, crafting articles, and things that I can access on the internet.  Students look up to us as educators and look to us for direction, so we must talk with them and be open and honest as we guide by example.  I share with my students what I am reading and we often discuss the last text we read, but I have never thought to bring in the books to show them or to keep a reading log to share with the students.  I also love the idea of having a book club in the classroom.  We have used Padlet this year to share with others what we are reading and why we enjoyed it, but it is so much more personal when we can talk face to face. 

     Another aspect of this chapter that I liked was the section on respecting parent’s busy lives.  We often ask parents to sign off on homework or a reading log, but they are busy just like we are.  If we can teach our students and model what we expect from them, they will be able to complete these tasks without the help of their parents.  As a school of leaders, we must find new and exciting ways for our students to lead, and allowing them to help their parents out is a great way of showing leadership at home!

Laura Brown's November Blog Post : Teaching With a Sense of Urgency

            In this chapter, Routman states that our students should become "self-sustaining, thoughtful, independent readers and writers." This statement made me think about my own students. Am I doing everything I can do to achieve this goal for my students? I have seen many students this year enjoy reading and writing so much more when they are given a choice what to read and write. However, just giving students choice is not going to make them the kind of readers and writers that they should and can be. We also as educators need to set high expectations for our students as well as keep them accountable for their learning goals. The students do very well when I let go of some of the control and give it to them. This goes hand in hand with setting high expectations and holding them accountable. 
          Routman also gives five things that we as educators can do in our classrooms to make sure that our students become independent readers. One thing we need to have is a good classroom library. This way students have access to all kinds of books in the classroom so that all interests and levels are present. Another way to ensure good readers is for educators to know their teaching strategies. Teachers can't help students to become better readers if they don't understand and can't teach the strategies themselves. The next thing the teachers need to be doing is to show students that we are readers. This will definitely motivate the students to want to read more if they see others reading and loving to read as well. The fourth thing that Routman suggests is to evaluate the strategies learned and practiced by the student and give feed back within an appropriate time. This allows the teacher and the student to monitor and adjust the strategies and what next steps should be taken. The last task that teachers should be doing in their classrooms is to allow the students to choose what they want to read and actually give them time to do so. There is nothing like learning more about something you are truly interested in. 

Lori Crumpton Post #5 December Routman Chapter 4 Teach with a Senses of Urgency

   Teaching with a Sense of Urgency points out many things that teachers can do to help inspire reading in their students.  Ideas like modeling reading to include strategies, and thinking skills, enables students to gain independence in their reading. This allows them to accelerate with confidence. Interactive reading where students partner with others to share their thinking even if only for two or three minutes is another way to get students talking and sharing their thinking skills and gaining independence in understanding.  Teachers setting up excellent classroom libraries and evaluating students regularly. All of this helps to ensure that students become excellent readers.  The author giving tips and ways to make every moment in the classroom count has been a great help.

Kristin Humphries November Blog Post 4: Teaching With A Sense of Urgency

          As I began to read Teaching with a Sense of Urgency, I stopped to think about what this title means to me as a teacher. Do I teach with a sense of urgency? Am I doing everything that I can do to reach each of my students and do I challenge them each day? As I continued to read, I came across these words by Routman, “We need to support students in becoming more self-sustaining, thoughtful, independent readers and writers.” I know that it is very difficult to give complete independence over to our students. We want to guide them the entire way. I have seen that my students benefit from my directions and expectations when working on projects. They soar as they complete projects that required them to independently read, research, and then take that information to create their project. I know that there are still more ways that I can help them to be more independent with reading and writing.

Routman also provides a top five things to do to ensure excellent readers list. She explains that it is important to demonstrate reading by initiating, modeling, explaining, and thinking aloud. It is important to provide an excellent classroom library. Students should have choice in what they read and should have time to read the material. They should be taught strategies they need to process and understand text. Students should be evaluated so that they are provided feedback that they can use to help set goals. These are excellent points that will be very beneficial to me as I continue to grow as a reading teacher.

Chrissa Hurley

Routman(2003), Ch.3: Share your Reading Life

“What kinds of messages am I sending with the work that I am structuring?”….This is a question that every educator should be asking themselves. Worksheet after worksheet does not promote reading growth let alone a love for reading. It is our responsibility to foster a “reading friendly” environment, and if we regret to exude positive experiences in our classrooms then we have failed as teachers. It is essential to model and share our reading experiences with our students because in most cases we are the only model visible in their lives.

Chrissa Hurley

Miller (2013), Section 2: Why Not? What Works? Why Independent Reading Matters and the Best Practices to Support It

“It is important that we balance school reading opportunities with choice reading experiences”…. ”. I have been guilty of requiring my students to fill out graphic organizers, respond to questions, and assess comprehension by multiple choice questions. We need to make sure that each student is actually reading and responding with meaningful activities that in turn promote reading comprehension instead of focusing on the actual worksheets themselves. Independent reading time can be factored into the special education classroom as well as the general education classroom.