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.
Sarah - You have such a good rapport with your students. Between the course, the Read to Succeed law, and the evidence that supports independent reading, there is no need for any of us to fear. I also think that the way you have integrated skills into the IR time is excellent use of the time you have with the children.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteExcellent job reflecting on this chapter. I loved the research Miller sites that shows how increasing the amount of independent reading students do improves their reading comprehension, fluency, accuracy, etc. Of course it does! I agree with the article though, that many times instead of providing students with time to read and apply we do a lot of activities about reading. I am thankful of the many ways you support our students as readers. Thanks, Dawn