Take the Journey: Putting Independent Reading into Practice

1. Take the Journey: Putting Independent Reading into Practice

2. Norms for this Discussion • Be Open • Actively listen • Ask questions • Contribute your ideas • Begin Planning Your Own Journey

3. Three Pillars of Independent Reading School * Classroom * Home

4. Students who read independently become better readers, score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas, and have greater content knowledge than those who do not. Krashen1993; Cunningham and Stanovich 1991; Stanovich and Cunningham 1993, cited in School Media Research (2000, v. 3) Independent Reading and School Achievement

5. At every age level, reading more pages in school and at home each day (on the child’s reading level) is associated with higher reading scores. At each grade Level, students who read more pages every day are more likely to achieve the proficient level of performance on the NAEP Reading Assessment. Richard Allington, 3rd ed. 2011

6. “Reading volume predicts reading growth in struggling readers.” Richard Allington What Really Matters for Struggling Readers, ed.3 (Pearson 2012)

7. Educator’s Briefing, Scientific Learning Reading Assistant, March 2008

8. Getting Started • Staff surveys to assess understanding and practice • Classroom Walkthroughs to get a visual picture • Classroom Library inventories

9. What We Learned About Our Staff: • Limited evidence of independent reading during core instruction or at other times • Major gaps in what teachers know and what they do • Some classrooms had fairly good libraries, others had very, very little and they were not organized or accessible to students

10. Start with Professional Development: Common understanding of Independent Reading Moss & Young, (2010) Creating Lifelong Readers Through Independent Reading

11. Think, Write, Turn and Talk • Think and Write: • What is your current understanding of Independent Reading? • What is your staff’s understanding of Independent Reading? • What would it take to get them to buy-in? • What is the current reality about independent reading in your school? What is the evidence that backs your thinking? 2. Write down your thoughts 3. Turn and Talk to your neighbors about what you’re thinking

12. Classroom Libraries: Essential to Independent Reading

13. The research base on student selected reading is robust and conclusive. . . Students read more, understand more, and are more likely to continue reading when they have the opportunity to choose what they read. The two most powerful factors for improving reading motivation and comprehension are 1) student access to many books 2)personal choice of what to read. Allington & Gabriel, Every Child, Every Day, Educational Leadership, March 2012 - references 2004 research by Guthrie & Humenick.

14. Good Classroom Libraries Have: • 300-1500 books • A balanced variety of text types (non-fiction, literature, poetry, etc.) • Organization that makes sense to the students: genre, authors, topics, levels, etc. • Organized in crates or baskets that are clearly labeled with genre, author, topic, or level or a variety of these • There are at least two levels of books above and two levels below the grade level

15. Building and Maintaining the Classroom Libraries: • Teachers need about $300.00/year for the libraries • Sources of Money: • Title I $$ • District General Budget • School Budget • Book Club points • Book Fair $$ • Donations from business • Parent and family donations (classroom wishlist) • Instead of appreciation gifts to the teacher – how about book for the classroom library • PTA • Donors Choose • First Books

16. Think, Write • 1. Take a minute to think about the classroom libraries in your school: • What do teachers need to improve and refresh their libraries? • What are resources you could tap into to support classroom libraries? • What training or capacity building do your teachers need to build great classroom libraries? • 2. Write down some ideas and next steps

17. What about summer? What about students who do not have access to books? • Give books as rewards (example: PTA fundraiser award, attendance awards, positive behavior awards) • Hold book swaps and have families bring books and take books • Do a summer bookmobile • Give books away at the beginning of each vacation break • Join the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge and Read for the World Record! • Make phone calls in the summer reminding students to read • Partner with the Public Librarians to do presentations and sign up for library cards

18. School Name: HIGHLANDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Rank:81 Minutes Read:293166

19. Booktalks: The power of sharing books • Kids want to read what other kids are reading! • A booktalk is: • A brief, engaging presentation designed to create interest in a book • Share just enough to entice someone else to read it and raise interest • Students and adults can do book talks • The principal and teachers can model book talks

20. Booktalks • When? • Daily (or almost daily) • Morning announcements • At the beginning of the school day in class • At the beginning of reading block • Staff Meetings

21. So how do we create time for more reading?

22. Creating Time • How often are students “pulled out” from the classroom for ELL, OT, Speech, special education services, reading and math interventions, etc. • Is our instructional day organized in a way to maximize large blocks of instructional time? • Are students who need core instruction the most leaving the classroom at important times? • Could the “pull out” be turned into “push in” and become part of differentiated instruction?

23. Creating Time • Things to think about: • District, State, and Federal Mandates for programs • Current time structure: • Core Reading Instruction • Core Math Instruction • Special Education service time • Interventions (RTI extended learning) • ELL service • PE, Music, Library • Contractual obligations (conference and planning, breaks, etc.)

24. Creating Time • Analyze your day, how can we increase instructional time within the current day? • Collaboratively create a new reality (invite teachers, specialists, paras to the table to think about the big pieces and how to make it work) • Re-think the master schedule • Consider common times for extended learning interventions • Ensure that Core Instructional times are sacred and untouched by pull-outs and interruptions • Think about providing push-in services as part of differentiated instruction • Think about co-teaching (General Ed/ELL or General Ed/SPED) • Implementing Reading Workshop

25. More on Time: • Ensure that Core Instructional times are sacred and untouched by pull-outs and interruptions • Think about providing push-in services as part of differentiated instruction • Think about co-teaching (General Ed/ELL or General Ed/SPED) • Implementing Reading Workshop

26. Here’s what one principal found when he analyzed the amount of time students spent in pull-out programs:

27. Balanced Literacy/Reading Workshop • Balanced Literacy or Reading Workshop style allows opportunities to imbed independent reading into the school day in meaningful and supportive ways and may include: • Whole class instruction: Mini-lessons • Application of skill from mini-lesson through independent reading practice • 1:1 instruction and assessment: conferring • Students read self-selected “just right books” • Small group instruction: flexible, small groups for differentiation • Increased ownership and accountability by students for their own learning

28. Think, Write, Turn and Talk • Think : • What strategies your are currently using that support independent reading? • What strategies you would like to incorporate into your literacy program? 2. Write down what you may want to consider or new ideas you’re having 3. Turn and Talk to your neighbors about ideas you have

29. Current Status • This spring we conducted classroom observations: • More independent reading is evident • Students are talking about books more • Classroom libraries are growing – every teacher has one and they are using them (the students are excited about them)

30. Now: • We know we now have a common understanding about IR • We have strategies give students access to books at school and home • What we haven’t done: • Parent involvement hasn’t been developed

31. Next Steps for Highlands • Professional Development: • Organizing classroom libraries and maintaining classroom libraries • Establishing Booktalks as a daily event in EVERY classroom • Conferring • Implementing Reading Workshop • Parent Outreach

32. What can Principals Do? • Model: booktalks, model questioning, model building a library, read kit lit • Create a leadership team to guide the work • Independent Reading is built into the strategic plan or school improvement plan • Set goals to increase the number of minutes or the number of books read by students • Work to remove the barriers of time, money, resources • Set the expectations for all teachers • Monitor and hold people accountable

33. Talk to students about what they are reading • Stay current on kid lit • Direct resources toward books for students: direct budgets, seek • Use the free resources on Scholastic.com/bookfairs • Read the ReaderLeader for inspiration and ideas • Talk to other principals • Include district level leaders in your thinking and ask for their support

34. What will you do to build a strong independent reading culture in your school?