Independent Reading Workshop: “With Literacy for All”

1. Independent Reading Workshop: “With Literacy for All” Pathways to Independence in Secondary Classrooms Presenter: Jeanne Sesky

3. A Place Called School, John Goodlad “Less than 2 percent of each high school day was being spent on actual reading. In spite of research that supports independent reading time as a critical component in effective literacy programs… it affords “clocking up reading mileage”, many administrators and teachers have difficulty creating effective independent reading programs.

4. Two Kinds of Silent Reading S.S.R. vs. Independent Reading

5. S.S.R. • Time is negotiated around other events • Not the main structure of a reading program • 10-15 minutes • Irregular/Not Daily • Low-Priority • Students randomly choose books at any reading level • No strategy instruction • Minimal response expected • No teacher check-in • No authentic assessment

6. Independent Reading • Time is carefully planned • A main structure of reading program • 30-45 minutes • Strategies • Daily/Weekly routine built into schedule • Select books based on interest/reading level • Engage/Apply reading strategies • Rich/Deep response expected • Teacher acts as model • Small-Group/Individual conferencing • Teacher monitors growth through informal reading assessments

7. Types of Readers

8. Motivate I sit in the classroom with nothing to do, I don’t want to read, Then you say, “It’s all up to you.” I think to myself, “She must be crazy; I can read and write, But I’m too d--- lazy.” Then it happens--and I take a book off the shelf. If I fail this class, I’m failing myself.

9. “I Can’t” Readers • need help finding a book • need help starting • need help sticking to it • need choices offered • need constant monitoring

10. “I Don’t Know How” Readers • may get started and have a book (act like a student) • see no value in reading • reading doesn’t make sense to them • escape into other activities

11. “I’d Rather” Readers • would rather do something else • can read, but choose not to • need to find a reason to read • have a variety of strategies in place • disengaged

12. “I Don’t Care!” Readers • The most difficult to reach “non-reader” • Have well-built walls of disengagement • Are often avid, at/above grade-level readers • They do not “buy in” to traditional school settings • Respond best to extended/challenging activities

13. “True readers and writers are ‘self-winding’ and choose to read and write well beyond the care and guidance of the school system.” -- Margaret Mooney, 1991

14. What Takes Readers off the Path? • Lack of interest or motivation • Insufficient/inappropriate resources • Standards/testing • Absence of support • Inability to break the language barrier • Insufficient background knowledge • Lack of reading strategies • Insufficient reading experience • Inappropriate teacher intervention

15. Margaret Meek, Learning to Read: “But no exercise, however well ordered, will have the same effect of a genuine reading task that encourages the reader to learn what he wants to know as a result of his own initiative.” Lifelong learners are adept at making their own reading choices.

16. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement reportsthat “the most important factor in development of literacy is access to books.”

17. How do you know what is enjoyable and interesting to your students? What do you do to find out what they are interested in? Suggestions: Interviews Surveys Sentence Completions Quick Polls Listen to them Talk to them Book order forms/Amazon Enjoyment

18. How are your books arranged in your classrooms? Are they displayed for appearance? Are they organized by genre/theme? Are they clearly labeled? To encourage choice, have plenty of fiction and non-fiction: Poems Magazines Short stories Picture books Novels Information books Brochures Genres

19. Use Crates & Bins to separate titles, genres, themes… http://reviews.ebay.com/Organizing-a-Classroom-Library-by-Genre-for-teachers_ W0QQugidZ10000000001884395

21. Non-Fiction How to Books Science History Arts Humor Self-Help Comics Poetry Fiction Fantasy Mystery Humor Historical Fiction Science fiction Romance Adventure Books for Girls Books for Boys Genres

22. Ideas for Environment • Time of reading in instructional sequence • Seating arrangement: bean bags, pillows, solo seating, small-group seating, library access/passes • Lighting • Noise (white noise) • Audio Books: Recorded Books, Listening Library, Scholastic • Accountability: supportive tone, Status of the Class TIP: Ask your kids, “What gets in the way of reading?”

23. Map Your Room Locations: • Small-group instruction • Independent seating • Direction of desks • Audio-Support Consider how you will organize your library Consider how and when students may check out books. Consider how you will train students to use movement.

24. Independent reading is a unique and challenging approach to reading instruction. Teachers often struggle to let go of control in terms of book selection and assessment. Release of Responsibility encourages students to… Consider their time Begin to make choices Learn when to abandon a book Learn to find books according to: genre, author, topic, themes Find out that they can control their reading Letting Go

25. Supports for Independence Read Alouds Shared Reading Guided Reading “I believe that an assessment measure for effectiveness of these supports is whether those approaches led to engaged readers who display independence.” -- Janet Allen, Yellow Brick Roads Release of Responsibility

26. Guiding students towards appropriate choices… Book Pass Book Blurbs Book Talks www.scholastic.com/librarians/ab/booktalks.htm Book Reviews http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/reviews.htm Book Boards/Postings Let Me See

28. Choosing the “Just Right” Book • The Five Finger Rule • Tell your students that if they are not sure if the book is • "just right" or not then they can use the Five Finger Rule • to help them decide. • 1. Open to a page of the book. • 2. Begin reading. • 3. Each time you come to a word you don’t know, hold up 1 finger. • 4. After you finish reading the page, • check to see how many fingers you are holding up. • Too Easy: 0 - 1 fingers • Just Right: 2 - 3 fingers • Too Hard: 4 - 5 fingers

29. Cognitive Reading endurance Word knowledge World knowledge Reading fluency Content knowledge Comprehension Writing ability Affect Motivation Connectedness Community Sense of self Self-directedness Empathy Mental control Outcomes

30. Environment High affect for reading Distraction-free Comfortable Personal Supportive Audio books Conferencing Interactive Structures to Increase Independence Welcoming display Choice Topics of interest Self-inquiry Genre Author knowledge Connections Access Level of Involvement Authentic context Engaging Readers

31. Summative Assessment No turning back… STAR SRI Reading Counts A/R … less diagnostic information Authentic Assessment Informs my instruction… Reading Logs Reading journals Informal Inventories Running Records Conferencing Writing Performance Tasks Why Authentic Assessment?

32. Word Walls are not just for little kids! They work to focus your instruction and to act as a reminder of which academic and content vocabulary you are holding students accountable to learning Example A-B accountability acrid asymmetrical bilateral Word Walls

33. Using Language Frames as a Scaffold Solid repetition, using the same language frames and practicing the highlighting technique provides for authentic practice of careful reading strategies that can be transferred into the students' reading of other materials and also provides a scaffold for those students who are not yet in full production stages of their English acquisition. Language Frames to use while modeling lesson: • I see ___________________. • This makes me think _______________________. • I'm still wondering_______________________?

34. Why Support ELD? This kind of explicit instruction permits ELLs the kind of structure and guided practice needed to build solid understandings of how to interpret different kinds of texts that will be given to them to read in an array of contexts. If the ELL can comprehend the message a text is trying to convey and they use questioning, inferring and observing to do this, it will help build their reading skills, which in turn will help with their acquisition of English itself.

35. Ways to Support Oral Language Development • Sentence Frames/Sentence Starters • Book-Talk Time, Book Blurbs, Read Alouds • Time to read other students’ responses • Paired-Reading • Audio Books • Consider readability/age appropriateness/cultural diversity; also, lexiles, ZPD, or reading levels

36. Wellness Check Up • High-level of student engagement • Sense of shared community • Plethora of reading material • Students know what’s expected • Students know how they are accountable • Students show strategies/independence without supports • Assessments reveal increasing comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and writing skills • Students WANT to read!!!