Response to Independent Reading – 3/22

What I consider to be one of the most beneficial things I learned while studying independent reading is what my role is as a teacher. Gambrell stated that the new SSR format requires teachers to transition from their traditional passive role in this setting to an active role in which they engage their students during the silent reading time (as cited in Moss & Young, 2010, p.19). What I had been taught in my undergraduate courses was the importance of modeling my own reading during SSR time. According to what I was previously taught, by seeing me enjoy reading my students would be inspired to enjoy reading themselves. This model of independent reading made it difficult for me to validate devoting too much of my students’ time to independent reading. Sure they would be reading, but an administrator walking in wasn’t usually pleased to see a teacher sitting around reading a new novel. While I knew amount of reading was important in developing my students’ comprehension and vocabulary, the lack of structure during SSR time made me question the amount of learning that was truly going on during that time of the day. While Applegate and Applegate’s study showed that teachers’ reading habits truly do have an effect on their students’ motivation to read, I think I’ve discovered a more powerful way to share my passion for reading and inspire positive reading experiences for my students than just allowing them to watch me read. I know more how to properly conference with my students to ensure they’re learning while reading.

I truly hope that as I enter the classroom again I will be able to implement some form of the independent reading program proposed by Moss and Young (2010). What I appreciate most about this program, with 60 minutes of independent reading interspersed with teacher-student conferences, is that it allows true differentiation to occur. The level of book the student is reading can be differentiated as can the expected amount of reading and the topic of discussion during the conference. This openness to differentiation allows me to make sure each student is getting the support he or she needs. In addition, the focus lessons at the beginning of the 60 minute independent reading block create a time for me to instruct and direct the students on topics or issues that are of relevance to the whole class.  Students would be able to use the information presented in those focus lessons as needed during their own independent reading.

In addition to the 60-minute independent reading block, I like the idea of the 20-minute community reading time suggested by Moss and Young (2010). This time of book talks and interactive read-alouds creates the opportunity for the teacher to explicitly share his or her own love for reading and books. Students also get the chance to communicate their feelings towards certain books and learn about new books they may want to read in the future. Dr. Frye stated in her PowerPoint that one of the stumbling blocks of the traditional SSR program was that students get stuck in the same genre or series. The community reading time give exposure to new series and genres that students may have not previously considered, hopefully breaking them out of their reading rut.

In previous classrooms I had used the required basal texts for my whole class literacy lessons and novel sets of varying levels to work with small groups on independent/guided reading. As previously mentioned, I hope to implement Moss and Young’s (2010) plan in my future classrooms. In addition, I plan on changing how I build my classroom library. In the past I purchased the typical popular series like Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House, and Cam Jansen, and my students definitely loved them. My goal at the time was simply to have enough books for each student to be reading something at their level. After reviewing all of the websites suggested by Moss and Young (2010) and Dr. Frye, I think I will approach future classroom library growth with a little more consideration for the quality of books being purchased and read. I’ve always known to look out for the Newbery and Caldecott Award winners, but beyond that I didn’t have many resources for book recommendations besides my fellow teachers. Out of all the resources we examined, I found www.reading.org to be the most beneficial for fictional books. The teachers’ choice list showed me which books were considered to be quality literature by other teachers. The children’s choice list gave me insight into what books my students may be the most interested in. As for content-area non-fiction books, I enjoyed www.socialstudies.org and www.nsta.org. Obviously not all books on these lists would be relevant or readable for my individual students, but I can pick and choose as needed. What I liked about the lists compiled on these sites was the fact that professional teachers had reviewed and selected them. This allowed me to better trust the judgment behind the list compilation.

All of the articles and literature we’ve read about independent reading have given me a lot to think about in terms of my future teaching and classroom. I believe that by implementing this program I will be better able to meet my students’ individual needs and motivate them to choose to read more.