
My summer reading this year consisted of No More Independent Reading Without Support (Debbie Miller and Barbara Moss), Readicide (Kelly Gallagher) and Read, Write, Lead (Regie Routman). Interestingly enough, one message seems to come through loud and clear from all three books. The message is that if we want our students to read and continue to keep on reading once they leave our classrooms, then we need to give them time to read during the school day. Kelly Gallagher calls it "free voluntary reading" time or FVR. While his perspective is based on the US school system and all the testing that is happening, he strongly supports students being given reading time during the school day. Students who read a lot show stronger vocabulary, fluency and comprehension skills than those who are taught reading by focusing only on isolated skills. In Moss and Miller's book, it is stated that teachers do all this "stuff about reading" but students seldom get the time to practice what is being taught by actually reading. This book talks about finding the minutes during the day to spend on in the act of reading. Regie Routman states one of the most important things in teaching reading is "extended time spent reading self-selected books."
All three authors are delivering the same message. If we want students to be life long readers we must encourage this in the classroom by giving students extended periods of time for reading. But we can't just sit back and watch our students as they engage in the act of reading. We need to support with conferencing and setting goals with each student in regards to where they are with reading and where they need to be. Our students must be allowed to choose much of what they want to read and then teachers support them during reading conferences. So I urge you to think about your classroom this coming September and think about how you can best provide your students with time for reading with your support.
All three authors are delivering the same message. If we want students to be life long readers we must encourage this in the classroom by giving students extended periods of time for reading. But we can't just sit back and watch our students as they engage in the act of reading. We need to support with conferencing and setting goals with each student in regards to where they are with reading and where they need to be. Our students must be allowed to choose much of what they want to read and then teachers support them during reading conferences. So I urge you to think about your classroom this coming September and think about how you can best provide your students with time for reading with your support.