This book was really wonderful. The author's writing style made it both quick and fun to read. I love the way she writes so much - it's like I can hear her talking to me. She has really inspired me to find more creative ways to make sure that my students are "stealing time" to read as often as possible. I would highly recommend this book to any teacher: new, seasoned, content area, elementary, intermediate, middle school, high school - I could go on, but you get the picture.
Big Takeaways:
*Read, just read.
*Take any and all "wasted instructional time" and use it to encourage students to read independently. Students can be "trained" to read during interruptions, while waiting to do certain things, when they have finished their other assignments, when there are just a few minutes left in class, etc. etc.
*It is so important to model being a good reader to your students. When they see you reading and hear about your experiences with reading, they are so much more likely to engage in and enjoy reading themselves. It is equally important to share your struggles with the reading process. This lets students know that they are not alone and that you too have your difficulties when reading certain books. This makes you more real and approachable and it also encourages students to keep at it even when things get tough. At the same time, it lets them know that it is okay to stop reading a book if they are just not interested, not getting anywhere, or are just plain done with it. We do not have to finish every singe book we start.
*Build your classroom library not only with your own selections for reading, but be sure to include your students interests, opinions, and suggestions in your library. Always make sure there are so many choices of books to read that each individual student must be able to find a book that suits them.
*Talk with your students and respect them. Let them know that you are in this together and that you love reading, you struggle with reading, you use strategies, you know that they use strategies, you want to talk about what they are reading, you are interested in them and what they are reading.
Implications for Instruction:
*Set aside at least 10 minutes for students to read books of their choice independently. I only see students for 40-80 minutes a day and I would love to give them more time (maybe set aside a specific day for reading), but I think 10 minutes is an attainable goal and will improve their listening, speaking, reading, writing, literacy, and critical thinking skills so much that maybe I will end up setting aside even more time for independent reading.
*Nothing is set in stone - I can change things at any time. If I try something "wonderful" and it fails, that's okay (and it doesn't make me a horrible teacher). These are learning experiences and I can modify, remove, completely re-work, or do anything else I want with a lesson or with an activity to make sure that it is helping my students reach their academic goals.
*I need more books in my classroom library. I already knew this, but this book just reinforced the fact that I can and will never have too many books in my library. I should ask my students what they would like to read about or what their favorite books they have read are and use their answers to select more books for my classroom. This will increase their motivation to read independently and let them know that I respect them and their opinions and ideas.
*Teaching reading does not have to be strategy driven; it can be a more aesthetic process and this will actually increase student motivation when it comes to reading. Reading for pleasure is reading academically - they are not two separate things. It is important to validate student's choices when reading and construct activities in response to their reading that encourages the class's overall goals, but that is not a cookie cutter assignment for all of the students.
*When creating assessments, make them authentic and practical - they can be oral, written, drawn or whatever else demonstrates that the students are understanding the big ideas no matter what individual books they may be reading.
Points I would like to question/challenge:
*Where is the time in the day to do all of this? I love how easy she makes it sound, but I barely have enough time to accomplish my objectives as it is, how can I implement time to read independently and use this activity to accomplish my objectives instead?
*Can I really get every single student in my classroom interested in reading? I hope so and I will always have high expectations for my students, especially when it comes to reading, but I feel like there is always that one student...
*How do I get my administration to realize the importance of setting aside a chunk of time daily for independent, choice reading is important and will help students in the long run academically and increase their standardized test scores?
Kristen,
I agree with your comment on the author's writing style. Her conversational tone throughout the book made me feel as if we are two friends chatting about what's going on in her classroom. Most of your key takeaways mirror my own so we're in complete agreement there! I appreciate you highlighting the question about time. Since you are in the classroom currently, you have more knowledge about this area than I do. Time was something I questioned as well. Especially since I don't think elementary schedules are the same as middle school schedules. I also share your concern about getting 'every single student.' I think she mentioned that there was one or two students that didn't meet the 40 book requirement but they read 20 books. The author still considered it a win since this student hadn't read any books last year. I guess since her requirement is much higher than the school requirement, she has some wiggle room with students. In the end, she got them reading. I find it disappointing that after she instills a love of reading in her students while she has them, other teachers don't follow the same route.
