Beth Lovett's Post 1: Miller Section 2

I didn’t intend for this to be so long but I guess I got into it more than I expected I would!  After participating in a book study on Guiding Readers and Writers by Fountas and Pinnell I decided to start with the Miller/Moss book, section 2: Why Independent Reading Matters and the Best Practices to Support It.  I started using the reading workshop method two years ago and I’m constantly trying to improve the function of this in my classroom so I was particularly interested in the Best Practices part of this chapter.  I already know that independent reading in the classroom is essential and improves student achievement.  I already know that students need the opportunity to select what they read and they need access to a wide range of reading materials.  My struggles come with the remaining needs of students (as listed in this chapter):  explicit instruction about what, why, and how readers read; teacher assessment and support during independent reading; and that students need to talk about what they read.

What I’ve learned related to the struggles mentioned above and will improve on in my classroom:  (1) Miller notes that students need exposure to a variety of genres and genre-specific reading instruction.  Students need to have exposure to more than one type of literature so they can learn the variety of ways authors use different tools and structures to communicate ideas. Students need to track their genre encounters.  I will do a better job of exposing my students to books that represent each of the genres instead of only teaching genre definitions. I like the genre wheel from p. 20 and will copy that for my students to use.  (2) I really need to model how to talk about texts.  The author states that “Text discussions can enhance critical thinking, metacognition, and the ability to structure arguments.” Also, in section 3 it states that “talking about texts together not only improves comprehension and makes children aware of how they can use strategies according to the kind of text and the demands it places on them as readers, but also motivates them to read independently so that they’ll have something to talk about with their peers.”  Read alouds are an excellent time to model meaningful talk about books.  (3) I need to be more consistent with my student conferences.  Miller and Moss state that “Conferring during independent reading time can be a meaningful way to make students accountable, provide individual help and guidance, and assess reading progress.”  Successful teacher behaviors in conferences can involve the teacher responding to student questions; teacher-led discussions of books; teacher monitoring and modeling of comprehension strategies; feedback on students’ reading; an evaluation of fluency; goal setting for text completion and future reading.  In addition, it can be a time when students choose how he/she will respond to the text when finished reading.  This is another new activity that I want to try.  Instead of constantly having students either take an AR test or write a reading response, I’d like to give them the opportunity to share in a more artistic way what they’ve gleaned from the book.  Examples can include art work, music, technology, drama, etc.  We are a steAm school after all.

I’m anxious to continue reading section 3 of this book.  I’ve jumped into it a little during this first sit-down and I notice a section with 10 “Tactics Teachers Can Use to Keep Things Hopping During IR.”  This looks like a concise list of how to successfully implement independent reading into any classroom.  It sounds like a good motivational poster for the teacher desk!