Leigh Holliday, Blog 1:  Section 2:  Why Not?  What Works?  Why Independent Reading Matters and the Best Practices to Support It

Providing time for my students to have independent reading time has been an eye opening experience in kindergarten. In the past years, I have had my students read quietly so we will not disturb others. However, independent reading in kindergarten looks quite different in room K5. During Reader’s Workshop my students have the opportunity to read by themselves or with a partner. This time is spent on reading books in their book bag of leveled readers, look books (looking at their favorite book and retelling), and two books that are more challenging. This reading time is social (or so hard to keep the little ones on task) but engaging as students read together by retelling stories or finding sight words they have learned and talking about the books.

Barbara Moss states in this section that independent reading is an essential practice where children are developing background knowledge, improving fluency and comprehension, increasing reading achievement, motivating readers, and expanding their vocabulary. She also says that students who read independently for an hour a day scored at the 98^th percentile on standardized tests, while students who read only less than five minutes a day scored in the 50^th percentile, and students who did not participate in out-of-school reading scored at the 2^nd percentile. As a mother, I can agree with her because I did not encourage my own children to read independently in their early childhood. I have seen my first born struggle with writing and comprehension. I honestly felt like he would mature into a reader. As a late bloomer educator, I now realize the importance of independent reading.

As teachers we should provide time for independent reading. I have seen first-hand that parents of kindergartners are not involved in their child’s learning. This makes me believe that some students are not given opportunities to read away from school. Because we cannot control what happens away from school, we can control the opportunity for them to read during the day. This should include a variety of texts and giving students the support they need as they learn to read.