Quote: "Students develop this endurance through reading books at their independent level. Teachers typically include extended opportunities each day for independent reading of self-selected texts through Sustained Silent Reading."
Comment: I think that independent silent reading is one of the best ways to get students to read books on their own. Reading on their own will allow students to imagine the things that are happening in the books for themselves and develop a love of reading.
Question: How do we get our students to choose books that are at an appropriate level? How do we motivate our students to do silent reading outside of class?
Last year in my Children's Literature class we read a book called "The Book Whisperer". It was by a middle school English teacher who devoted most of her class time to helping students learn to love reading. She worked hard to find out what her students were interested in outside of school. Then she found books about those topics, and at the appropriate reading level, and placed them on the student's desk for the student to examine and choose from. It was purely voluntary, and the student didn't have to chooose from the books selected, but it gave them ideas of what to read. I think for independent reading it's important not to restrict students based on reading level. As long as they're reading and enjoying the reading, they're gaining from the experience. I'm not sure what I'd do if a student was choosing literature below their reading level, but I'd definitely let a student select material above their level if they wanted. If I could tell a student was getting frustrated by their reading, I'd try to make suggestions for different reading.
ReplyDeleteAs far as motivating students to read outside of class, I think it's important to give students enough independent reading time in class to get hooked on a book that they'll want to take home to read. As teachers, we can even require that the students read a certain amount of time from anything of their choosing outside of the classroom.