Based on results from my original classroom action research where I was working to improve sustained silent reading time, I began to share my techniques for helping students choose books — at first with other language arts teachers in my school, and later through sharing stories and classroom moments with teachers and librarians throughout the county. After four years as a mentor teacher and several years as a language arts department chair, I began to find ways to “package” the strategies I had used in my classroom. My goal is to share the steps I’ve used to engage students in other teachers’ classrooms to improve their ability to select books for sustained silent reading, as well as strategies for teachers to conference with students on their reading. The value lies in better reading, writing, fluency and comprehension and in creating a culture of engaged readers.
Making teachers and students self-aware is the foundation of creating a successful monitored reading/independent reading time
READ MORE: Where this all came from
— When implementing Monitored Reading (MR – student self-selected reading time) in my classroom, the whispering, rustling, and repeated trips to the book shelf spoke of lack of success and engagement. I notice that those who are most restless are also less successful in a conference with me (also part of the MR program) … they don’t “know” their book.
— Initially I thought I could seek help from the other LA teachers who were also implementing MR but what I learn is all of them are having difficulties. There are too many students who cannot find a book to engage in and therefore frequently disrupt others.
–An Action Research (grad school) assignment caused me to formalize my steps and strategies.
Creating Student self-awareness:
— I asked students to journal about “What do you do during Monitored Reading time?” Many indicated they wanted to read but couldn’t find a book to read – so they talked/drew/etc.
— I invited two students each day to be “co-researchers” and they made notes on who was reading and who seemed engaged (and what made them think so). Inadvertently this made them more aware of good (and poor) behaviors. So, yes, I often asked those who tended to be disruptive to be the co- researcher. But their feedback was very insightful for them and me.
Choosing a Book:
— I began to ask “how do you select a book?” in hopes of learning successful students’ techniques. The journal responses and activities around this led to a classroom survey I use to assess strategies or activities students do to choose a book. After determining what techniques students use, we found an important factor was using several and different techniques – so I create a personal survey around how often they use each type of technique. This knowledge and self-awareness turned out to be a crucial factor in student engagement and ability to stick with a book
–After months of notes, observations and correlations I find that students who use more techniques to select a book are staying engaged and know their books.
We Learn Together
— During this time I am also making my “learning” visible to the students. Their growing self-awareness is reflected in their journal responses
— Part of my MR time now includes discussions about what readers do and what they think about when selecting a book. I “display” my classroom library by having student apply what they learned about book selection through a Book Bag Browsing activity. Then I ask them in conference and/or journal how their book selection has been influenced/changed
— based on a later grad class I explored the research and found my experiences were the norm, not a fluke caused by me. So I began to try conversations and activities and found strategies that work – in my classroom and beyond.