Setting up for Independent Reading

DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Setting the Stage for Independent Reading  Time

 Literacy Environment

Appropriate Materials

Rituals, Routines, and Artifacts

Time

“When readers read less than 10-15 minutes at a time, they are

less likely to engage in reading, make connections and recall what they have read.”

--Linda Hoyt (2001)

Reading Workshop Writers Workshop Skills Block

25 min Whole Group Instruction (E*)         Mini-Lesson (Shared Reading)         Read Aloud

7-10 min Whole Group Instruction (E*)Focus on 2grade level genres each year

30min

Whole Group Direct Instruction (E*)• Phonics• Word work• Sentence Combining

60 min

Work Period 43 –48 min Work Period   • Conventions

Teachers are: (E*)• Instructing guided reading and/or• Holding reading conferences with 1 to 3 students  

Students are: (E*)• Reading independently • Partner reading • Engaging in book talks, • Engaging in book clubs• Writing in response journals• Doing author studies

Teachers are: (E*)• Conferencing with individual or small groups of students 

Students: (E*)1) Work on their writing and will be at various stages of the writing process: planning, drafting,meeting in response groups,revising, editing, publishing.2) Work on genre studies

 

5 min Closure 5 min Author’s Chair  

90 minutes 60 minutes 30 min

Literacy Environment

Large group area for meetings, demonstrations, and sharing

Literacy Environment

Areas for small group work

Literacy Environment

Rich classroom libraries, arranged purposefully in an inviting way

Literacy Environment

Comfortable spaces for reading

Literacy Environment Charts and Word Walls as a visual resource

Materials Just as we would not ask a doctor to heal

without medicine, so we should not ask teachers and schools to teach without the materials to do so. Reading material is basic to all education, and providing a rich supply of reading matter to children of all ages, as well as a place and time to read, is the first step to bridging the gap between poor and good readers.

--McQuillan (1998)

 

 

 “It is extremely important that students’ independent reading be within their control. They should be able to read these texts with ease and fluency so that they can concentrate on their responses and interpretations. Only by successfully processing texts they understand can they build reading power.”

 -- Fountas and Pinnell (2001)

 

Considerations for Analyzing Text to Match Students’ Reading Levels

Considerations for Text SelectionMatching Text to Students’ Reading Levels

 

Language Layout Content                    

   

Correlation of Different Leveling Systems

Grade level(Basal)

Stages of Reading Reading Recovery Levels

Guided Reading Levels

(Fountas & Pinnell)

Developmental Reading

Assessment (DRA) Levels

Kindergarten Early Emergent

Upper Emergent

Early Fluent

Fluent

 12

3-4

 ABC

A123

1st Grade 5-67-8

9-1011-1213-1415-16

DEFGHI

46-810121416

2nd Grade 18-2024-28

J-KL-M

18-2024-28

3rd Grade 3034-38

NO-P

3034-38

4th Grade 40 Q-RS-T

40

5th Grade 44 S-TU-V

44

6th Grade   V-WX-Y

 

Second Language Learners “Although the research in second

language is not as extensive as in first language reading, it strongly suggests that free reading in a second or foreign language is one of the best things an acquirer can do to bridge the gap from the beginning level to truly advanced levels of second language proficiency.”

--Krashen (1993)

Rituals, Routines, & Artifacts Rituals - The procedures. The point of a ritual is

that an activity is always done the same way. It tells the students how to do things in Readers Workshop.

 Routines –The daily structure. Routines are predictable so students know what is expected and can operate independently.

Artifacts - Objects that are central to learning. Standards books, rubrics, texts, reading folders, book bags, charts.

Rituals, Routines and Artifacts, NCEE, 2001

 

“We put our trust in creating calm,joyful settings with simple, clearroutines.”  --Shelley Harwayne