Cassie Heinz- Blog Post 2- No More Independent Reading Without Support- Section 2

I chose to read section 2, "Why Independent Reading Matters and the Best Practices to Support It" by Barbara Moss. I chose to read this section because this is my first year implementing independent reading in the form of readers workshop and I wanted to know how I can make it the most effective. Moss discusses several times the importance of teaching children how to select books that are a good fit for them. She discusses the importance of guiding children to books that are neither too challenging or too easy for them and are of a topic/ genre they are interested in. At the beginning of the year, we spent several days discussing how to pick a book that is a good fit for the students. We explored both the classroom library and the school library to see what books peaked their interest and how they can determine if is a good level for them. We had the students complete a reading interest inventory so we could determine what the students were interested in and we had them write down books they wanted us to add to our classroom library. I know I use the list of books they wrote down when placing my Scholastic orders monthly and pick up other titles at Barnes and Noble that were on the list. I am dedicated to making my classroom library the best I can. I found it interesting, but not surprising, to read that "they found an abundance of trade books in classrooms predicted gains on statewide reading, writing, and science tests" (28). They also suggest having 7 books per student or at least 300 books in your library, which is something I definitely have. However, they suggest that 50 percent of books need to be literary while the other 50 percent are informational. I do have a large amount of both genres, but I have significantly more literary books than informational books. As a reader, I prefer to read fiction books, which is why it has probably become that way. I know that I have students that prefer informational books and I need to make sure to add more informational books to my library.

I also found it interesting when she stated "having students respond to their IR creates time for them to reflect on what they have read and to push their thinking further by sharing those reflections with others" (35). We do have the students do a reading log for the independent nightly reading, but I need to do a better job of having the students reflect and respond during our reading block. I would like to incorporate more padlet responses into my lessons as well as discussing their books with peers. I know I get a lot of book recommendations from my friends/ coworkers and these recommendations help guide me to books that I read and am able to enjoy. Discussing our reading is an important part of being a good reader and it is important to start it young. Children discuss and recommend tv shows and Youtube videos, why can't we have them discussing books instead?

One of my goals is to help guide my students to books of varying genres instead of letting them read the same genre over and over. I want them to be well rounded readers and teaching them to pick different books is something I need to make sure to be aware of. Moss says "if we want children to become lifelong readers, we need to give them materials that interest them, and to do so means including informational texts, historical fiction, poetry, magazines, graphic novels, and other genre" (27). We teach units that include all of these genres, but the students do not always pick up the variety of genres on their own, so I need to make sure I am leading them to these books. I am looking forward to our graphic novel unit we have planned in the spring and I'm glad to know that Moss sees the importance of this genre. I have many parents that come into Barnes and Noble and do not like their children reading graphic novels and I constantly reassure them that they are valuable when it comes to encouraging to read a variety of genres.