Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Lucile Kershaw Blog Post #1 No More Independent Reading Without Support Section 1 Is There Enough Time? And Is Time Enough to Support Independent Reading? Debbie Miller
This was an eye opener for me. I have often felt overwhelmed with trying to fit everything into one day. I realize that allowing children to read without some structure is ineffective and time consuming. Teachers are always saying that there is not enough time in a day to do it all! After reading this article, I need to reevaluate some of the practices I am using in my classroom. "Children learn to read by reading" and not by canned programs. Learning has to be intentional and that takes some planning. First of all, there should be a variety of books, multiple copies of books, and some organized classifications for easy selection and check-outs. Children have vicarious experiences while reading. I would like to have sixty minutes of independent reading each day. I have been doing lots of things about reading but not allowing time to read. I was afraid that they wouldn't have the necessary skills if I didn't "teach" reading. I understand that children need many opportunities to read throughout the day on a daily basis.
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LUCILE!! You little techy person, you! I'm so proud that you figured out how to post on here independently. You made my day! I can also tell that you have been thinking a lot about this reading. 60 minutes of independent reading would be amazing!! I completely understand your fear that your kids won't learn the skills if you don't teach them. It's a scary thing to let go and try something new, but remember that you are still teaching--in the whole-class minilesson, in the individual student conferences, in the sharing time! You are teaching where it counts the most. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Lucille,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your blog post because it is clear that you value independent reading and have taken Miller up on her suggestion to spend time to evaluating your classroom schedule and practices to see where you can maximize your students' time spent meaningfully reading and writing. Sixty minutes per day would be a wonderful investment into their reading lives and I agree that our students still need support in the form of strategic instruction that precedes the independent reading time through a mini-lesson, during the independent reading time through conferencing and monitoring, and then following the reading time through sharing and through analyzing what they need next. i am excited about what you will do next! Thank you! Dawn