Time for specials, time for awards day, or we have a special presentation today in the auditorium. Don't get me wrong, I know all of these things are important but it is so hard to find the necessary time to dedicate to uninterrupted reading. With so many interruptions during the day I have found it very necessary to become extremely creative when finding time for my students to read. I mean wholesome, "in the zone" type of reading. Where they are so immersed in a book they don't even notice that it's time for lunch or that they haven't gone to the bathroom in 3 hours. I understand that for this type of reading to take place it has to be practiced. The only way to practice is to find time to practice.
First, lets get to know our students as readers, What do they like? What are their hobbies? How do they feel about themselves as readers? Do they even like reading? Once we have answers to these questions, we can better help our students utilize their reading time appropriately.
Next, look to see if there is anything we can condense or eliminate to make more time for reading. We must also keep our reading block pure. Sometimes we bog down the time we have set aside for reading with mini lessons that turn into not so mini lessons because we find teachable moments. It is difficult to walk away from those moments. I guess we have to find a way to make sure those teachable moments don't impede on our students reading time. It is difficult. It is something I struggle with daily. I want to make sure that my students get the needed time to truly focus on a book without being distracted or rushed.
Students need to be guided during this time as well. When getting to know our students as readers it is necessary to find out not just what they enjoy but also what they struggle with. We can focus our mini lessons on ways that the student can practice during reading time what they have the most difficulty mastering. We can also focus on helping students pick out just right books so that reading time is meaningful and productive.
Finding time is one of the most difficult task I believe all teachers face. I also believe that it is one that we face head on each day. I believe that all teachers want their students to become better readers through immersion and practice. However, I do not believe that there is one solution that will answer the question for every teacher. Hopefully one day each teacher will find the solution that works best for their students.
That is why teaching is an art--there is no one right way!! We take what we know about best practice, what we know about our kids, and what we know about ourselves as teachers and create a beautiful symphony from all those parts. :-) It sounds like you want to make sure your readers have time to truly read, and keeping mini-lessons short, sweet, and to the point is one way to steal time back. We can work on brainstorming other ways to steal time amidst your time stealers (class changes, programs, visitors, and the like)!
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