IR K-5

What is Independent Reading?

During independent reading, students read books of their choosing for a sustained period of time. Minilessons, brief conferences, and opportunities to share thinking support students' engagement with books and increase their competencies.

What Independent Reading Looks Like

Each reader selects a book from a rich, well-organized collection of books in the classroom. Students are free to choose any text, though you support learning on how to make good choices through individual reading conferences and whole-group minilessons. Students share their thinking through discussion and writing, as you come alongside readers to support thinking through brief conferences.

Independent Reading and Conferring

▸Confer with Individual Students –Circulate around the room and sit beside a student you select for a conference. The goal of conferring is to listen to a student's responses to a book and to promote further thinking. During the conference, you may listen to a student read aloud, teach for specific strategic actions, talk about an entry the student make in a reader's notebook, and more. The conference enables you to understand how a reader is processing a text and provide customized instruction that will help the individual student refine and extend his reading competencies.

▸Book Talks – Introduce new books through very brief book talks as you add them to your classroom library collection. Your short introduction may include talking about the writer, illustrator, and genre; proving a brief "teaser" of the plot or interesting facts; and showing a few particularly engaging illustrations.

▸Students Read Independently – Students choose the book(s) they want to read. They then read silently or, for emergent readers, very softly. Students also write and draw about their treading in a reader's notebook.

Why Independent Reading is Important

As an instructional context, independent reading:

▸Offers the opportunity to develop habits, attitudes, and tastes as a reader

▸Allows students to exercise full control of the reading process

▸Provides opportunities to share thinking about books with other readers through discussion and writing about reading.

▸Allows readers to apply independently what they have learned through whole-group minilessons, guided and shared reading lessons, and book clubs.

Planning for Independent Reading

Prepare brief book talks (like short teasers) to books that you will introduce at the beginning of upcoming whole-group meetings. These book talks showcase the wide variety of books in the classroom library, encouraging students to browse and explore.

Assessment and Record Keeping

You gain important information by observing students as they read and discuss books and as you review entries in the reader's notebook. As you discuss a book with a particular student, write your observations and teaching points on a class record form or on a note card dedicated to that student. Your notes will document growth, assist you in noticing patterns among multiple readers, and help you identify priorities for future conferences and minilessons.

Making Space

Making space for your IR Collection

Independent Reading Library comes with 2-3 bins of books and a small box tote with conferring cards for each title. After labeled, feel free to incorporate them into your current library. The WAR bookmarks can be found online.