Making Independent Reading More Accessible for All Learners

Exhibited by:

• Catherine Cohl
• Morgan Fusetti

PLO Attended:

• Creating More Engaged and Inspired Readers

Coached by:

• Rose Grecco

PLO LEARNINGS:

• Allow time for students to share and talk about their independent reading.
• Teach students to understand the value and importance of independent reading.
• Teachers commit to routines and procedures around independent reading.
• Students have a consistent schedule for independent reading.
• Students teach each other about their own independent reading through presentations.

IMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNIQUES & PRACTICES:

Influenced by the “Creating More Engaged and Inspired Independent Reading” workshop, we evaluated the ideas and practices surrounding independent reading in our middle school. Our first step was to meet with our administration to identify their vision around independent reading. During this meeting, we talked about how to connect our learnings from the PLO to our school’s vision. We then collaborated with our ELA department to turnkey the information and began to develop consistent routines and procedures throughout the middle school ELA department. Our final step was to reflect and collaborate with our co-teachers to think about how this work would look in our classrooms, keeping our school wide vision and all of our learners in mind.

IMPACT and DATA:

We gathered a variety of information to assess the impact after the shift in our practice. We interviewed students, conducted on-going reading conferences, shared & reflected with other staff members and participated in inter-visitations across the middle school. This qualitative data suggests that our shift in practice created a more positive culture around independent reading in our school. The student interviews reinforced the importance of a diverse and varied classroom library. Providing rich classroom library allows us to meet all of our students reading needs and interests. Dedicating structured time to read in class, paired with meeting with kids to conduct reading conferences, proved to be extremely beneficial. We built a culture of students who looked forward to coming to class and enjoyed talking and thinking Deeper about their books during conferences. In a class survey, 82% of the 6th grade ELA students, enjoy independent reading time built into their schedule. Additionally, we found that conferring was both beneficial for teachers and students alike because 86% of students feel that reading conferences help them become more engaged readers. Lastly, 91% of our students enjoyed sharing their reading to the class through book talk and book reviews.

NEXT STEPS:

• Conduct an inquiry around reading conferring across the school that will be rolled out at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. An administrator will frame the conferring work and connect it to the ongoing goals in our school.
• All teachers will create resources to support the independent reading work in their classroom such as; a weekly schedule for independent reading and monthly plans for supporting readers during conferences, including intentional small groups
• ELA team will create an inter-visitation schedule for conferring inquiry work.