Independent Reading in Class Benefits and Strategies

hi everybody it is cole and have something guess guess think all my videos are important otherwise would do them but today this is something that is particularly special and close to my heart so want you to think about two different activities this is going to be different for each person viewing this video the first should be something that you're good at so choose something that fits you and imagine yourself working through that task imagine the process the steps involved how you go through it the second by contrast should be something that you're not so good at something that's difficult for you and maybe that you're not very skilled at doing just like before imagine your way through the different phases of that activity each step in the process until finally regardless of whether or not you complete the task at hand you decide that you're done next want you to think about the way it felt to imagine those two tasks and want you to think not just in terms of emotions but also physical sensations because for most of us the idea of an experience just the idea will bring up related physiological effects thinking about the first task was probably somewhat pleasant competence feels good there's synergy sense of flow and rightness that we get when we're in the zone we're focused and alert and confident we feel good about the task and ourselves on the other hand the second activity probably didn't feel as good muddling through task for which we lack the skills needed to be successful is uncomfortable it creates stress we physically tighten up and tend to pull in our pulse rate quickens and our breathing tends to become shallower we may feel lightheaded or nauseated in fact you might be feeling that way now just thinking about it again so take moment relax your jaw straighten your shoulders and your spine take deep breath and let it out slowly and gently the last thing want you to think about is how often you complete activities involving those skill sets chances are pretty good that you do things that involve skills you're comfortable with significantly more often than you do things you suck at that's true for most of us and it's good thing too because as you noticed from our little imagination session we like doing things we're good at much more than we like being stuck doing things that we're not good at however it's also true that the reason we're good at those things the reason we have that higher level of skill is that we built it through experience it's self-perpetuating cycle we've exercised and improved these skills through practicing them that improved skill leads to enjoyment that enjoyment leads to increased practice which leads to continued improvement which leads to increased enjoyment and so on this cycle works in the opposite direction for tasks that involve skills we're weaker in we don't enjoy them so we avoid doing them as result those skills don't improve and the cycle continues in that direction therefore as teacher have the opportunity to identify which type of cycle students are on for the skills related to the discipline that teach what i've observed is consistent with this process students who experience early success in reading and writing have positive memories of those tasks they tend to see them as enjoyable and often choose to engage in those activities even when they're not assigned likewise students for whom reading and writing are struggle are much more resistant and choose to do other things with their free time unfortunately this widens the ability gap between those groups and accelerates the process so what have the opportunity to do is look for ways to make these tasks more enjoyable for students who need to build their skills and experience the pleasure of success in order for the activities to become inherently more enjoyable one way to do that with reading is to provide students with books that are at comfortable level of difficulty for them in genres or on topics that they're interested in because students have different interests and ability levels this means having wide range of books to choose from as each student would be reading something different there is wealth of research supporting the use of independent reading as an instructional strategy for language arts i've included links to number of articles down in the description if you know of additional resources please leave me comment with titles or the researchers names but while independent reading can increase how enjoyable the activity is it probably isn't going to move it all the way from this sucks too this is fantastic the most reluctant readers in high school classroom aren't magically going to transform into avid readers even if they find book that is exactly perfectly right for them this means that if independent reading is assigned as an out of class activity students who don't like reading are significantly less likely to do it and we're back to the same cycle as before even during class there's no guarantee that students will actively participate in given task down in the description i've also included links to articles about best practices for incorporating independent reading but wanted to go over few basic points first of all just selecting book maybe stressful for less skilled readers imagine going to restaurant that offers food from culture with which you're not familiar should you order diriac poispoa or grio with the side of maai moulay for students who struggle with reading the best option is the equivalent of smiling at the waiter and going really not all that hungry thanks i'll just stick with glass of water avoidance is the option that seems best teachers can help with the selection process by making connections will often ask students to tell me of two or three movies television shows or video games that they like and what they like about them based on that i'll pull about four books that have similar topic or style or that fit into the same genre i'll ask the student to read the first five to ten pages of each book and then bring me their choice to follow up i'll ask that student what makes that book better fit for them than any of the others and i'll let them know that in case they change their mind i'll set aside the others for few days nobody else can borrow them until they're sure they want to stick with that one that they picked this creates an authentic reason for them to continue reading by the time they're in high school students who don't think of themselves as readers have often gotten incredibly proficient at faking their way out of reading many advocates of independent reading encourage teachers to read independently while students do however have seen students view this as an opportunity for off-task behaviors have learned to hold my book in one hand turning the pages with the other ambling around the room as read when students sense that i'm paying as much attention to them as to my book they're more likely to at least pretend to read it also helps to allow enough time for them to get tired of pretending doing nothing is nice for little while but not very long sitting there looking at the page without actually reading gets boring after couple of minutes lot of students can fake it pretty easily for five minutes at about 10 most of them have started paying attention to the words on the page this means it's important to allow at least 15 minutes of reading time so that those who've done their best not to read have had chance to get into the book for at least little bit an authentic logging system provides some accountability but also helps students to process what they've read and gives them way to review what's happened so far and create mental bookmark like to encourage students to write two to three short sentences identifying the date the page range they read what those pages talked about and what connections or predictions they can make here's an example from my own reading today read pages 92-96 of twisted this section talks about pride and natural hair and the author's memories of getting her hair relaxed i've heard about the process before but when was younger thought that if the hair was fluffed with pick it could be styled into an afro and if it was combed out it would lay straight didn't know straightened hair was often chemical process additionally it's important to have short interchangeable alternatives available to students those who want to avoid reading might leave their book at home providing them with short narrative or essay that they are expected to read in the allotted time again about 15 minutes minimum lets them know that not reading is not an option additionally would have them include the date in their log but then just include the title of the alternate text they were given that instead of filling out the log they have to answer few comprehension questions on separate sheet of paper and turn their answers in to me they're not doing more work than their classmates it's not punishment exactly but hopefully being given an assigned text to read makes their chosen book the one they picked seem at least little more positive by comparison and who knows maybe they really liked the story gave them and can make different recommendation based on that finally teachers need to give students the opportunity to talk with their classmates about what they've been reading because each student is reading something different this means that they'll be asking each other genuine questions and they'll have legitimate audience for their answers you may want to invite one of your more courageous students to model book discussion with you start with simple closed-ended questions like who's the main character or when where does the story take place from that point you can lead into more subjective questions like what's the main character want how come that's so important above all it is so so so important to provide books that are interesting and at an appropriate level of difficulty for students while not being clearly and obviously aimed at younger audience high school age resistant readers are not and should not be treated like they're middle schoolers they're not unintelligent either while wall of text or book heavy enough to use as doorstop might be intimidating they do appreciate layered complex characters and nuanced plots if you ever see high school student with beverly cleary book that student is almost certainly strong reader revisiting favorite book from their childhood their skill in reading gives them the confidence to read what they want without worrying about people thinking they're stupid less skilled readers on the other hand often have lot of experience being mocked or humiliated for their struggles offering them books that seem babyish or for dumb kids will reinforce that discomfort rather than easing it i'm teacher an english teacher and i'm strong confident reader but know very well what that discomfort feels like even thinking about what i'm going to share can feel my chest tightening little bit in my pulse rate increasing growing up we didn't have any video game consoles at all ever can recognize what controller looks like but couldn't begin to tell you whether the one you show me goes with sega or sony or nintendo system let alone which version it is as result suck at video games while can figure out the objectives of most games pretty easily do not have the particular small motor muscle memory required to play most games well this extends to most desktop versions as well can touch type but using letter keys to move or attack or defend instead of actually typing out words feels artificial and clunky to me have strong memories of being yelled at by other players for not knowing basic sequences that apparently have names that are commonly used although they're not names that you can find by hovering over any of the icons or buttons you're just supposed to know it somehow and although can't for the life of me remember whatever that phrase was that they referred to remember very clearly how they made me feel felt stupid and worthless it was frustrating and humiliating and absolutely miserable and here's the thing don't even know who any of them were just bunch of random people on world of warcraft server who got together for lobby raid and said that it would be easy don't have to interact with any of them ever again thankfully and being skilled at playing video games isn't something that's necessary or expected in my professional life or in most careers or to interact with society in general sense i've been able to flip the nike slogan and just don't do it that's very effective strategy but literacy skills they're everywhere people who struggle with reading are constantly confronted with reminders of how they're deficient in comparison to everybody else and then on top of that it's common to glorify reading as leisure activity and then to look down on those who don't read or haven't read the classics however it's important to remember that it's always possible to improve skills most people don't actually need to be able to comprehend lengthy complicated intricate passages but being able to read understand and evaluate information written for general audience is incredibly useful this is why it's vital for libraries and classrooms to have wide variety of books and for people who do enjoy reading to encourage and support those who don't do you consider yourself reader what are some of your formative memories connected to reading good or bad share them with me down in the comments and please please remember to be kind to the people around you and always to yourself as well thanks for watching bye for now you