In the Zone!

Reading is a favorite of mine! Right now I'm mostly reading educational books with a few Harlan Coben and Nicholas Sparks books in the mix. How can I instill the love of reading in my students? How can I help them be passionate about reading? According to Nancie Atwell in The Reading Zone, I need to give my students opportunities to READ, just READ. Not only read, but read books they are interested in and books on their individual reading level. This is also addressed in The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.

Enjoying his library book while relaxing in a "butterfly" chair!

That's what I do;  that's what I've been doing for several years now by adopting the Reading Workshop/Daily Five model in my classroom.  My students look forward to "Read to Self time"! When I instruct them to get their book boxes the first thing out of their mouths is, "are we going to "read to self" now?"  When instructed, students find their reading nook and just read for about 20 minutes. They don't take notes, they don't write on "post-it notes", they just read!  It is so quiet, you can hear a pin drop!!!  Just know it took practice, WEEKS of practice building stamina!  In fact, we had to go back and practice after our long winter break!

Enjoying "read to self" time relaxing in the "butterfly" chair!

I have designated 11 "reading nooks" throughout my classroom. They include a tall director's chair, short director's chair, pillows, "butterfly" chairs, etc.  We rotate daily, however students have the choice whether or not to sit in that "nook" or find another comfortable spot.  My students just LOVE to read under their desk!

Enjoying his book in our class library!

Enjoying her book while lying under her desk!

"Read to Self" is a favorite of mine because I then have the opportunity to read with a student!  This is a time where I can listen to a student read, provide feedback, and actually discuss the book. The information I gather is used to form groups and design lessons that target individual and/or group needs!  

Lying on the carpet in our class library!

What are the results you may wonder?  I have four students who already read over 1 million words (one student already read over 3 million words) and 19 out of 21 students show huge gains in their "Lexile" levels (about 50% of my students grew about 1 1/2 years to 2 years).  Do I have students who pretend to read?  Yes, not as many as previous years, but yes, I still have students who pretend to read. Reading with the students and discussing their books help cut down the number of students who pretend to read.  

Reading is important to me.  I tell the students the more they read, the better reader AND writer they will become!  My goal is to have a classroom full of passionate readers!