By What Grade Should Students Be Reading Independently on Grade Level

​Independent reading is an authentic and individualised practise that can support the explicit teaching undertaken during the whole grouping focus at the start of a reading lesson and provide opportunities for reflection at the lesson closure.

On this folio

• Whole class-mini lesson
• Implementing independent reading
• Text selection
• Theory to practice
• References

When students read independently, they are mindful of the explicit lesson they have merely participated in, and describe on those skills to assistance them exercise, read and empathise text. After independent reading they are chosen on to share how those skills assisted their reading by giving an example or articulating their new noesis or learning.

Independent reading is a exercise which all students can successfully undertake as it can exist differentiated for every educatee. Texts selected are normally at an easy level, i.e. 95 to 100% decoding accuracy charge per unit. For more information, come across: Running Records: What is a Running Record

Personal interest and literary texts also supplement contained reading material as reading for enjoyment and pleasance is highly engaging and has correlated links to reading accomplishment (Nodelman and Reimer, 2003; Thomson, Hillman and DeBortoli, 2013). For details, see: Literature: Overview and Evidence Base

Contained reading takes the place of previous activity–based work centres that independent unrelated activities to keep students 'busy' whilst the teacher worked with private or small groups of students. Whilst these activities may have been 'fun', they often had no relation to the learning intention (Hattie, 2009, p.163).

Conversely, contained reading is a practice that can be directly related to the learning intention and success criteria and tin support the practise of new and reinforced strategies and cognition.

Once contained reading fourth dimension has been established, gradually introduce concurrent small group/individual student work. Discuss the office for students and for the teacher during this time and then students know expectations. Display the expectations.

Independent reading and EAL/D learners

Independent reading in English and their dwelling house language helps EAL/D learners to build linguistic communication and literacy skills in both languages (Schwinge, 2003). Strong home language literacy is a predictor of academic success for EAL/D students (Cummins, et al, 2006; de Courcy, Yue and Furusawa, 2008).

Include dwelling linguistic communication texts in students' independent reading boxes in the classroom, such equally:

• home language realia
• multilingual library books
• books or stories translated by community members
• books or stories written past EAL/D learners
• versions of classroom texts summarised in home language.

For advice on text option for EAL/D learners, see: Literature

For advice on selecting texts in other languages, see: Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC)

Whole class-mini lesson

In this video, the instructor explicitly scaffolds whole form learning on reading through a mini lesson. The learning intention and success criteria are stated and explained and students are guided to utilize their new learning during the independent reading phase of the lesson.

Implementing independent reading

For independent reading to be successful in your classroom, teach the practice and allow time for the practice to exist embedded.

Offset early in the year and be consistent with the implementation so that all students know the expectations.

As it is a pivotal part of every reading lesson, it needs to exist introduced explicitly.

Independent reading involves:

• the instructor modelling what independent reading looks similar. This means the teacher reading independently alongside students to model 'how to'
• developing some grade protocols or expectations and displaying them on anchor charts/bookmarks (e.k. stay in your seat, read quietly, starting time to read directly abroad, read from your book box, savour reading)
• building up the time allotted for Independent reading. Start with 5 minutes. Proceed a record of sustained and engaged reading times whilst introducing the exercise. "Yesterday nosotros read for 5 minutes, today I want everyone to read for vi minutes without intermission". Depending on the year level, independent reading times will vary (due east.1000. Foundation classes-10 to 15 minutes, Years 5 and 6-20 to 30 minutes).
• demonstrating to students later independent reading has concluded how they might show some evidence that they were actively thinking and using the strategy outlined in the lesson learning intention equally they read. Teachers can:
• model how to use a Reading Response Volume to draw or write virtually their new learning note something of interest on a post-it notation
• stick post-it annotation to the relevant folio in the text where that learning occurred
• consider a reading goal and prepare an example of how the use of that goal assisted successful reading.

This practice should only human action as an adjunct to the priority of reading independently. The time taken on this task should only accept upwardly to 10 minutes and should be completed independently.

Student'due south part

• stay in your seat
• showtime to read direct away
• read quietly
• read from your volume box
• use the learning intention to help me do my reading
• enjoy reading

Teacher'southward part

• read with a group
• read with a student
• conference with a student
• teach students how to read
• talk near a book with a student or a group of students
• accept a running tape

The final function of the reading lesson provides time for students to prove and articulate the thinking they have washed when reading independently. Here the learning intention and success criteria are revisited and students take the opportunity to articulate their learning. ​

Articulated learning case

(e.yard. When I got to the give-and-take 'dale' on this page I did non know what it meant. I tried to remember of synonyms that would make sense and would fit with the picture. I came up with 'mountain' first of all because of the picture. Later on, I checked with my iPad and found out it meant valley; the bit between the hills. Now I tin go dorsum and reread it and understand what it means).

Students likewise give the teacher feedback on whether they have accomplished the success criteria. This information is useful for motivating students and allows the instructor to build on, modify or revise the learning intention in futurity lessons.

EAL/D students need to read books with engaging content that they tin understand. If the text is too difficult (the student knows less than 95 per cent of the vocabulary and grammar) then they volition non be able to read the text independently. Older students volition spend too much time looking up the meaning of words in the dictionary which will detract from the reading (and enjoyment) of the text. Information technology may be more appropriate for EAL/D students to re-read a text they previously found challenging to build confidence and fluency. Notwithstanding, it is of import to model specific strategies that EAL/D students may employ in independent reading when they encounter unfamiliar vocabulary, phrases or sentence structures.

To back up EAL/D learners to read independently:

• teach and model how students can infer the meaning of new words based on the context, reading alee, and other clues in the text
• establish a protocol where students tape some unknown and/or interesting words to talk over with the teacher during a reading briefing
• make up one's mind with students how and when they should apply dictionaries or other resource in independent reading. Teach the process for looking up words in an English or bilingual lexicon if appropriate. Some options are:
  • Before reading: students skim the text to place new words. They bank check the meanings in a dictionary and note these downwardly fix for independent reading
  • During reading: when students encounter a new word, they make an educated guess about the pregnant
  • After reading: students wait up a dictionary to confirm the accuracy of their inferences virtually new words they encountered during reading.
• teach and model some responses to independent reading that do not rely heavily on linguistic communication, for example using drawing, storyboards, or graphic organisers
• teach and model using home languages to support contained reading. By drawing on their home languages, EAL/D students tin call up more deeply about their reading and make connections between existing and new knowledge. Some examples are:
  • finding home language equivalents or translations for key ideas in the text
  • summarising what they have read, orally or in writing
  • talking to a same language peer near what they learnt from reading.

The benefits of independent reading apply whether students are reading in English or in their habitation language (Scwhinge, 2003).

Practising independent reading at abode, whether in their home language or English, helps students learn linguistic communication and literacy skills. Parents tin engage in their children's reading by:

• listening to their children read in English language fifty-fifty if the parent does not understand English. The child can then translate or gloss the text in the habitation language. Both parent and child can hash out the book in their dwelling language
• telling stories to their child in their home language or English language
• keeping a collection of books at home, in the home language and English. These could be from the local library or owned by the family
• translating English books to the home linguistic communication for the home or classroom library if they have the skills to
• reading books with their kid in the home language or English, and talking about the books
• encouraging their child to read independently at home, and to discuss what they are reading.

To encourage parent engagement, see: Speak to your child in the language y'all know best

For bilingual resources, see: Languages and Multicultural Pedagogy Resource Centre (LMERC)

Text pick

'Enriching the print environments in classrooms has been shown to result in more reading' (Krashen, 2004, p. 58).

The selection of texts for independent reading can be drawn from a large repertoire depending on a educatee'due south reading level and interest such as:

For aid, see: Recommended contained reading texts for educatee volume boxes-Foundation to Year 6 (docx - 467.11kb)

Independent texts are usually housed in student book boxes or book bags. Each student is responsible for their own book box, however, it is upwardly to the teacher to ensure that texts are changed regularly to promote interest and date.

Theory to practice

When reading independently students are exposed to new words in meaningful contexts.

The benefits of independent reading are wide and well researched:

• Stanovitch (1986) argues that reading is an of import contributor to many language and cognitive skills, particularly vocabulary.
• Knowledge of vocabulary direct correlates to college levels of accomplishment (Fisher, Frey and Hattie, 2016) and contributes to comprehension (Konza, 2010).
• Students who read daily for extended periods of time, see more new words, recycle known words and automatically recognise more high frequency words. De Courcy, Dooley, Jackson, Miller and Rushton (2012) argue that "students may need to encounter a new word upwards to 15 times to acquire it equally part of their expressive vocabulary" (p. half dozen).

For more than details, encounter:Rationale and Theory to Do

Fluency is another of import element supported through independent reading. When readers reread familiar texts or texts where the decoding requirement is minimalised, greater attending can exist placed on building pregnant (Konza, 2016). Educatee volume boxes or book bags should reflect this requirement.

Fluency continues to develop as a reader engages with texts of expanding vocabulary and sophisticated concepts. Therefore, independent reading is a practice that continues to support readers throughout their learning.

As readers read texts fluently in independent reading, they:

• demonstrate authentic decoding skills (letters, sounds, words)
• maintain a steady rate for optimum understanding (due east.1000. too slow and the information will be forgotten, also fast and comprehension may not accept time to develop)
• develop prosody which supports comprehension (e.one thousand. expression, rhythm and phrasing).

For more details, see: Fluency

Moreover, independent reading provides fourth dimension for students to exercise their reading goals. Students actually practise their reading goals past reading, not by activity-based tasks. Goals are adamant every bit a issue of explicit feedback from the teacher to each of their students.

Through goal setting students can "assimilate the language used by the teacher into their own cocky-talk", which in turn contributes to their self-efficacy as learners (Fisher, Frey and Hattie, 2016, p. 101). Independent reading is a do which supports students to develop and practise those goals while reading texts that are easy to decode, are familiar, or provide high levels of appointment.

By participating in independent reading, students tin can

• practise decoding and comprehension strategies
• exercise and reinforce vocabulary (new, known and high-frequency words)
• do reading for fluency (rate and prosody)
• determine the writer'southward purpose
• think critically about texts
• savour reading for extended periods of fourth dimension.

References

Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Cohen, S., Giampapa, F., & Leoni, Fifty. (2006). Timelines and Lifelines: Rethinking Literacy Pedagogy in Multilingual Classrooms. Orbit, 36(1), 22–26.

De Courcy, Yard., Dooley, K., Jackson, R., Miller, J., Rushton, K. (2012). Pedagogy EAL/D learners in Australian classrooms, PETAA Paper 183, Primary Teaching Association Commonwealth of australia.

De Courcy, G., Yue, H., & Furusawa, J. (2008). Children's Experiences of Multiple Script Literacy. In A. Mahboob & C. Lipovski (Eds.), Studies in applied linguistics and language learning (pp. 244–270). Newcastle upon Tine: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Duke, North.K. and Pearson, P.D. (2002). Constructive reading practices for developing comprehension, In A.E. Farstrup & Due south.J. Samuels (Eds.), What Inquiry has to say nearly reading instruction (3rd Ed) (pp.205-242). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Fisher, D., Frey, N. and Hattie, J. (2016). Visible learning for Literacy: Implementing practices that work best to advance student learning. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Guthrie, J.T. & Wigfield, A. (2000) 'Engagement and Motivation in Reading'.  In M. L. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Enquiry. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, New Jersey.

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to accomplishment. London and New York: Routledge

Konza, D. (Baronial 2010). Understanding the Reading Process. Enquiry into Practice: Literacy is everyone's concern, Regime of South Australia: Literacy Secretariat

Konza, D. (2016). Agreement the reading process: The big six, In J. Scull and B. Raban (Eds.), Growing up literate: Australian literacy research for do (pp.149 - 176). Hong Kong: Eleanor Drapery Publishing.

Krashen, Southward.D. (2004). The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research (2nd Ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Nodelman, P. & Reimer, Grand. (2003). The pleasures of children's literature. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Schwinge, D. (2003). Enabling biliteracy: Using the continua of biliteracy to analyse curricular adaptations and elaborations. In N. H. Hornberger (Ed.), Continua of Biliteracy: An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research, and Practice in Multilingual Settings (pp. 278–295). Clevedon: Multilingual Matter.

Stanovitch, Thousand.E. (1986). The Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences for individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly: 21 (pp. 360-407).

Thomson, Southward., Hillman, K. & De Bortoli, L. (2013). A teacher's guide to PISA reading literacy. Camberwell, Vic: ACER.

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Source: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pages/teachingpracindependent.aspx

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