Each day in my 9th and 11th grade ELA classes, we begin with 10 minutes of independent reading time where students read a book they are actually excited to read. During this time, I get to conference with students individually for 2-3 minutes while the whole class is reading. The books I have selected are all popular, high interest, best sellers, both fiction and nonfiction, and ones that students have mentioned to me they would like to read. Many of the books also have movie tie-ins which encourage the students to read so they can compare the two versions. Other books I've chosen address important social issues like race, equality, and social emotional learning which will lead students to form a greater awareness of themselves and the world around them.
For the last 3 years, I have done independent reading/reading conferences with my students, and without a doubt, my students have become stronger readers because of it. They have more confidence and are actually thrilled about reading! Often, I have students beg me for more than the first 10 minutes because they are so engaged with their book.
With the learning loss due to COVID, getting engaging books into students’ hands will help them recover skills they may have lost and continue to build critical skills such as vocabulary, reading comprehension, and inferencing. Studies show that students who develop a daily reading habit are more likely to excel in academics and perform extremely well on standardized assessments like state testing and the ACT.
These books will help supplement my classroom library and provide students with new books they can't wait to read.
About my class
Each day in my 9th and 11th grade ELA classes, we begin with 10 minutes of independent reading time where students read a book they are actually excited to read. During this time, I get to conference with students individually for 2-3 minutes while the whole class is reading. The books I have selected are all popular, high interest, best sellers, both fiction and nonfiction, and ones that students have mentioned to me they would like to read. Many of the books also have movie tie-ins which encourage the students to read so they can compare the two versions. Other books I've chosen address important social issues like race, equality, and social emotional learning which will lead students to form a greater awareness of themselves and the world around them.
For the last 3 years, I have done independent reading/reading conferences with my students, and without a doubt, my students have become stronger readers because of it. They have more confidence and are actually thrilled about reading! Often, I have students beg me for more than the first 10 minutes because they are so engaged with their book.
With the learning loss due to COVID, getting engaging books into students’ hands will help them recover skills they may have lost and continue to build critical skills such as vocabulary, reading comprehension, and inferencing. Studies show that students who develop a daily reading habit are more likely to excel in academics and perform extremely well on standardized assessments like state testing and the ACT.
These books will help supplement my classroom library and provide students with new books they can't wait to read.
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