I have struggled with independent reading for the past few weeks. My students are loud, talkative and not interested in reading. During Independent Reading, I expect to see all my students reading a book that is on their level. I want to see them taking notes about important things, new words and questions they have. I want to see them engaged in their book and not talking to the person sitting next to them. These are my expectations, and for the last 3 weeks, this has not been the case. So yesterday I tried something new ... and it worked!!! I did the same thing today and it worked again, so I am going to share my new strategy with you.
First, I spoke briefly with my class about Independent Reading and what I expect to see and hear. Then I gave my students a few minutes to find a book and get back to their seats. This took about 10 minutes to get everyone a book and quietly in their seats. I turned off the lights and everyone started reading. The lights off created a more calm and relaxing atmosphere. I started looking around I had about 6 students who were reading books that were not on their level or not reading at all. I spoke with these students one on one and together we found book that they could read that looked interesting to them. Once I had all students reading quietly with their books, I got a book and starting reading as well (I think this is what made the difference).
Whenever, anyone started to talk or be disruptive I would stop reading and look at them (not say anything( and let them know that they were distracting me from reading. They got back to reading immediately.
I think yesterday and today were successful because of three things:
1) Each students had a book that they were interested in.
2) The atmosphere was calm and relaxed.
3) They saw me reading and knew that they should be doing what I was doing.
Showing posts with label reading consistency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading consistency. Show all posts
Effective Reading Instruction in ESL
Labels:
reading,
reading comprehension,
reading consistency
Reading Instruction in the ESL classroom can be daunting. How do we know the students are actually reading, how do we know they are improving? We need to have a way to monitor our students reading and their comprehension when they are reading.
I use two things in my classroom to monitor my student's reading, Reading Logs and Conferencing. My reading logs look like this:
My students are required to fill out their Reading Logs every time they read, which is twice a day, I tell them that this is their way to keep track of their reading. Each day they need to be read between 45 - 60 minutes each day. Every week I check their reading logs and make sure that they are reading, but that is not enough.
During conferencing is when I get to see if my students are truly reading and if they really understand what they are reading? Everyday I give my students time to read independently in class, they read between 15 - 20 minutes each day. During Independent Reading, I conference with 8 to 12 students each day. By the end of the week I have conferenced with each student at least 2 times.
During the conferences, I look at my student's reading logs and ask them questions about the books they are reading. I am also looking to see if my students are reading and if they understand what they are reading. If I ask a students what did you read about last night and they cannot tell me, there are only two possibilities ... 1) they did not read or 2) they did not understand. It is my job to determine which possibility is applicable to that student. Also during conferences, this is a good time to adjust your students reading levels and give them new books to try.
Take advantage of the time when your students are reading independently, conference with your students and make sure they are using their reading logs. This will help you monitor their reading frequency and comprehension.
I use two things in my classroom to monitor my student's reading, Reading Logs and Conferencing. My reading logs look like this:
My students are required to fill out their Reading Logs every time they read, which is twice a day, I tell them that this is their way to keep track of their reading. Each day they need to be read between 45 - 60 minutes each day. Every week I check their reading logs and make sure that they are reading, but that is not enough.
During conferencing is when I get to see if my students are truly reading and if they really understand what they are reading? Everyday I give my students time to read independently in class, they read between 15 - 20 minutes each day. During Independent Reading, I conference with 8 to 12 students each day. By the end of the week I have conferenced with each student at least 2 times.
During the conferences, I look at my student's reading logs and ask them questions about the books they are reading. I am also looking to see if my students are reading and if they understand what they are reading. If I ask a students what did you read about last night and they cannot tell me, there are only two possibilities ... 1) they did not read or 2) they did not understand. It is my job to determine which possibility is applicable to that student. Also during conferences, this is a good time to adjust your students reading levels and give them new books to try.
Take advantage of the time when your students are reading independently, conference with your students and make sure they are using their reading logs. This will help you monitor their reading frequency and comprehension.
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