This section spoke of
the importance of IR, the importance of making time for IR, and the importance
of the teacher's interaction during IR. According to this article, IR can
improve fluency and comprehension, increase reading achievement, and broaden
students' vocabulary. Many studies have shown that IR has increased students'
test scores. This article spoke of how IR is often neglected to today's
classrooms and sadly, I agree. I started IR in my classroom 3 years ago and I
saw such an improvement in my students' reading that I knew I must always make
time for it. It isn't always easy but I deem it necessary. As I read this
section I took the box on page 16 "To grow as independent readers,
students need..." and reflected upon the IR time in my class;
- Students need classroom time to read- My students have
30 minutes a day for IR
- Students need to choose what they read-I started this
year allowing my students to choose from my level readers what they want
to read. I must say this has made a difference in their desire to read.
- Students need to read a lot; a large number of books
and a variety of text-I always feel like I need more books with a bigger
variety for my students to read so I have written a donors choose grant
for more independent readers. This is an area I could improve in.
- Students need access to texts-My students have access
to level readers, library books, and my personal books that I rotate out
based on our units of study. I am currently working on my classroom
library.
- Students need teachers to monitor, assess, and support
them during IR- I use padlet to help me track my monitoring and assessing.
There are still days that I'm not able to have my student conferences due
to testing and/or meetings but I'm making progress. I have attached the
Padlet link for any one that is interested in seeing what I do for IR.
- Students need to talk about what they read-I allow
students to share with me during their conference times and often I have
them share with their classmates what they share with me.
The section in this reading that
talks about the need for students to have access to texts in their hands is
very important for kindergarten students. I start IR in my kindergarten class
the first week of school. I have my students holding books, looking at
pictures, and talking with me about things they can see. Even though my
students are not fluently reading their IR books at this time (some are), they
are finding letters that we are learning, sight words, and punctuation marks
that we have talked about in class and those are the things we talk about
during our conferences. IR does make a difference in room 106!
I like the idea of using padlet for IR reading purpose in my classroom as well. It really helps the students recognize what book they are reading if they forget. Also, it save time using the computer instead of index cards. When you type the comments from conferencing with the students, it is saved in a place that you can always refer back to.
ReplyDeleteI remember when you started IR in your classroom. It has grown and evolved so much! I know it is making a huge difference in your student's reading successes! I think the most powerful change you have made was letting them have choice! I also love your Padlet!
ReplyDeleteHi Tori,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love how you are using padlet to allow your students to show what books they choose during independent reading and how you use it to to take your conferencing notes. What a great visual way to see each of your students and to track their progress over time. I am continually impressed with how you work to apply what research based practices and theories you are learning into your classroom practice. Thank you! Sincerely, Dawn