What if I told you that there was an easy way to increase reading scores in your students’ tests that didn’t involve more testing and more lessons?

In the past, I was introduced to the concept of reading literacy. The district I worked with had a very strict policy of including Independent Reading, Read Alouds, and Shared Reading in the classroom. The one concept that I took away from this was Independent Reading.

Over the years, I added an Independent Reading time of 15 minutes at least 3 days a week, because that was something that I had learned from where I had worked in the past. When the district I’m in now decided to make reading a priority, I decided to do 15 minutes a day. Students tend to lack the stamina needed, and 15 minutes a day was a good start to teaching them to read for a set time period.

The 15 minute time frame worked well; however, I started to notice that more students began to beg to read longer. During our reading time, I observed the students. Most took about 5 minutes to settle into reading which meant that they only had 10 minutes of actual reading, if that. Once they began reading, they often became absorbed in the book and read much longer.

So what made the difference?

The regular structure.

What creates this structure?

Independent Reading or Silent Sustained Reading needs 3 components:

• Students should be allowed to read any book with no set expectations of reading levels.
• Students should be allowed to read where they are comfortable.
• Students need set expectations.

First, students need to be able to read books of their choice whether the level is too high or too low. Reading, any reading, still provides students with the opportunity of seeing sentence syntax as it should be. Sentence structure can often be something that is lacking in their writing, plus our state tests generally have students reading sentences and revising or editing them to make sense. When students read, they become accustomed to the sound of correct sentence structure thus enabling them to be able to identify sentences that need to be revised or edited.

As for comfort, students will not read if they are not feeling comfortable. Where they sit in the room plays a huge role in their reading. If they want to read sprawled across the floor, let them!

Lastly, they need to know and to understand the expectations for Independent Reading. Students know that they are to silently read for the entire time. I use a timer and noise monitor through Classcraft to provide students with a visual. They know if they make noise, plus they know how much time they have left to read. Along with this, they have a reading log that they are responsible for completing and turning in each quarter for a grade. This grade is generally a participation grade, but if I choose to pull students aside and conference with them, I can always access this reading log to see what they are reading, how far along they are in the book, and ask them questions about their reading.

How did this increase reading scores?

My goal at the beginning of the year was to increase my students’ MAP (Measurement of Academic Performance) scores. Students who read for the entire 20 minutes (some I observed as not always engaged in reading) increased their scores and went above their goals. Some even increased several reading levels. While we did have reading lessons, much of our reading came through this Independent Reading time.

Overall, the general contribution to this increase in reading scores was due to allowing my students to read independently and read books that they were interested in reading. I went out of my way to find out what my boys were interested in reading and provided them with those books in the classroom. Using the high interest books, the boys were able to read independently for the full amount of time and obtain the most benefit from our Independent Reading time. In fact, if I skipped a day because we had other things to cover, my students would complain. Who knew that they would come to enjoy that time?

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