Importance of Independent Reading (RICA)
How to Assess Student Independent Reading
Interest Inventory:
Surveys of student reading behavior
Ex) If you had an hour of free time, what would you do? Who is your favorite author?
Individual Conferences
Students keep a journal of what they've read and discuss them with the teacher
Student Reading Logs
Records of books students have read; fleshed out logs will filter real logs from the fake ones
Data on Reading Behavior at School and at Home
Informal assessment on how eager students are to reading, or who avoids it
Independent Reading Level
Can be discovered through IRI
- Familiarity with language patterns
- Increases fluency and vocabulary
- Broadens knowledge in content areas
- Motivates further reading
How to Assess Student Independent Reading
Interest Inventory:
Surveys of student reading behavior
Ex) If you had an hour of free time, what would you do? Who is your favorite author?
Individual Conferences
Students keep a journal of what they've read and discuss them with the teacher
Student Reading Logs
Records of books students have read; fleshed out logs will filter real logs from the fake ones
Data on Reading Behavior at School and at Home
Informal assessment on how eager students are to reading, or who avoids it
Independent Reading Level
Can be discovered through IRI
Promoting Independent Reading (including At Home Reading)
Encourage Independent Reading in School
I + I:
Find a book that match's a student's Independent Reading Level with their personal interest
ex) Find a matching book at the local library
Sustained Silent Reading
Time allotted for everyone to read silently
Readers/Writers Workshop
Opportunities to Share
Reading Journals
Should be an interactive opportunity between student and teacher
Individual Conferences
Teacher and student have a conversation of the book they have read
Literature Circles
Small group of students reading the same book meet and discuss (like a book club)
Ask open ended questions to students; teacher works as facilitator
Encourage Independent Reading in School
I + I:
Find a book that match's a student's Independent Reading Level with their personal interest
ex) Find a matching book at the local library
Sustained Silent Reading
Time allotted for everyone to read silently
Readers/Writers Workshop
- Teachers allot an hour for students to read silently, work in small group projects, and teachers working with indididuals/small groups
- Doesn't offer enough direct, explicit teaching required by RICA and should be used infrequently.
Opportunities to Share
Reading Journals
Should be an interactive opportunity between student and teacher
Individual Conferences
Teacher and student have a conversation of the book they have read
Literature Circles
Small group of students reading the same book meet and discuss (like a book club)
Ask open ended questions to students; teacher works as facilitator
Promoting Books
Reading Aloud
Affects reading habits of students; offer variety of books from the same authors and continuation of a series from a book (If you read Jurassic Park, make sure you have the sequel, Lost World, on hand as well)
Book talks
Teacher tries to sell a book by displaying a book and going over setting and characters.
Teacher also reads an excerpt
Books Connected to Other Curriculum
Have books associated with various topics from Science, Social Studies, and other subjects taught.
Trips to the Library
Reading Aloud
Affects reading habits of students; offer variety of books from the same authors and continuation of a series from a book (If you read Jurassic Park, make sure you have the sequel, Lost World, on hand as well)
Book talks
Teacher tries to sell a book by displaying a book and going over setting and characters.
Teacher also reads an excerpt
Books Connected to Other Curriculum
Have books associated with various topics from Science, Social Studies, and other subjects taught.
Trips to the Library
Supporting At-Home Reading
Encourage Kids to Read at Home
Encourage Kids to Read at Home
- Let Children Take Home Books From the Classroom
- Get Children Excited About Books
- Sustained Silent Reading at Home
- Encourage Sustained Silent Reading at Home
- Provide Lists of Books That Can Out at the Local Library
- Provide Information on the Local Public Library
- Use the First Languages of Your English Learners
- Support Family Literacy Projects (School programs for helping parents with literacy)
37. Mr. Rollins is a second-grade teacher. He wants all of his students to spend at least 30 minutes a day reading independently. He knows that this will not be an issue for some of his students, but that independent reading will be an area of need for many others. He individually administered a Reading Interest Survey; each student responded orally to the questions. What other data will provide him with information about the independent habits of his students?
a. The responses students write in their journals, after he has read aloud.
b. Each student's independent reading level, as determined by an informal reading inventory.
c. The results of a simple assessment of each student's letter recognition and phonemic awareness.
d. His observations of student behavior during Sustained Silent Reading time.
38. Mr. Ambrose, a second-grade teacher, wants his students to read independently at home. He asked his students to complete a chart, logging the minutes they read at home everyday for a week. He was worried that several of his students seem to never read at home. Almost all of his students are French-speaking English Learners. To support at-home reading, he should:
a. Send a letter to the home of each student, written in French and English, informing parents of their responsibility to help their students succeed in school.
b. Contact the librarian in the children's literature department of the local public library; find out about the library's collection of children's books written in French.
c. Create an individualized reading plan for each of his students, providing a list of 25 books that should be read independently sometime during the school year.
d. Offer a selection of English books at first-grade reading level as students will eventually be able to meet the standards set by California.
39. Lately, when choosing a book to read, a third grader who reads at grade level always selects books from a series that is written in a very formulaic style that does little to extend his conceptual or language development. The teacher's best response to this behavior would be to:
a. Avoid interfering with the student's selection of books as long as he finds his choices enjoyable.
b. Provide the student with books with similar themes or on similar topics that are more challenging for him.
c. Point out to the student some of the major limitations of the books he is choosing to read and ask him not to read those books at school.
d. Advise the student that he should choose books that will prepare him for the more difficult reading he will encounter in fourth grade.
40. A second-grade student has limited vocabulary knowledge, which hinders the student's word recognition and reading comprehension. The student's oral reading is slow and labored, and the student typically spends the majority of independent reading time browsing through books, making little effort to read the actual words on the page. Research has shown that which of the following is most likely to happen if this student receives no instructional intervention?
a. The student will always be behind average-performing peers but will achieve an adequate reading level to be academically successful.
b. The student will naturally begin to show more interest and proficiency in reading as the student matures and will catch up with average-performing peers in third grade.
c. The student will remain approximately at a second-grade reading level and will not be able to progress beyond this level.
d. The student will begin to fall behind peers in reading development and will continue to fall further behind in later grades as texts include increasingly difficult vocabulary.
a. The responses students write in their journals, after he has read aloud.
b. Each student's independent reading level, as determined by an informal reading inventory.
c. The results of a simple assessment of each student's letter recognition and phonemic awareness.
d. His observations of student behavior during Sustained Silent Reading time.
38. Mr. Ambrose, a second-grade teacher, wants his students to read independently at home. He asked his students to complete a chart, logging the minutes they read at home everyday for a week. He was worried that several of his students seem to never read at home. Almost all of his students are French-speaking English Learners. To support at-home reading, he should:
a. Send a letter to the home of each student, written in French and English, informing parents of their responsibility to help their students succeed in school.
b. Contact the librarian in the children's literature department of the local public library; find out about the library's collection of children's books written in French.
c. Create an individualized reading plan for each of his students, providing a list of 25 books that should be read independently sometime during the school year.
d. Offer a selection of English books at first-grade reading level as students will eventually be able to meet the standards set by California.
39. Lately, when choosing a book to read, a third grader who reads at grade level always selects books from a series that is written in a very formulaic style that does little to extend his conceptual or language development. The teacher's best response to this behavior would be to:
a. Avoid interfering with the student's selection of books as long as he finds his choices enjoyable.
b. Provide the student with books with similar themes or on similar topics that are more challenging for him.
c. Point out to the student some of the major limitations of the books he is choosing to read and ask him not to read those books at school.
d. Advise the student that he should choose books that will prepare him for the more difficult reading he will encounter in fourth grade.
40. A second-grade student has limited vocabulary knowledge, which hinders the student's word recognition and reading comprehension. The student's oral reading is slow and labored, and the student typically spends the majority of independent reading time browsing through books, making little effort to read the actual words on the page. Research has shown that which of the following is most likely to happen if this student receives no instructional intervention?
a. The student will always be behind average-performing peers but will achieve an adequate reading level to be academically successful.
b. The student will naturally begin to show more interest and proficiency in reading as the student matures and will catch up with average-performing peers in third grade.
c. The student will remain approximately at a second-grade reading level and will not be able to progress beyond this level.
d. The student will begin to fall behind peers in reading development and will continue to fall further behind in later grades as texts include increasingly difficult vocabulary.