Read Between the Lines: Developing a Culture of Reading

Developing a culture of reading at home and at school is going to be a game changer for students this school year. Teaching reading in content areas boosts overall confidence and performance. As we master reading skills and strategies, we become strong readers. We are also empowered to become more independent learners. We're equipped to solve novel problems and address age-old issues.

Did you know?

• The average U.S. citizen spends only 16-minutes a day reading outside school and work; down from 22-minutes in 2005.
• People age 20 to 34 read the least outside school and work: 6-minutes a day.
• People age 75 and older read the most: 51-minutes a day.

Apparently, with wisdom comes the uncanny tendency to appreciate and engage with the wealth of knowledge at our finger tips. This post outlines strategies for developing a culture of reading, so we can outperform yesteryear versions of ourselves.

Getting Started

• Research shows that independent reading can improve student achievement in language arts and other content areas. Let's begin with book choice. We want to teach students how to choose appropriate books. In addition to choosing interesting books, they need to understand how to assess text complexity. Is the book on grade level? Is the book below a student's reading capabilities? Explicit instruction on Lexile measures, grade level AR measures, DRA reading levels, or other relevant reading measurements is paramount.

• I usually find myself reading in the same place. On occasion, change of scenery is necessary. Maybe I'll read in a restaurant or near the reservoir in my car. (I hate bugs!) It's not uncommon to wake up feeling different. Just as we enjoy the freedom to express ourselves differently, to behave differently, it's important to make room for flexibility in learning environments. We want to afford students similar flexibility. Yes, this includes flexible seating for reading. Click here for flexible seating ideas for home and school.

• Success is in your routine. In setting a routine for independent reading time, start small. Situate reading time in the middle of the day, class, or block. Reading shouldn't feel like a punishment nor an after thought. Students are best poised to be intentional when we're intentional about constructing learning opportunities. It's not necessary to write answers to comprehension questions during every scheduled reading. In this way, we promote love of reading. (Or, is it love for reading?)

Reading Pedagogy

• When facilitating student transition from reading to learn... to learning to read, assessment comes first. Assessments, tests, exams. Oh my! Do these words make you cringe? Only in a fantasy world are we able to get on with the business of providing effect reading instruction without making time for meaningful assessment. Since we know how much reading counts, it's important to concretize the gap between where students stand and growth expectations. Assessment results give us information needed to draft effective reading action plans. The best plans inform instruction, goal-setting, and feedback via student reading log and student engagement inventory (here's another inventory).

• To remain engaged students must see incremental improvements in their own performance, so we have to design learning experiences that yield quantitative results. Several web-based reading assessment programs offer individualized reading options and performance data. Reading journal prompts yield qualitative results and insight into the mind of the reader. One cool way to take this approach up a notch is by placing sticky notes with questions about the text inside the book. Also, consider impromptu verbal questioning throughout the day to infuse reading and comprehension skill into everyday life.

• Cooperative goal setting involves getting buy-in. Student patterns reveal opportunities to improve reading engagement (e.g., resisting distraction, choosing appropriate texts, increasing stamina) and strengthen comprehension performance (e.g., building vocabulary, leveraging textual evidence, thinking beyond literal meaning). Let's aim for several small victories over time. Armed with relevant samples of student work and performance data, schedule 5 to 10-minute goal-setting conferences to get students on board with setting smart goals via questioning. Consider writing a goal card (maybe used as a bookmark) as a reminder for the student. See deconstructed sample goals here. (Read one educator's experience with setting smart goals with her students here.) 

Raising Readers

• Reading goals are most impactful when teachers provide ongoing, real-time feedback. It's worth noting that reading support strategies are different than reading feedback strategies. Reading support may involve strengthening phonemic and phonological awareness skills (e.g., sounding out words); whereas reading feedback involves praising student ability to attempt to sound out words before asking for help. Another example of support involves providing additional context to drive home word meaning; in a similar case, feedback would involve commenting on a student's use of an online dictionary to independently make sense of an unfamiliar concept.

• When setting reading goals for learners and planning instructional supports, think about the nonverbals. How does engaged reading look? What does a focused person look like? How do we respond to the environment when we're immersed in a text? Whatever your answers, it's important that you're not just observing students, that you're also modeling reading engagement during student reading times. Young people do what we do, not what we say.

• Student motivation to read is linked to both enjoyment and perception of growth.(I advocate facilitating the transition from external to intrinsic motivation, so the end goal would be that more emphasis is on reading for understanding than on reading to demonstrate understanding. Still, this is a different conversation that I'll likely address in a future blog post; you're invited to share your experiences and thoughts on this distinction.) Dissect the difference between student perception of growth and actual growth; keenness in this area is key to addressing low reading motivation.

I'd love to be a resource as you work to develop a culture of reading. Schedule professional coaching for yourself and private tutoring for your student by visiting je411.com. You're also invited to keep the conversation going by sharing this content, leaving a comment, and clapping back in a guest blog submission.

Literacy by the Numbers

Decision-making should be data-driven. Armed with the facts, educators and parents are more likely to behave in ways that achieve results. Accordingly, let's focus on literacy research and ways to leverage statistics. Stats are more than numbers; they should improve decision-making in classrooms and at home.

In previous posts, a number of data-driven strategies designed to build strong readers are offered. This post highlights three literacy statistics every educator and parent should know. The trends below are worth sharing.

Attend class
Missing 10 days of school equates to 94% attendance and is the same as missing 60 lessons.

On average, students attend school 180 days each year. In the graphic above, we see a relationship between class attendance and school days missed. The take-home message is that attendance matters. The number of class days missed is directly related to academic performance.

Lisa Freds' article titled Attendance Impact offers an eye-opening explanation of the value associated with attending class. As students miss additional class days, potential for success drops. Children experience added challenges with each missed lesson. What's worse, those already experiencing challenges are likely to give in and quit.

Are there times when children have to miss school? Absolutely. Unavoidable causes include illness and the passing of loved ones. Avoidable causes include behavior issues and dress code violations. No matter the cause, adults can mitigate the impact of missed learning by planning ahead and taking corrective action. If a child misses a lesson, try these suggestions.

• Discuss missed objectives and activities.
• Share relevant resources to reinforce learning objectives during missed days.
• Encourage lots of reading during down times.

Sacrifice now
Students who do not achieve grade level literacy by 3rd grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than those who do.  

Our choices during early years set the tone for each student's future. It's challenging to express the importance of decisions made prior to third grade regarding reading, writing, and speaking. We can encourage or discourage development of higher level skills... instill self-governing behaviors or cede to children's whims... model positive attitudes about reading or shake our calling to promote student success.

Research tells us that performance in third grade serves is a predictor of many important aspects of academic and personal growth throughout a child's lifetime. In particular, those who do not read on grade level by the end of third grade are likely to struggle as they progress in school. What's more, struggling readers don't just struggle in reading. Math performance is affected. Science grades are affected. This domino effect happens because reading is fundamental to demonstrating understanding and skills. Students have to read homework, textbooks, and tests independently as early as kindergarten.

Whether students achieve grade level literacy by grade three also influences high school graduation rates. Third graders reading on grade level are four times more likely to graduate. Given that there are few viable employment options without an undergraduate degree and even fewer options without a high school diploma, it's imperative that we sacrifice now to develop strong readers.

Consider tomorrow
Surveys of Fortune 500 companies in 1978, 1985, and 1995 revealed trends in the evaluation of resumes. Compared to earlier years, the later survey found more emphasis on grammar and spelling than previously.

Speaking of employment opportunity, companies are taking steps to weed out illiterate applicants which raises the stakes for building strong readers. In the words of Dr. Steve Perry, founder and principal of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut, "Our children's unimpressive performance will make them among the least sought-after employees". But, it doesn't have to be this way. We can sacrifice now by filling our respective roles as education stakeholders.

I launched Jackson Education Support for this very reason. Visit the site to learn more.