1. Independent Reading? What’s Up With That????
Ideas to help start the year in SSR 

2. What do we get to read? magazines novels textbooks even!
Pretty much anything including:
magazines
novels
textbooks even!

3. Where do we get the reading material from?
Home
The LMC
Friends
This room’s library
Wherever !!!

4. How often will we read?

5. Everyday! 
There will be days when we work on reading strategies or have activities that assist with reading

6. You already know “Reading Strategies”…
Predict
Visualize
Connect
Question
Clarify
Synthesize

7. But we should REALLY think of it THIS WAY…

8. Reading is Thinking

9. Therefore, let’s call them… THINKING STRATEGIES

10. How do I pick reading materials?
Front and back cover/inside jacket
It’s another book in a series
Interesting title
Like the author
Great illustrations
Recommendation from another person

11. More ways to select reading…
Liked the movie
Genres we like (mystery, detective, horror, realistic fiction, sci-fi, romance, fantasy…)
Read some of the middle
New/popular book
Heard it read aloud
Read it before and enjoyed it

12. What if I don’t like the book?

13. Is it okay to just…….

14. Yes, here’s why you might…
Too easy
Too difficult
Boring – or not going anywhere
Too long before action begins
Disappointing sequel
Expected something different from this author
Don’t like the characters

15. Too…..sad, scary, confusing
Didn’t like the Point of View
Found a different book
Print is too hard to read
Vocabulary is waaaayyy too difficult
Too similar to another book

16. How do I know if the book is “right for me” or not? Use…
The Goldilocks Rule

17. Still another way to see if the book is “just right”…
The Five Finger Test

18. OK, so now what?
Now that we have the right reading materials in hand, what next?

19. What should be going on in the classroom?
Some suggested* guidelines include:
Always be reading or writing about your reading – not doing homework, per se.
Work silently to enable everyone to do the best thinking.
Use a soft voice when conferring with a teacher
*Fountas and Pinnell

20. A very helpful tool: The Reading Journal It’s been around for
ages, but it works!
Write about what
you’ve read.

21. Use the journal for letter writing.
Journal Letter Example
The letter suggests things to share regarding your reading.
We’ll decide together how frequently the letters need to be written.

22. While reading….Use Sticky Notes
Jot down your thoughts while reading.
Use the notes
- during our discussions
- as ideas for the letter

23. Use a Reading Interview
We will have conferences throughout the year to discuss
WHAT
you’re reading as well as
HOW
that reading’s going

24. Keep Track! Use checklists I’ll give to keep a record of :
what you’ve read
whether you liked it and why
what type of reading it is
(genre)
topics you want to read more
about

25. With these tools, let’s head
down the path to interesting, fun, and new places!

26. Credits
Fountas, Irene C., and Gay Sue Pinnell. Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6 Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001.