No More Independent Reading Without Support (NOT THIS, BUT THAT)

Nothing in this book that I would disagree with concerning independent reading in the classroom!! I think I almost underlined every other sentence and caught myself about to shout Amen on several occasions! 😂 It’s a quick read, but filled to the brim with research-based reading strategies to help IR accelerate the students learning. Highly recommend this book! ❤️

Miller & Moss review recent research on independent reading and make a compelling case for bringing independent reading back to our daily practice – a LOT of independent reading (IR) with the teacher present as an “active participant” (p. 39) offering multiple types of support through mini-lessons and conferring – a structured approach to independent reading. The idea that the teacher has to be fully present to learning about and moving her readers forward is a BIG part of the research on effective IR. In addition, students need to develop a reading diet that includes a variety of genres – including informational text. Yes – I’m smiling :)This is a short book – 72 pages plus references and could easily be read by a professional learning group looking for research to support IR and seeking more ways to engage students in IR experiences. (As the authors point out – and less time on calendar, worksheets, transitions, announcements and so forth.) Instructional recommendations include tips for finding more time in the day and building robust classroom libraries.There is a big emphasis on “choice” or “self-selected reading” (research presented and instruction recommended) – but there’s an underlying message that we should support students in choosing different genres including informational texts (a genre wheel, reading aloud different genres, making different genres accessible). There were two spots in the book when thematic text sets were mentioned (p. 32 and 56), but no discussion of how “choice” works in these instances. I’m playing around with that in my new manuscript – we really need to see more students reading informational texts (history and science vs. pop culture) – independently, for growing amounts of time, with teacher support. I know that if we are reading these books aloud and if we book talk these books, students will want to read them during independent reading. But I’m also thinking through and reviewing literature on how to keep the interest going, the wanting to select from and so forth with a text set. Again – I think reading aloud, book talking and having high quality books makes the difference.In the end, this book gets a big thumbs up from me. While the recommendations for teaching in this book are light (almost skim-able), the research presented is substantial and thorough and that’s what I found most energizing.

Great for student teachers

Depends on what you expected from the book. It does have research background and rationale. However, I was interested in the actual implementation. I have found teacher's blogs like Three Teachers Talk much more helpful and in-depth regarding implementation than the book. It points you in the right direction and gives you a checklist of things, but not a clear path; more "why" than "how to".

This is a concise overview of research based reading techniques and the reading workshop. It would be good for beginning teachers or someone wanting to present the rationale for implementing a reading workshop approach at a school. I personally found nothing new, but I am rather well-read in this area in addition to teaching English over 20 years. I will say that the suggested strategies are effective.

This book is a quick read that is well written. It contains a lot of information on the importance of independence reading during the workshop block. Anyone debating about implementing reader's workshop should read this book.If you are already doing reader's workshop, this book is probably not for you. It is very generic in the tips and strategies provided.

Twenty dollars is a hefty price for a book that really tells the same thing twice.

Practical tactics for teachers - what balanced literacy looks like in the elementary classroom!

Highly practical guide for making indecent reading an impactful component of your literacy program.

Loved this book. Plan to read it a second time!

Short, informative, a good start. Recommend it to all teachers of reading. Extensive bibliography gives good suggestions what to read next.