Independent Reading
Overview
Independent reading promotes reading development by emphasizing student choice with teacher support in selecting books, as well as by making time for free reading. As an integral part of literacy programs, independent reading allows students to practice and apply the reading skills and strategies they have learned to texts they are motivated to read.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how this elementary teacher supports students in selecting books for their independent reading. By asking students to identify strategies for choosing a just-right book for them, they are able to apply these tips when they choose books on their own.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
See how digital libraries like Epic! allow learners to access and browse a diverse collection to find an appropriate level book that interests them. With over 25,000 titles to choose from, learners have the opportunity to nurture their love for reading.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Instructional Approaches Strategies
With this interactive technique, teachers help students become storytellers by listening and questioning.
When teachers provide explicit instruction in comprehension strategies and model when to use them, students learn how to flexibly apply them to make meaning of texts.
As students are learning to read, they benefit from explicit, systematic phonics instruction.
Seeing and using new words repeatedly and in many contexts is critical for Vocabulary acquisition.
Explicit instruction in handwriting, including letter formation, can help Handwriting Skills become more automatic, freeing up Working Memory to focus on Foundational Writing Skills.
Explicit spelling instruction helps to improve not only students' spelling, a key part of Foundational Writing Skills, but also supports reading skills development.
In guided inquiry, teachers help students use their own language for constructing knowledge by active listening and questioning.
Literacy centers with reading games, manipulatives, and activities support learner interests and promote the development of more complex reading skills and social interactions.
Through short but regular mindfulness activities, students develop their awareness and ability to focus.
Instruction in multiple formats allows students to activate different cognitive skills to understand and remember the steps they are to take in their reading work.
Using multiple methods of assessment can help educators gain a comprehensive understanding of learner progress across a wide range of skills and content.
A parent evening meeting about how to support literacy at home with one follow-up meeting with each family has shown strong results for students' reading development.
Talking with students about what they know about the topic of upcoming work helps activate their Background Knowledge or reveals gaps.
A strengths-based approach is one where educators intentionally identify, communicate, and harness students' assets, across many aspects of the whole child, in order to empower them to flourish.
