Thursday, February 28, 2019

Why Independent Reading Practice?


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It is universal and clear in research and evidence that reading achievement is improved when reading volume increases. Richard Allington in his 1977 first publication, “If They Don’t Read Much, How They Ever Gonna Get Good?”, described ineffective reading practices as one factor that hindered students, it hindered all children from engaging with reading. Krashen (2004) was one strong voice in identifying independent reading as the single greatest factor in reading achievement. Shananahan (2018) said this about independent reading, “Correlational studies consistently reveal a positive relationship between the amount of independent reading and reading proficiency. Simply put, the best readers tend to read the most.” Nagy, Anderson, & Herman (1987) stated, “Just sixty minutes of independent reading every day gives students the opportunity to acquire over 4.3 million new vocabulary words every year.”


Still in the same vein, Allington (2009) said this, “Struggling readers need to read a lot because it is during the actual reading that they can practice all those complicated strategies and skills they are developing in unison. There is good evidence (Torgeson & Hudson, 2006) that we can design interventions that include word recognition skills and strategies and still be left with students who cannot read fluently and with comprehension. It isn’t that teaching struggling readers better word reading skills and strategies isn’t important, but rather that better word reading skills and strategies will not necessarily improve the reading of text—real reading, the ultimate goal. What we need in order to help struggling readers develop is the substantially more complicated achievement of reading text accurately, fluently, and with comprehension. The only way to do this is to design interventions such that struggling readers engage in lots of text reading.” What Really Matters in Response to Intervention: Research‐based Designs. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.


I hear a very clear tune commonly sung by these voices. They all agree that independent reading can - improve overall reading achievement and proficiency, improve specific skills and knowledge in vocabulary, reading strategies, fluency, and comprehension, and children can engage more and better in reading itself. On the negative side of the coin, struggling readers will continue to be hindered, not engaged and disinterested in reading, and not improved in their reading skills without providing them with interventions to engage in lots of text reading and independent reading practice.

What is independent reading practice? Shananahan (2018) proposed that independent reading is reserved for situations that are truly independent: in which readers choose to read, choose what they want to read, and are accountable to no one for what they read. The NZ Ministry of Education suggested that independent reading should be relaxed and enjoyable. Teachers should demonstrate that they value independent reading when they read themselves and also make sure that students have time to enjoy independent reading.


The basics for effective independent reading practice vary and the list can be long. But there are essentials for an effective independent reading - and they are provision of time and space, access and engagement, choice and voice, structure and accountability, reading model, engagement of teachers, leaders, families and community stakeholders.

It is my intention to explore these essentials of independent reading practice in my teaching inquiry and how they contribute to the improvement in the reading skills of struggling readers.


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Thursday, February 21, 2019

Reading Practice for me


As a second language learner of English growing up in the island of Tonga, speaking, reading, or writing in English was like trying to reach out and touch the stars. For a start, our Tongan language was our national language of communication, so there was hardly any receptive English language accessible for any acquisition. None of my parents could utter words in English, so to start learning English or to read in English was non-existent at my home. Even when I went to school, English was supposed to be a medium of instruction, but most of my teachers were Tongans so they resorted to teach and speak mainly in Tongan. To top it all off, computers did not arrive yet to our schools and books were a scarcity. I am referring here to the 1950s onward.

So how did I land here now at a place of contrast from what I have just explained? As clear as daylight, I can think of 'personal reading practice' as like a friend in such times of desperate needs. I remember how among us close friends of about 5 girls in high school, we passed around some 'Mills & Boons' among us and that's what we read for our independent personal reading. Those were the ones most available for us to read. I remember how I never slept for a night or put down the book until I finished because I had to pass it to the next one the following day. I didn't realise it then, but I do now, that that's where and how I practice how to read and learn English - 'Personal Independent Reading Practice'. That's the initial pathway I took which led me to my English capacity today.

It was practice, practice, practice, practice personal reading!


Practice is recognized as an essential component of any learning process (Willingham, 2009). The role of practice and hard work (rather than fixed intelligence) in academic accomplishments is beneficial for both motivation and performance (Mueller & Dweck, 1998).

As it relates to reading in particular, research indicates that time spent reading books is the best predictor of overall academic achievement, even more so than socioeconomic status or ethnicity (Kirsch et al., 2002).

Research shows that reading practice builds vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, writing and higher order thinking skills. Reading practice also enhances general abilities such as visual information processing and speech perception. Though beneficial in all forms, reading practice is most effective when guided—that is, when it is coupled with feedback and instructional support tailored to the individual student.


So in our modern space today, what do we do to students who are still underachieving in reading, or at the reading achievement 'tail' or commonly referred to as struggling readers? Should there still be some at our midst while we have all the modern accessibility available for reading? At the college level, what do we do to students who arrive at our door still reading below their expected curriculum levels? These are questions and experiences that I still grapple with daily while striving to provide answers and bring hope to some of these children. It is an ongoing battle that perhaps warrants ongoing inquiries and practices.

With the countless evidence-based strategies presented by research for interventions, the question is, which are the most effective ones? I feel that reading instruction should never be substituted, but independent reading practice should never be underestimated either.

Indeed 'Independent Reading Practice' is a door we can walk through to find answers!

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Monday, February 11, 2019

Manaiakalani Teaching as Inquiry Framework

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