{"id":2115,"date":"2024-04-17T13:31:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T13:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.scholastic.ca\/scholasticblog\/?p=2115"},"modified":"2025-10-31T18:14:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:14:02","slug":"how-to-recharge-your-students-independent-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.scholastic.ca\/scholasticblog\/2024\/04\/17\/how-to-recharge-your-students-independent-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Recharge Your Students’ Independent Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Keeping students engaged during independent reading time doesn\u2019t always happen on its own\u2014especially as we approach the tail end of the school year. By this stage, students may be re-reading books they read earlier in the school year, while other great titles may be left untouched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give your students\u2019 independent reading a boost with these great strategies recommended by Alycia Zimmerman, a third grade teacher in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Rethink the Classroom Library<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

For Zimmerman, one of the best ways to recharge independent reading is to reorganize the classroom library, making way for new titles and helping students re-discover ones they may have previously overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start, Zimmerman recommends getting students involved in the selection process. She usually informs her students that they will be putting away books they are no longer interested in or have outgrown, before asking each student to note which books they would like to keep and which they would like to see go.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then likes to make it clear to students that she is introducing new series or authors that she felt weren\u2019t appropriate for them at the beginning of the year, but that they have now grown into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe excitement is incredible. Students shout out, \u2018Whoa, check out this dragon series!\u2019 and \u2018Books about World War II! So cool!\u2019 My students beg me to borrow the new books,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Incorporate Student Book Talks<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

To get students excited about independent reading and their new classroom library, Zimmerman likes to ask her third graders to do their own book talks. She reminds her students how frequently she gives book talks to introduce a book or series, and then offers students the opportunity to sign up to give their own talks about titles they want to recommend to the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI set out a sign-up calendar and pass out guidelines for giving a book talk. I also explain that I would give book talks for the next two days to give students a chance to read some of the new books and to prepare their talks,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a book talk, Zimmerman sets out an index card for students to sign up to read the featured book. She also has students record the books they want to read on their own \u201cCan\u2019t Wait\u201d list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. Keep It Fresh!<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

To keep the momentum going for the remainder of the school year, Zimmerman likes to continually add new titles to the classroom library. One fantastic way to add more variety is to implement a Basket Exchange with a fellow teacher, where both classes can swap a basket of books with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another effective strategy Zimmerman likes to use is \u201cShop and Tell.\u201d Under careful supervision, she allows her students to read child-appropriate book reviews once a month during independent reading time. Students then let her know which new books they are interested in adding to the class library. Each month, she will buy and add some of their suggested books to the library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Originally published by Teaching Tools on March 15, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keeping students engaged during independent reading time doesn\u2019t always happen on its own\u2014especially as we approach the tail end of the school year. 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