We’ve all been there … if you’re an elementary school teacher, you are trying to run what can feel like 587 small groups to support all the needs of your readers (with reading levels all the way from pre-k to “infinity and beyond”) and you DREAM of independent readers who can choose a “just-right” book and immerse themselves in it while you teach. Sigh.

 

The reality is, unfortunately, that kids, like adults, want to read a book because it is popular, makes them look smart, or has a cool cover. Time and effort are wasted while they “fake read” a book that is literally in their hands but still mentally out of their current reach. OR they’ve read this particular book 97 times and are afraid to try something new. So what do we as teachers do???

 

Step 1 – Reality Check – They Need a Tool

 

After struggling year to year with this same problem, I decided to make them leveled bookmarks. I figured these 9 and 10-year-olds would MAGICALLY be responsible for a little piece of paper tucked inside their books.

 

These morphed into a reading level bookmark that I could fill out based on their most recent reading assessment. We recently switched from STAR and BAR to iReady, so I used a correlation chart (linked here) to turn their Lexile scores into a range that would work for our schoolwide Accelerated Reader (AR) leveling system. Each grade level in our library has a color assigned to it, so I included those colors on the card.

 

Now when I say, “What’s your level?” they can show me their range on their bookmark or desk card, and we waste no time. We find the color, find the range, and head off to the library for the section that matches their color.

 

Am I limiting my kids to their proven ability level? YEP. Are they able to find books easily in their range? YEP. Can I continue to teach my small groups and not get interrupted repeatedly with “Can you help me find a book?” YES. Yes, I can. And are they learning independence and self-reliance? YUP. So giving them the tools they need to achieve that is my job these days. Thus the birth of “The Reading Level Bookmarks and Desk Cards”, AKA “my sanity” was born!

 

Last year I copied these reading level bookmarks & desk cards in color on my home printer.

When we head back to school in a month (sighhhhhhhhh) I plan on printing them at school on astrobrights, to save a bit of my personal funds, if you know what I mean!

 

I am toying with the idea of laminating them, hole-punching, and then putting them on a ring to hang on the side of my students’ desks. Keeping their reading range card, passwords, iReady punch cards, and AR badges all on one ring sounds pretty organized – might be time to put on my big girl teacher panties and get organized! LOL!

 

Step 2- Revisit Independent Reading Expectations

I might have had too much fun with this step – it involves one of my favorite things to do with my students – making anchor charts! I had already made my cute “Read to Self” anchor chart when setting up expectations at the beginning of the school year. This poster stays up ALL YEAR as a reference of the expectations. But when the small group interruptions start to drive me bonkers, I up my game with “the 5 Bs” anchor chart.

 

The “5 B”s poster takes up real estate RIGHT BEHIND MY SMALL GROUP TABLE. The beauty of its location is that when I see a student walking aimlessly towards my small group lesson table, I can just point at it with my eyebrows raised, and students immediately walk away and ask another student for support unless they truly have a dire need. Prime real estate, my friends!

 

Well worth the wall space … some years I’ve used emojis, sometimes printed off clipart (my stick people are not always inspirational), but overall the message is ALWAYS the same. “I care about you, and these kids in my reading group right now are equally important as you are, so unnecessary interruptions are not showing them respect.”

 

My rule USED to be not to interrupt at all, but then a student who stapled her own finger waited 15 minutes for me to stop teaching before “bothering” me, and I decided this rule had to have some guidelines. Because let’s face it, I felt HORRIBLE about that sweet girl suffering because she was a rule follower and my rule was inflexible!

Step 3- Sneak in the Fun Reading Challenges!

 

One of the most important parts of teaching, which I think many of us forget about or wish we had time to do BETTER and more often, is talking to students about their goals and progress. While it takes time, it is THE. MOST. POWERFUL. TOOL. WE. HAVE.

 

Why?!?! Without student buy-in, we’ve got nothing. When students can see their growth, can feel that success that they are improving, they work harder – they care more! And there isn’t gonna be any “learnin'” happening in a room of apathetic, disengaged learners.

 

So the last step before we tape these puppies down on their desks is to talk to them about their progress. If it is the first one, it is more of a conversation about where they are at NOW. But if it is the winter or spring (or whatever your district/school/classroom assessment schedule is), put their new card down next to their old card so they can see their progress.

 

Ask them what they notice. Give them some well-deserved recognition for their hard work and growth. And if they didn’t make progress, ask them why THEY think THEY didn’t make progress (with solid lessons, reading groups focused at their instructional level, and plenty of independent reading time, they all SHOULD have made progress). In those conversations we reach our kids – we have the power to teach them a growth mindset and the power of “YET”.

 

In what ways can I support my students to help them get where they want to go? And what will they need to do to get to that place? This just became a partnership. And that’s my main goal – building their self-confidence and showing them the power of their own efforts in learning.

 

Here is where we can insert some FUN to give them that motivation. I remember feeling overwhelmed as a new reader with all of the shelves and shelves of books in the library and just needed some guidance to get started. Helping students find their love of reading is the greatest challenge for a third-grade teacher.

 

What can we do to make independent reading time more focused? Give students reading activities, challenges, and games that give them motivation, help them track their reading, and encourage them to try new genres.

 

Using these independent reading activities also gives the teacher a touchpoint to talk about when conferring one-on-one with each student. Help your students identify their favorite book series, genres, and level of engagement. Because the magic of getting better at anything, including reading, is just to DO IT often, and with intention.

 

 

 

Find the reading range cards and the independent reading challenges in my TpT store. I also have a READO freebie (reading Bingo = READO) on my TpT page that I think your students will enjoy! Try it out and see if it raises their interest in reading independently.