Giving my students the opportunity to read a book of their own choice during class time is golden. It need not be a long time but is usually only ten to fifteen minutes and it happens every day.

Encouraging your students to read independently and providing time for them to do will hopefully be appreciated by the majority of your class. For the non-readers; providing other reading material such as comics, magazines, newspapers or online digital texts can be a great option and can get this type on board to read more.  

There are different ways you can implement this reading time;

• First up in class during roll call in the morning

• First thing after coming in after lunch each day – which is also great as a settling activity after the hype of lunch

• During fruit break or Crunch & Sip time

There are many different names you may like to call it;

• Silent Reading

• Quiet Reading

• SSR – Silent Sustained Reading

• DEAR – Drop Everything And Read

• DIRT – Daily Independent Reading

• GRAB – Go Read A Book

• USSR – Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading

• OTTER – Our Time To Enjoy Reading

• FUR – Free Uninterrupted Reading

• PRT – Personal Reading Time

• SQUIRT – Sustained Quiet Uninterrupted Independent Reading Time

• Million Minutes

Independent Reading is a skill that you will find that your students will need to be taught and expectations made explicit.

• Reading is non-negotiable

• Students should choose a book/s and read it for the entire time without getting up out of their seats

• There is no drawing or talking during this time

• All students have to read a book during this time

• A fifteen-minute timer should be set

• Students should have a bookmark to mark their spot and keep their book either on their table or in their personal tray for the following day

• Students may like to keep a record of their reading

• Teachers may like to choose a couple of children to share what they read or was the best thing in their book at the end of the reading time

• Teachers should be good role models during this time by reading their own book

By creating a reading environment in the classroom will help your children to enjoy books.  Where we read, affects how we read. You may like to offer your students to sit in the reading corner, lie on the floor, sit on a cushion or against the wall.

In your classroom you may like to;

• Have a reading corner or reading area

• Have weekly visits to the library to borrow new texts

• Allow reading time in class each day

• Incorporate reading as a homework task each day

• Do author studies

Reading with pleasure, willingness and concentration will help to improve your students reading comprehension and skills. Silent reading sounds like a win to me!

Other ways to encourage reading in your class are on a post here How To Encourage Reading In Your Classroom.

Do you implement some sort of reading time with your class each day? Have you noticed a difference in your students? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.