Standard 8: Independent Reading and Writing

Students will read and write for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to, academic and personal.

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

• Students will determine a specific purpose for reading (e.g., academic or personal).
• Students will self select a text based on interests, motivation, and ability.
• Students will use strategies to determine if a majority of words and concepts can be read successfully.
• Students will apply reading skills and strategies independently to comprehend text.
• Students will build stamina as they read independently.

• Teachers explain reading for academic or personal purposes.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to determine a purpose for reading.
• Teachers model text selection based on interests, motivation, and ability.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to self-select a text based on interests, motivation, and ability.
• Teachers model strategies for determining if a text is too difficult.
• Teachers provide opportunities to use strategies to determine if a text can be read successfully.
• Teachers monitor and provide feedback as students independently select appropriate texts for academic and personal purposes.
• Teachers model strategies, such as using background knowledge, asking questioning, visualizing, and making inferences, to demonstrate how students should oversee their own comprehension while reading independently.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to practice strategies while reading independently.
• Teachers explain why it is important to build reading stamina.
• Teachers model reading for extended periods of time without being distracted or causing distractions for others.
• Teachers provide opportunities for students to build stamina in their independent reading time; gradually increasing their lengths of time reading.
• Teachers monitor students while independently reading for extended time to build stamina. 

Supporting Resources

Teacher Insights

Reading is Thinking-Comprehension Strategies (PDF)

Daily Cafe:  Good Fit Books (webpage)

Daily Cafe:  Two Ways to Conference with Students(webpage)

Why Read 20 Minutes A Day?  (graphic)

Lexile Framework for Reading: Find A Book (webpage)

• Beginning independent reading with a short amount of time and adding a few minutes each day builds reading stamina.

• Allow students to build stamina with daily independent reading practice. They can read to self, read with someone, or listen to reading.

• Selecting texts for independent reading may require some teacher guidance.

• Complexity of text varies from student to student based on individual abilities.

• Having brief conferences with students regularly will help teachers know more about which reading processes students are using and allow for opportunities for feedback.

• Simply assigning students to read independently at home is not sufficient. Teachers should have opportunities to observe students reading.

• If students are quiet and have a book open in front of them, they are not necessarily reading.

Due to recursive nature of the standards, it is essential that teachers are aware of how all objectives within and between strands work together for optimal instruction.