MEETS STUDENTS AT THEIR READING LEVEL Good readers read with accuracy nearly all the time. Reading at 98% or higher accuracy is essential for reading acceleration. Anything less slows the rate of improvement, and anything below 90% accuracy does not improve reading ability at all (Allington, 2012; Ehri, Dreyer, Flugman, & Gross, 2007). In fact, a child is twice as likely to learn an unfamiliar word when reading a narrative text at their just-right reading level than when the text is too difficult (Anderson & Nagy, 1992). Reading books at an appropriate level of difficulty also boosts a student’s self-efficacy. When students regularly read texts that are too hard for them, they grow frustrated and disengage from reading (Reutzel & Juth, 2014; Allington & McGill-Franzen, 2003). Students who are guided to select books that match their ability level and appeal to their interests are more likely to sustain their silent independent reading (Stanovich, 1986). For this reason, an effective independent reading program should offer books with a wide range of reading levels so that every student “has access to materials that they not only want to read—but can read” (Pilgreen, 2000, p. 9). STUDENT-DIRECTED BUT WITH TEACHER GUIDANCE Reading books with the right level of text difficulty matters both to improving students’ reading skills and supporting their self-efficacy. In addition, an independent reading library program must also recognize the powerful role of student choice. Students read more, understand more, and are more likely to continue reading when they are free to read what they like. When striving readers select more challenging texts, it affords them exposure to more complex concepts and vocabulary that they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to read (Shanahan, 2019; 2020). As students engage with these more difficult texts, it is important that teachers provide instructional scaffolding or supports in decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and in other skills to support students’ reading comprehension (Shanahan, 2019). In a meta-analysis, the two most powerful instructional design factors for improving reading motivation and comprehension are student access to many books and self-selection (Guthrie & Humenick, 2004). When students choose their own books, they take ownership of their reading and gain confidence in their ability to pick appropriate materials (Johnson & Blair, 2003). In a study of fourth graders who selected their own books for independent reading, researchers found that the process led to students developing an awareness of themselves as readers (Kragler & Nolley, 1996). Self-selecting books lets students become “deeply involved with the learning process, thus fostering an interest in, as well as developing an ownership of, the reading process” (Kragler, 2000, p. 133).
SCHOLASTIC LITERACY PRO FOUNDATION PAPER 12
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