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Curriculum and Instruction

Independent Reading

Suggestions for fostering independent reading include: (a) Give children books that are not too difficult. (b) Help them find books they will enjoy. (c) Encourage them to try many kinds of material. Although independent reading cannot substitute for teaching decoding, it improves reading comprehension and the habit of reading.

Independent reading is children’s reading of text — such as books, magazines, and newspapers — on their own, with minimal to no assistance from adults. It can consist of reading done in or out of school, including purely voluntary reading for enjoyment or assigned reading for homework. There are strong associations between independent reading and reading achievement, and many researchers believe that independent reading plays a key role in the development of reading fluency ( speed and ease of reading), vocabulary , background knowledge , and even spelling. Not surprisingly, motivation also is associated with independent reading; children who are interested in and motivated to read tend to do more independent reading. Unfortunately, children with learning disabilities in reading often do not read independently, because they tend to find reading effortful, may have trouble obtaining books at their reading level, or may have generally negative attitudes toward reading as a consequence of repeated failure.

The National Reading Panel concluded that more research was needed to show the effectiveness of independent reading programs commonly employed in schools, such as Sustained Silent Reading. (In these programs, students may spend a substantial block of time reading books of their own choice silently, with the teacher also reading silently at the same time.) In addition, the panel cautioned that these programs do not appear effective for students who lack basic word decoding skills, especially as a sole or primary treatment. These cautions are especially relevant to youngsters with LD, who tend to have problems with word decoding.

Independent reading is never a substitute for focused remediation and interaction with a teacher in key skill areas, such as word decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension . Nevertheless, encouraging independent reading for pleasure in youngsters with LD is important for developing habits of reading, interest in reading, and practice of learned skills. Here are a few suggestions for parents and teachers interested in fostering independent reading in students with learning disabilities:

Suggestions for fostering independent reading

• Help children find books that they will enjoy, such as books on topics that interest them, different book series, books by a favorite author, and so on. School and public librarians can be valuable resources for information about books on different topics and about various book series.
• Make sure the book is not too difficult. Poor readers will often pick a book that is too hard to “save face.” However, even young children can understand the concept that optimal learning and enjoyment occur when something is at the right level of difficulty. Children should be able to read at least 95% of the words in a text accurately, or the book is too difficult for independent reading. If a particular book is of interest but just too hard for the child to read right now, read the book to him or her instead, and look for something easier for the child’s own reading.
• Over time, encourage children to explore a variety of types of text, such as nonfiction books, fiction books, magazines and newspapers, poetry, etc., as well as different topics.
• Seek out a range of reading materials from educational publishers that may enable low-achieving readers to read independently, including decodable books, leveled books, high-interest readers, and the like. Young poor readers will often respond enthusiastically to books they can read successfully, even books that may seem stilted or uninteresting to adults. Adolescent struggling readers usually resist books that appear “babyish” or different, but if the student’s reading level is at least second to third grade, there are some very good options for reading material (such as high-interest material written specifically for struggling older readers) that is relatively easy but still age-appropriate.

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Anderson, R. C., Wilson, P. T., & Fielding, L. G. (1988). Growth in reading and how children spend their time outside of school. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 285-303.

Cipielewski, J., & Stanovich, K. E. (1992). Predicting growth in reading ability from children’s exposure to print. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 54, 74-89.

Fink, R. (1996). Successful dyslexics: A constructivist study of passionate interest in reading. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy , 39, 268-280.

Guthrie, J. T., Wigfield, A., Metsala, J. L., & Cox, K. E. (1999). Motivational and cognitive predictors of text comprehension and reading amount. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3, 231-256.

Other helpful sources

Board on Children, Youth, and Families. (2003). Engaging schools: Fostering high school students’ motivation to learn. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1998). What reading does for the mind. American Educator, 22, 8-15.

Guthrie, J. T., & Humenick, N. M. (2004). Motivating students to read. In P. McCardle & V. Chhabra (Eds.), The voice of evidence in reading research . Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.

Other helpful links

• Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read (opens in a new window)
• Programs to Promote Independent Reading (opens in a new window)

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4 Independent Reading Activities to Challenge Students

You’ve established independent reading in your classroom. Congratulations! But now what? How do you make independent reading meaningful for students? Once students are actually reading, there are many independent reading activities you can do to take advantage of reading time without killing the fun! 

(Still working on establishing an independent reading routine? Learn about putting together a great classroom library !)

Independent Reading Activities Idea #1: Quick Reading Skill Reviews

You’ve got students engaged in a book! Don’t forget to have students actually think about their reading now. 

Now, don’t go crazy. If your students are new to independent reading, you don’t want to assign a whole project or essay to go with it. That’s a fast way to kill any excitement your students might have for choice reading. 

However, I think it’s totally ok to ask students to reflect on their reading. Their choice novels can function as excellent examples for implementing other reading strategies. 

The key is to keep any assignments or tasks short and simple. (I honestly wouldn’t even call anything you hand out an assignment or homework.) 

I love short and easy exit tickets for this. Each takes less than five minutes to complete, but review an essential skill or a literary term. The task or question you put on these exit tickets should be short and applicable to nearly any novel. 

For example, having students describe the protagonist of their book reviews an important literary term, asks students to reflect on their reading, and can be answered regardless of which novel students are reading. 

You can create your own exit tickets or buy some already prepared for you. I love these exit tickets for reviewing reading strategies and these exit tickets for reviewing story elements . 

Independent Reading Activities Idea #2: Literature Circles

Once students are comfortable with reading independently and have brushed up on their skills, launch into a bigger independent reading project. Literature circles are a natural progression from independent reading. 

(Not sure how to even begin putting together a literature circle? Check out this post! )

Personally, I would separate a literature circle from independent reading activities. Either continue to do independent reading along with literature circles or suspend independent reading while doing this unit. 

Literature circles use the skills that students have built up while independently reading, but they limit choice. While independent reading allows students to choose almost any novel, literature circles are usually more limited. You might provide students with a list of possible novels or they may need to find a group willing to study the same book.

Like independent reading, students will have to use their reading strategies and discipline to read a novel on their own. They might have fewer choices to read, but they’ll have peers with whom to discuss their ideas.

Interested in a done-for-you literature circle? Try this one based on three social justice novels.

Independent Reading Activities Idea #3: Let Students Get Creative

Personally, I love letting students do something creative when the opportunity is present. It’s a fun way to engage students who might otherwise be less interested in literature. There are so many ideas out there that can be applied to any novel. 

A common activity is to have students design a new book cover for their chosen novel . This kind of activity is perfect because it can be done with any novel but still requires students to think about important symbols, characters, and events in their book.

Another activity that students love is to create an “Instagram” post. The post can be about the book or a fictional post from the perspective of an important character. So much of our students’ lives involve social media; they dive right into assignments like this. You can have students create this post on any blank paper or give them a premade template like this . 

There are innumerable ways to let students combine their creativity with analysis.

Independent Reading Activities Idea #4: Turn Choice Novels Into Mentor Texts

One of the amazing benefits of lots of reading is that it tends to improve writing as well–but only if readers are analytical about the words they read . Asking students to look to their chosen books as mentor texts is one way of helping them to make the connection.

There are many ways of doing this. You could assign a scavenger hunt and have students look through their choice novel for examples. Students can record excellent examples of strong writing, examples of literary terms, or examples of story elements. You could easily adapt this Figurative Language Scavenger Hunt to be used with novels. 

Another way to use any novel as a mentor text is to assign students an author study. Again, you don’t want to assign too much work with independent reading, so maybe you could allow students to choose an author to study from any whole-class novels or their choice novels. 

An author study forces students to examine the way words are used in writing. Eventually, they’ll try and mimic their chosen author’s style. 

One last idea is to have students pull in their books for grammar lessons. Teaching sentence types? Have students identify sentence clauses in a paragraph from their book. Parts of speech? Have students list strong nouns, verbs, or adjectives from their novels. You could even have students list sentences from their book that break grammar rules for an interesting discussion on when and why to do so. 

When trying to make the most of independent reading, it’s important to remember that it should be fun for students. Ideally, independent reading should mimic reading in real life.

“Real readers” don’t sit down after finishing a book to write an essay about it. They might, however, write a review or discuss the novel with a friend. They might create art after being inspired by a great story or imagine alternative scenes or endings.

When deciding what independent reading activities to add to your classroom, make sure they don’t detract from the pure enjoyment of reading a book for fun.

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15 Fun Ways to Freshen Up Your Independent Reading Activities

Alternatives to the reading log.

Inside: Is your choice reading program feeling stale? Are the independent reading activities falling flat? We can engage students and keep book love fresh by weaving in new ideas from time to time!   

Independent reading programs can be the life of your English Language Arts classroom party. Books truly can be magical for students and teachers to share together and to read independently. When inspiring stories are ubiquitous in our classrooms, vibrant discussions help to strengthen the overall community and culture.

Whether you’re just dipping your toes into independent reading or looking for ways to freshen up your existing approach, you’ll find lots of ideas here! If you’ve been around my blog or my Instagram account for long, you probably already know my strong distaste for reading logs and accelerated reader. Compliance-driven accountability tools create a negative space between students, books, and teachers.

In this post, you won’t find unnecessary strategies that frustrate or bore readers. Instead, you’ll find over a dozen fresh ideas for bringing healthy discussion and community to your independent reading program.

Previously, I’ve written about assignments we can use to assess students’ progress with reading literature standards when it comes to their independent reading books. But, beyond standards assessment, I find little to no value in layers of accountability that feel like work just so we can “make sure” students are reading.

If we establish a positive reading culture , students will read. Let’s check out the activities. Keep in mind, you won’t find predictable, structured bell-ringer type approaches here. I like to keep it fresh because that’s my style. Also, variety drives away boredom and unleashes creativity.

For the purpose of clarification, independent reading refers to when students are reading a book of their own choosing . They may be using an audiobook or even sharing the book with parents, but students are reading the book either in class or at home because it’s a book they have chosen to read. Typically, this work is a meaningful extension of additional required classroom texts.

1:  ENTRANCE QUESTIONS

Entrance questions can be a fun way to open up thinking. We can pose these questions when students walk into class or after independent reading time. The purpose of an entrance question is to get students talking about their books, which contributes to a social reading environment. Indirectly, students will be getting ideas of books they may want to read in the future, and those who are answering the questions will be reflecting on what they are currently reading.

Consider these possible examples:

• Find the most important word from the last 2 pages you read. Why is it important to the story?
• What is the setting of your book? Does the protagonist enjoy living in this setting? How do you know? How does the setting cause limitations or provide freedom for the characters?

Entrance questions provide a thin layer of accountability. Students who are not reading their books will have a difficult time coming up with authentic answers to the prompts.

You can find more entrance prompts like this here .

2:  SKILL APPLICATION

One of the best ways we can bridge the gap between whole class texts and independent reading activities is to ask students to apply the skills we are teaching in a whole-group setting to their choice reading books.

For example, if you teach students a five sentence summary strategy using a short whole-class text, ask them to apply their summarizing skills to their independent reading book. Analyzing figurative language as a class? Why not extend that practice to independent reading? Making inferences about characters? Same thing.

I like to use scaffolding tools like graphic organizers and bookmarks to make a seamless connection between whole-class texts and independent reading books. I recommend modeling with the same tools students will be using on their own.

Reluctant readers will be more likely to invest in their independent reading books if they feel the books are an important part of their learning process.

3:  READING CONFERENCES

Reading conferences are opportunities to get to know readers. During a true reading conference, the teacher sits with each student to have quick conversations about how students are approaching their independent reading books. We can ask students summary questions, inference questions, analysis questions, and more.

Reading conferences are another opportunity to bridge the lessons and skills we are working on as a whole class with the books students are reading on their own. Many secondary teachers stray away from reading conferences because we have so many students and a short amount of time to meet with them.

I’ve used five-minute reading conferences during independent reading time. This means I am able to conference with two students each day, and it takes me two to three weeks to make it through the whole student roster. That’s okay! Meeting with students one-on-one allows us to differentiate the reading skills and strategies we want them to work on, and it helps to build relationships with them.

Plus, if we can tell they aren’t really engaging with their book, we can use this time to help them find a book they will enjoy more.

If you aren’t ready to embrace the one-on-one reading conferences approach, give small group conferences a try! Meet with three to four students at a time to discuss a reading strategy (predicting, inferring, visualizing). We can talk about how dialogue impacts pace or how the author uses figurative language to engage readers.

4: BOOK CHECK-INS

In Reading in the Wild, Donalyn Miller recommends a status of the class, which is where we touch base with each student to inquire about their reading progress. When I say your name, share out what page you’re on and something interesting about your reading! We can do this while conferring one-on-one, when taking attendance, as we circulate the room during independent reading, or in small group format when sharing about our reading.

However, Pernille Ripp recommends a second option for reading checks, which is asking students to sign in at the beginning of each class by updating the current page number of their independent reading book. We can streamline this process with a digital or print whole class book check-in sheet that can later be analyzed for trends (pictured below).

At the end of a week or month, we can ask students to total the number of pages they have read and submit that number via a Google Form. This is data we can use to reflect on as a class.

5: CASUAL BOOK TALKS

What are people typically really excited to do after reading something super good? Tell others, of course! That’s why informal book talks are an engaging way to open up authentic social reading situations.

After independent reading time, ask for volunteers to share something exciting, moving, or humorous from what they’ve read, a favorite line or passage, or an impressive example of author’s style. I consider these informal book talks, but I don’t recommend titling them as such to students because it increases the formality.

Just ask who wants to share, and let a few voices shine. To make sure everyone has an opportunity to participate, keep track of who has already shared. When you run out of volunteers and still have students who haven’t shared, ask them questions about their book.

“Jaclyn, I see you are reading ___. What happened in your reading today?” 

“Nathan, what’s your favorite part of the book you are currently reading?”

The expectation to share our reading is a gentle reminder to students:  You need to be reading. It will be your turn soon.  This layer of accountability is one I’m comfortable with because sharing good books is an authentic reading practice.

6:  READING SPRINTS

Here’s another after-independent reading activity, and this one engages the whole class! Reading sprints are when students answer a standards-aligned question about their book directly following reading time. They jot their thoughts on a sticky note and then share it on the board.

As a teacher, there are multiple ways we can lead short or long on-the-spot discussions about literature skills using these sticky note collections. Students’ responses to questions will give us insights as to what skills we need to hone.

Reading sprints keep the spirit of community reading alive in our class and allow us to tie independent reading to whole-class reading lessons seamlessly!

7:  READING RATE GOALS

In 180 Days , Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle recommend having students set their own reading goals based on their reading rates. To do this, have students read for ten minutes. They should record the page they begin on and the page they end on. With that number, they will multiply by 6 to find the number of pages they can read per hour. Then, students should set a goal for the number of pages they want to read in a week.

Gallagher and Kittle suggest teachers could grade students upon whether or not they meet their self-determined goal, but my own preference is to avoid grading with independent reading as much as possible. There have been plenty of times I haven’t met my own goals for finishing a book or reading as much as I should have in a month, and I’ve needed to give myself some grace.

Of course, text complexity plays a role in students’ reading rates, and they need to be taught to set goals that are appropriate for the text they are reading. Students can also set goals for engagement, environment, stamina, and variety of reading.

8:  FIRST PAGE SNEAK PEAKS

Hooking students on good books is the first step toward a thriving independent reading program. Over the years, I’ve noticed the most engaging books often have high-interest first pages.

So…let’s take advantage of some sneak peaks! Either with physical books or digitally, have students read the first page, record their thoughts, share their thinking with a small group.

This activity is not necessarily an alternative to a reading log, but it is excellent for building our “to read” lists and promoting a positive reading culture.

9:  VIEWING PARTIES

Viewing parties have recently become popular because they enable groups of people to watch videos together even when they’re apart. When it comes to independent reading, why not host trailer viewing parties? Students can enjoy the trailers as they sit in our classrooms, or they can watch remotely.

Viewing parties are yet another way to share amazing book recommendations with others. Students can recommend book trailers they think their peers would enjoy, and teachers can generate book trailer lists based on weekly or monthly themes.

Why not host monthly viewing parties as a way to recap First Chapter Friday books (here’s a list from a friend !) you have previewed or other excerpts you’ve shared? They’re a friendly reminder that those books are still available for the reading!

Get new books on students’ radar by finding authors who are reading excerpts from their own books. Or, invite authors on Twitter like Jennifer Nielson to host a virtual book reading or Q and A with your class.

10:  GENRE EXPOSURE

I first began introducing literary genres slowly throughout the year when I read The Book Whisperer years ago. Over time, I saw the value of this approach. While older students generally already have a specific taste for certain genres, exposing them to a variety of them throughout the year helped students to expand their palettes.

Some specific ideas…

Introduce new genres with a brief set of notes. ( You can find mine here .) Discuss common characteristics of that genre. Read excerpts from those genres…first pages, first chapters, high-interest passages, and back covers. You can also hold a genre sorting activity to get more books in students’ hands.

11:  COLLECTIVE READING WALLS

After students finish a book, have them fill out a book spine and add it to your classroom decor! This simple activity gives both teachers and students a visual for community reading volume. The trickiest part of using the book spine strategy is remembering to have students fill them out! So, I recommend building in a regular space for this to happen.

Choose a day of the week, and write it into your lesson plans for that day! On a bi-weekly or monthly basis, give students 5 to 10 minutes to complete their book spines in class and add them to the wall if you desire.

12:  READING LADDERS

Reading ladders are my absolute favorite alternative to the reading log! They still allow space for students to record what they’ve read. But they feel less intrusive. Plus, reading ladders are convenient for discussing book diet, reading volume, and reading identity.

With a reading ladder, you start with a bookshelf. Then, choose how you want to label each shelf. I often choose to label shelves with words like “just right,” “entertaining,” “challenging,” “easy,” and “frustrating.” This labeling system helps readers to identify the complexity of books they are reading. We always discuss how it’s okay to read a picture book that is easy. And, it’s okay to read a classic that is challenging! The key is to know what you are reading and why.

Here are my my print and digital reading ladders.

13:  READING DISPLAYS

Another way we can make reading a visible part of our classrooms is through bookish displays. It’s hard for students to forget about reading when they are surrounded by high-interest novels! Reading displays are a non-invasive way to track collective reading.

Display novels you want to draw attention to at the front of your classroom or face-out on your library shelves. Consider having students contribute to a class bulletin board. Here are some bookish bulletin board ideas I’ve created using social media concepts.

14:  READING CHALLENGES

Engage readers with challenges to get them reading more often! Try challenges with unexpected twists. Read under a homemade fort, in a hammock, or on vacation. Expand your genre diet by dipping your toes into something new. Recommend books to a friend or read something recommended by a coach!

Format reading challenges into a tic-tac-toe choice board or BINGO board and have them submit their titles whenever they finish a certain number of novels.

You can also work with students to create individual or whole-class challenges to read a certain number of pages each week or month. Students can fill out a simple Google Form at the end of the time period to indicate how many pages they read.

15:  READING JOURNALS

After reading, we can ask students to write about what they’ve read. Connecting reading and writing is a healthy habit that encourages reflection and creativity. When students see literature from an author’s point of view or when they approach their own writing to apply the literature techniques they’ve analyzed, students are empowered!

Reading journals (whether recorded digitally or in a reader’s notebook) are one way to build in standards-aligned accountability. We can hit both reading and writing standards! Here are two sets of writing journals you can use to get started with journaling about reading:  Set 1 and Set 2 .

Want to prioritize the questions but cut the writing? Readers naturally discuss what they are reading with others! Promote a book club type culture ( even when students are all reading different books! ) by keeping high-interest discussion prompts or more basic comprehension-style questions handy.

The KEY:   Every good idea is only good in moderation.

As with reading logs, any and all of these tools could be used in a way that negatively impacts our readers…including using them too often or treating them as “I gotchas.” It’s ongoing work and reflection to identify whether what we are asking of students is drawing them closer to reading and further on their reading journeys or whether it is doing the opposite.

If we really want to know whether our students are reading, all we need it do is watch them. Are they devouring books? Sharing their favorite parts? Carrying books with them? Flipping pages with eyes tracking during independent reading time? These are authentic indications of reading. Best of all, they don’t add anything to our plates, and they won’t turn our readers away from books.

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Melissa Kruse

An avid reader and writer, I've had the privilege of teaching English for over a decade and am now an instructional coach. I have degrees in English, Curriculum & Instruction, and Reading as well as a reading specialist certification. In my free time, I enjoy loving on my kids, deconstructing sentences, analyzing literature, making learning fun, working out, and drinking a good cup of coffee.

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7 Independent Reading Activities to Increase Literacy

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Independent reading is time set aside during the school day for children to read silently to themselves or quietly to a buddy. Providing a minimum of 15 minutes each day for independent reading is vital to help students improve reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension, and to increase their vocabulary.

Allow students to select books of their choice for independent reading and select new books weekly or monthly. Guide them to choose books they can read with about 95% accuracy.

Schedule individual student conferences during the independent reading time. Use the conference time to assess each student's reading fluency and comprehension along with his understanding of key story elements.

Use the following independent reading activities to increase literacy in your classroom.

Character Diary

The objective of this activity is to increase reading accuracy and fluency and to assess students' understanding of the book through a written response.

• Blank paper
• One or more "just right" books of the student's choice
• First, students will fold 3-5 blank sheets of paper together so that they open to the right. Staple the pages together along the crease.
• Each day, after students complete their independent reading time, they should complete a dated diary entry in the main character's voice.
• The entry should detail an important or exciting event, the student's favorite part of the day's reading, or what the student imagines the main character may be thinking in response to what happened in the story.
• Students may illustrate the diary entries if desired.

Book Review

The objective of this activity is to increase reading accuracy and fluency and to assess students' reading comprehension .

• Student book
• Students must read a book, either independently or as a group.
• Ask the students to write a review of the book they read. The review should include the title, author's name, and plot, along with their thoughts about the story.

Lesson Extension

If you choose to have the entire class read the same book, you may wish to let students create a classroom graph showing who liked and disliked the book. Display the graph along with student book reviews.

Cover Story

The objective of this activity is to assess the student's comprehension of the story through a written response.

• Crayons or makers
• Student's book
• Students will fold a piece of blank paper in half so that it opens like a book.
• On the front cover, students will write the book's title and author and draw a scene from the book.
• On the inside, students will write a sentence (or more) stating one lesson they learned from the book.
• Finally, students should illustrate the sentence that they wrote on the inside of their book.

Add a Scene

The objective of this activity is to assess students' comprehension of the book they've read and their understanding of key story elements through a written response.

• Crayons or markers
• When the students are approximately halfway through the book, instruct them to write the scene they think will happen next.
• Tell students to write the additional scene in the author's voice.
• If students are reading the same book, encourage them to compare scenes and record similarities and differences.

And One More Thing

The objective of this activity is to engage students with literature and help them understand point of view and the author's voice through a written response to a story.

• After the students have finished reading a book, instruct them to write and illustrate an epilogue.
• Explain to students that the term epilogue refers to a section of a book that takes place after the story has concluded. An epilogue provides closure by giving more information about what happened to the characters.
• Remind students that an epilogue is written in the author's voice as an additional part of the story.

The objective of this activity is to assess the student's comprehension of the story and his ability to identify the topic and main points.

• Students will draw a circle in the center of a blank piece of paper. In the circle, they will write the topic of their book.
• Next, students will draw six evenly-spaced lines around the circle from the circle toward the edge of the paper, leaving space to write at the end of each line.
• At the end of each line, students will write one fact or event from their book. If they are writing events from a non-fiction book, they should maintain the proper sequence from the story.

The objective of this activity is to assess a student's comprehension of the story setting and encourage her to use details from the book and her mental picture to describe the physical layout of the setting.

• Instruct students to think about the setting of the story they just read. Does the author give details about the location of the places in the story? Usually, authors provide some indication, although the details may not be explicit.
• Ask students to create a map of their book's setting based on explicit or implied details from the author.
• Students should label the most important places such as the main character's home or school and the areas where much of the action occurred.
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