If they are reluctant readers who manage to find 'other things to do' at home rather than reading, chances are they will manage to find several distractions during a silent reading session in class unless the session has a meaningful follow-up. Using focused learning intentions and ensuring the students generate success criteria that emphasise the value of a reading session can focus their interest. After that, a teacher who knows their students can tailor the reading material to meet the interests of the individual personalities in their class. There's a great value in meaningful teacher/student conferencing. Basically, silent reading doesn't JUST have to be 20 minutes of reading wihout purpose.....but we already know that.
If they are reluctant readers who manage to find 'other things to do' at home rather than reading, chances are they will manage to find several distractions during a silent reading session in class unless the session has a meaningful follow-up. Using focused learning intentions and ensuring the students generate success criteria that emphasise the value of a reading session can focus their interest. After that, a teacher who knows their students can tailor the reading material to meet the interests of the individual personalities in their class. There's a great value in meaningful teacher/student conferencing. Basically, silent reading doesn't JUST have to be 20 minutes of reading wihout purpose.....but we already know that.
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