Transcript
BECKY THOMSON:
Independent reading is good for a variety of things I think. Firstly, it’s a great opportunity for the children to practise their reading and to have a chance to have a go at it on their own, but I think also it’s that time where children can take real ownership of their reading. So that might be that they want to sit and read a poem, it might be that they want to sit and read a magazine, it might be a chance to get really into that novel that they’re enjoying, but I think the thing that’s important about it is that it’s their time for them as readers. And it’s that time where they can develop as readers themselves. So they get to know what they like, what they don’t like because they’ve got that time to explore that.
In the Teachers as reader’s research, it talks about volition and choice being key. And I think that’s really true for my class. It’s important that they choose where they sit and read. It’s important they choose who they read with and what they’re reading, which will mean that on some days, they might, I had it today, two boys sat and chose to read a sort of what would be probably regarded as a more of an early years level book, where it’s sort of mixing and matching different animals. On another day they would sit and choose to read their novels. And I think it’s about them having choice as readers. So that the children own the time it’s not me saying, "Read this, sit here, do that." Because otherwise they’re not going to apply that hopefully outside of school and beyond when they’re in my classroom, and they move on to secondary school.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
The pattern of things and how things work in our independent reading time varies. And again because there’s such an element of choice, it really depends on what the children want to do that day. So sometimes children will sit independently in silence and read their books, because that’s what they want to do. On other days they might choose to read a comic together, on other days they might choose to sit and read a joke book and tell jokes to each other. On another day they might choose to sit in the book corner and read picture book aloud to each other, or read parts of their novel aloud to each other. It depends really on what the children want to do, but I think it’s about having a variety of choices available so that the children then have that ownership of the time.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
CHILD 1:
[Reading from book] We’ll be happy. Yes, but we’ve had another idea, sorry she said, we didn’t bring our hearts with us today.
BECKY THOMSON:
So the role of book blether and book talk, I think is really important in this independent reading time. Because that’s what I do myself as a reader. If I’ve been reading something, I want to talk about it and I want to share things with other people. So I think it would be wrong really to deny them that right.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
CHILD 2:
Now this one’s got three. 1, 2, 3.
BECKY THOMSON:
So there’s a lot of informal book talk during our independent reading time where the children might talk about their books, or you should read this one because, or have you got to this bit yet?
CHILD 3:
She’s very shy.
BECKY THOMSON:
You think she’s really shy? Why do you think it is, Ahad?
CHILD 4:
Because Jack is with that girl, that’s why.
BECKY THOMSON:
So you think maybe she’s a bit jealous?
CHILD 4:
Yeah.
BECKY THOMSON:
Because Jack’s with playing with Lily? And then maybe she’s feeling a bit left out?
CHILD 4:
Yeah
CHILD 3:
She’s on that book to see she’s the one that started all these adventure.
CHILD 5:
Miss, sshhh, spoilers.
BECKY THOMSON:
Sorry Aida, don’t want to spoil it.
I try and make a conscious effort to have that informal book talk as a class. So would you recommend what you’ve been reading? Has anybody read anything they want to share with us? Do you want to read a bit of it aloud? Just to sort of get them used to talking about their books in an informal way that’s not being assessed by me, it’s just that that’s what real readers do.