Reading is ThinkingJohanna O’Brienjohanna.obrien@radford.act.edu.au

“We teach kids to listen to their inner voice while they read, to follow their inner conversation and to stop, think and react to information rather than simply reading on.” (Harvey & Goudvis, 2005, 2007, 2008)

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“For students of every ability and background, it’s the simple, miraculous act of reading a good book that turns them into readers; because even for the least experienced, most reluctant reader, it’s the one good book that changes everything. The job of adults who care about reading is to move heaven and earth to put that book into a child’s hand.” (Nancy Atwell, 2011)

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Key Data CollectedIn term 1 the Year 4 teaching team asked the students to complete a reading questionnaire. The questionnaire asked students to analyse and profile their beliefs and opinions about reading.

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What did the data tell us?• 70% of the students said they liked reading

• 9% said they did not enjoy reading

• 21% of students were undecided and said enjoying reading depended on whether they were forced to read or had a choice in the books they could read.

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70%

9%

21%

Do you like reading?

Yes No Undecided

Interesting…• 56% of students surveyed said they don’t

like reading aloud.

• The general consensus was that reading aloud, was embarrassing, stressful and the majority of that 56% were scared and nervous that they would be laughed at if they made a mistake.

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35%

56%

9%

Do you like reading aloud?

Yes No Depends

Other Data…• Twice a year in Semester 1 and again in

Semester 2 a Fountas and Pinnell reading benchmark assessment is completed for all students K – 6 in the Junior School at Radford College.

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Setting up the Reader’s Notebook• After some thorough research and assessing different

Reader’s Notebooks that I found online I decided on the following four sections for the Year 4 Reader’s Notebook:

1. Independent Reading2. Class Novel3. Reading Responses4. Goals and Feedback

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/beth-newingham/readers-notebook/http://www.julieballew.com/A_Literate_Life/Readers_Notebook.htmlhttp://tworeflectiveteachers.blogspot.com/2014/09/ways-we-are-using-our-readers-notebooks.html

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Using the Reader’s NotebookIndependent Reading:• Students complete a reading log for

novels they are reading.• A range of reflective activities are also

assigned to engage the students in thinking about their own reading choices

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Using the Reader’s NotebookClass Novel:• Students engage in a range of activities

and thinking routines that support and build on their understanding of plot development, character traits and themes explored in our class novels.

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Using the Reader’s Notebook• The visible thinking routines have been

instrumental in supporting student agency when using the Reader’s Notebook.

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Using the Reader’s NotebookReading Responses:• Students read, annotate and

complete thinking routines for non fiction texts related to our units of inquiry.

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/beth-newingham/readers-notebook/http://www.julieballew.com/A_Literate_Life/Readers_Notebook.html

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Using the Reader’s NotebookGoals and Feedback:• Reading conversations are used to give

feedback and deepen comprehension about fiction and non fiction texts read.

• Students create their own goals related to feedback from the reading conversations.

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/beth-newingham/readers-notebook/http://www.julieballew.com/A_Literate_Life/Readers_Notebook.html

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Assessing the Reader’s Notebook• An anecdotal checklist has been developed

to record observations of reading behaviours to notice, teach and support.

• I refer to the checklist before selecting a focus strategy and use the learning outcome as a learning intention that can then be observed during the lesson and easily identified in student work samples.

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Where to next?Trialing the Reader’s Notebook in Year 4 this year has been a very rewarding teaching and learning experience. Moving forward we are looking to implement the Reader’s Notebook across Years 3 – 6 in 2019.