1.
Creating a Classroom Where
Readers Flourish
Donalyn Miller

2.
bookwhisperer.com
slideshare.net/donalynm
@donalynbooks
nerdybookclub.com

3.
Schedule for the Day
8:15 to 8:30 Introduction
8:30 to 10:00 First Session
10:00 to 10:15 Break
10:15 to 11:45 Second Session
11:45 to 12:45 Lunch Break
12:45 to 2:15 Third Session
2:15 to 2:30 Break
2:30 to 3:30 Fourth Session
3:30 to 3:45 Q & A and Closing

4.
How are you doing?

5.
How is your reading life going?

6.
“I Can’t Read a Book Right Now—And I Am Not Alone”
Sophie Vershbow, Vogue, April 3, 2020
tal flexibility and become highly focused o

7.
bit.ly/readingjoycoronavirusmiller
https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/experts/donalyn-miller
@librarygirl

8.
Benefits of Avid Reading

9.
The single greatest factor in reading
achievement (even above socio-
economics) is reading volume—how
much reading people do.
(Krashen, 2004)

10.
From 1990 to the present, the trends on
the NAEP indicate that fourth graders'
reading achievement increases as the
diversity of their reading experiences
increases.

11.
Fourth graders who reported reading a
wide variety of text (e.g., narrative,
informational) had higher reading
proficiency than students who reported
reading only one type of text.

12.
Avid readers attain higher levels of education
(Krashen, 2004), possess larger vocabularies
and broader background knowledge (Sullivan
& Brown, 2015; Cunningham & Stanovich, 2003),
and write and comprehend better than
people who read less (Miller & Moss, 2013).

13.
Beyond its academic advantages,
avid reading fosters social
comprehension, which enables
readers to interact with the world
around them.
(Dodell-Feder & Tamir, 2018; Ahmed, 2018)

14.
Avid [adult] readers in the United
States vote, volunteer, and
participate more in community life.
(NEA, 2007)

15.
Reading for just six minutes can be
enough to reduce stress levels by up
to 68%.
(University of Sussex, 2009)

16.
Many children report losing interest
in reading between third and fourth
grades.
(Scholastic, 2019)

17.
“Decline by Nine”

18.
This lack of [reading] interest
actually makes literacy instruction
more difficult for older students.
(Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Hiebert, 2014)

19.
Time
Access
Choice
Community

20.
Time

21.
The volume of independent, silent
reading that students do in school is
significantly related to gains in
reading achievement.
(Swan, Coddington, Guthrie, 2010; Hiebert & Reutzel,
2010; Cunningham & Stanovich, 2003)

22.
Provide independent
reading time in class.

23.
How much time do you spend
reading (books) in an average week?

24.
1-4 hours
5-7 hours
8-11 hours
12 or more hours
Other
Average Weekly Reading

25.
1-4 hours
5-7 hours
8-11 hours
12 or more hours
Other
Average Weekly Reading

26.
Read in the
“edges” of our
time.

27.
How do we know a student is faking
or avoiding reading?

28.
10-minute observation/ 25-minute block
10-minute observation/ 25-minute block
25-minute block

29.
Schedule for the Day
8:15 to 8:30 Introduction
8:30 to 10:00 First Session
10:00 to 10:15 Break
10:15 to 11:45 Second Session
11:45 to 12:45 Lunch Break
12:45 to 2:15 Third Session
2:15 to 2:30 Break
2:30 to 3:30 Fourth Session
3:30 to 3:45 Q & A and Closing

30.
Access

31.
“Giving kids access to books may be
one of the most overlooked solutions
to helping ensure kids attend school
with the tools they need to succeed.”
“Where Books Are All But Nonexistent”
—The Atlantic, July 14, 2016

32.
Access to a 500-book library has as great an effect
on the level of education a child will attain as
having university-educated parents and
caregivers.
(Evans, Kelley, Sikora & Treiman, 2010)

33.
Children from middle income
homes, who live in a suburb, may
have as many as ten regular places
in their daily lives to access a new
book to read.

34.
How have you seen book deserts and
book floods in your own experiences?

35.
What is your district’s library fine
policy?
What is your local public library’s fine
policy?
If you do not know, who could you ask?

36.
bit.ly/bookscovid19

37.
What summer reading programs
have you seen or participated in
planning or running?
What did you like about those
programs?
What would you change?

38.
“…providing self-selected
books for summer reading
produced as much or more
reading growth as attending
summer school! For the
poorest children the effect of
our summer book distribution
was twice as large as
attending
summer school.”
(Allington & Mc-Gill Franzen, 2013)

39.
Access to a full-time, degreed school
librarian increases students' test
scores, closes the achievement gap,
and improves writing skills.
(Lance, 2012)

40.
bit.ly/fightinglibrarycuts

41.
Access to an abundance of books
within the classroom results in
increased motivation and increased
reading achievement.
(Kelley, M. & Clausen-Grace, N., 2010; Worthy &
Roser, 2010; Guthrie, 2008; Routman, 2014)

42.
Virtual Book Room
ClareLandrigan.com

43.
What would you look for when
evaluating a classroom library to
determine if it was adequate?

44.
Working in groups of 3-4, create a
classroom library checklist of at least four
criteria you would look for when evaluating
a classroom library. You will have 5
minutes.

45.
Diversity
Currency
Organization
Quantity

46.
Quantity

47.
Fountas and Pinnell: 500-800 books
Richard Allington: 1000 books
ILA: 5-7 books per child

48.
Sources for Low-Cost Books
or Grant Funding
Snapdragon Book Grant
Book Love Foundation Grant
James Patterson Library Grants
Target Educational Foundation
First Book
Scholastic Warehouse Sales, Book Fairs, and
Reading Clubs

49.
Equitable Representation

50.
Rudine Sims Bishop, 1990
Mirrors
Windows
Sliding Glass
Doors
Books can be…

51.
Photo Credit: Canva Stock Photo

52.
weneeddiversebooks.org

53.
ALA Awards
Coretta Scott King Award (African-American)
Pura Belpre’ Award (Latinx)
Asian/Pacific American Award (Asian and Pacific Islander)
American Indian Youth Literature Award (Native)

54.
#disrupttexts
#ownvoices

55.
bit.ly/leeandlowdiversecollectioncheckli
st

56.
What is one actionable step
you can take to increase the
diversity of voices and
perspectives that your
students will experience
throughout the school day?

57.
Leveling

58.
76

59.
“It is our belief that levels have no
place in classroom libraries, in school
libraries, in public libraries, or on
report cards.”
Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, “Fountas and Pinnell
Say Librarians Should Guide Readers by Interest, Not
Level (2017)”

60.
Labeling and shelving a book with an
assigned grade [or reading] level on its
spine allows other students to observe
the reading level of peers, thus
threatening the confidentiality of
students’ reading levels.
American Library Association’s Position Statement on
the Labeling Books With Reading Levels

61.
Instructional
Context
Text-Level Accessibility Who Does the Work
Read Alouds Substantially
above grade level
Probably frustration level
for most students
The teachers does all of
the print work. The
students and teacher
work together to make
meaning.
Shared Reading On or a little
above grade level
Probably frustration level
for many students
The teacher and students
do the print and meaning
work together.
Guided
Reading/ Small
Group
Instruction
On reader’s
individual level
Instructional level for each
student
The student does most of
the print and meaning
work.
Independent
Reading
From below grade
level through
above grade level
Multiple texts for each
reader varying from
independent to frustration
level depending on the
amount of productive
effort and reader stamina
The student does all of the
print and meaning work.
Burkins & Yaris, 2014

62.
Motivation Background
Knowledge
Reading Level

63.
Motivation Background
Knowledge
Reading Level

64.
Choice

65.
“Learners who lose the
ability to make choices
become disempowered.”
--Brian Cambourne,
Conditions of Learning (1995)

66.
ct their books results in more involvement and
(Sewell, 2003; Gallagher, 2009; Miller, 2013;
Pruzinsky, 2014)

67.
Three Text Classroom
(Judy Wallis, University of Houston)
Whole Class
Book Clubs
Independent Reading

68.
How do readers find
books to read?

69.
Ways to Find a Book to Read
• Author
• Topic

70.
Ways to Find a Book to Read
• Author/Illustrator
• Recommendations
• Genre
• Cover
• Title
• TV Shows/ Movies
• Topic
• Series
• Length
• Mood
• Awards and Lists
• Reading a few pages
• Skimming
• Language and
Culture
• Blurb

71.
Book Commercials/ Book Talks

72.
www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/readerleader/BookTalks-011717
#30secondbooktalk

73.
diversebooks.org/resources/post-4420/

74.
Read Alouds

75.
The read aloud is the gift that keeps on giving--
leading to student gains in:
vocabulary
(Beck & McKeon, 2011)
comprehension strategies and story schema
(Van den Broek, 2001)
concept development
(Pinnell & Fountas, 2011).

76.
wonderopolis.org
Wonderopolis

77.
Poetry 180

78.
American Rhetoric

79.
Community

80.
“We have to create classrooms that
do not run on shame, but run on
community.
-Pernille Ripp

81.
A positive reading environment in the
home and community has a substantial
impact on children’s reading habits,
enjoyment, and ability.
(Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Drucker, 2012)

82.
Students, even those who find reading
challenging, thrive in classrooms that are
filled with books at different levels, where
the teacher celebrates books, and
students are given choice in what they
read, as well as time and support to read
it.
(Pressley, et al, 2006; Allington, 2012)

83.
56% of unenthusiastic readers did not have a
teacher who shared a love of reading,
while 64% of enthusiastic readers did have
such a teacher.
--Nathanson, Pruslow and Levitt (2008)

84.
Who is in your reading community?

85.
Students’ voices should be louder than ours.

86.
“I have long been convinced that the
central and most important goal of
reading instruction is to foster a love of
reading.”
–Linda Gambrell,
Creating Classroom Cultures that Foster Reading
Motivation (1996)