Keep Track as Students Build Reading Stamina

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Keep Track as Students Build Reading Stamina

August 22, 2014

FAQ: How do you motivate readers to grow their stamina?

ANSWER: During the first few weeks of school, focus on building reading stamina with your students as they learn to work independently within a literacy station.

The key is to start small. Initially, make three minutes the goal. Give students a focused task or behavior to maintain for three minutes. (A typical station to start with is the Classroom Library.)

When a student breaks procedure, then stop the entire group immediately. First, praise students for any amount of time they were able to stay focused. Next, reiterate and refine the procedures. Then, restart the timer for another round of practice.

NOTE: Build students’ stamina to work independently on one activity/at one station before you introduce a new one.

Grow reader stamina bit by bit until they achieve the desired number of minutes. Suggested goals include:

• Kindergarten–7-8 minutes
• Primary–10-12 minutes
• Intermediate–12-14 minutes

To build self-esteem and buy-in, share the desired goal with your students. Chart their growing stamina in a kid-friendly manner that celebrates their progress. Here are three visual tools.

Stair-Step Visual

Draw steps on a whiteboard or chart paper, labeling each step with a different increment of minutes. As students are able to work longer and longer, the teacher moves the “frog” up the steps to track students’ growing stamina.

Bar Graph

Incorporate math skills with a bar graph. Color in the boxes that represent how many minutes students read or worked independently after each practice session. (You may want to use one chart for the whole class and/or have students track the data on individual charts to store within their Reader’s Response Journals.)

Reading Stamina Timer

Project the Reading Stamina Timer. Click “run the slideshow” when you are ready for students to work independently. With a quick glance at the board, students can see how many minutes they have been working. This allows them to celebrate the growing number of minutes they were all able to stay on task.

*How to set the timer for the Google Slides.

Building students’ stamina can take weeks–but remember the bigger picture. Once students are able to work independently for longer chunks of time, the teacher is free to confer with individuals, meet with small groups, and administer one-on-one assessments, etc.

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