Is it your first time introducing FVR or Free Voluntary Reading into your classroom? Do you want your students to read but don’t know where to start? Have you started but don’t know why students don’t seem to enjoy it?
I introduced FVR reading for the first time in August of 2018. Over the course of the semester I tried different things to help my students become better readers and to spark more of an interest in FVR time. Below are some things that will help get you and your students started on your FVR journey.
# 1 – BUILD CONFIDENCE
Before diving into the world of FVR my first unit is COGNATES. Students need to be confident in their ability to comprehend. Starting a unit on cognates helps to start the year/semester off on the right foot. Students are getting the foundation they need to continue in Spanish. They’re provided with one of the most important skills as language learners, how to use context clues.
# 2 – GIVE STUDENTS CHOICE
Do you like all the same things your friends like? Most likely there is something that makes your preferences different from theirs. I know I have different food and book preferences from my friends. Anyway, every student is different. Giving the students a choice in what they read will change their attitude about reading. Having a variety of options available to students is essential. Nine times out of ten all students won’t choose the same book. They all have different interest. Just like my friends and I do.
# 3 – ESTABLISH ROUTINES
Kids crave structure. (Even if they want us to think they don’t.) Setting aside time for students to have FVR is a great practice. Having certain days and time frames will help students get into the groove of things. They’ll know what’s coming, what to do, and it’ll become a natural part of the class structure. Try Lunes de Lectura or Tuesdays and Thursday for reading days to give students a little more reading time.
I’ve even created a graphic so that they don’t have to guess about what I want them to do when they entire the classroom.
I just this version the first couple times so that students before familiar with the instructions.
I transition to using this version by the third time doing FVR.
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# 4 – HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE
There are many ways to make sure students are actually reading. The last thing we want as teachers is to have students off task and staring at the ceiling. 😑🙅Add in time for peer share and allow students to give a brief recap of what they read for the day. There is a great Reading Reflection freebie from Bryce Hedstrom that I also use with students. You can even have your students complete a reading log with both English and Spanish options. Keeping a log for FVR will be a great way to track growth over the course of the year.
# 5 –ALLOW CHANGE
Lastly, give students room to figure things out. If the goal is to encourage reading, I want students to read what they enjoy. If a student tries a book and doesn’t like, it’s ok for them to try a new one. Forcing a student to read an undesired book with not yield the result of growing to love reading. It will surely contribute to that starry-eyed, glazed over, ceiling stare that we want to avoid.
These are the things that helped me the most after reflection about what worked and what didn’t work for my students.
Are you using FVR (free voluntary reading) time with students? Do you want to try it?
