I have been thinking a lot lately about reading stamina and volume. We know that students learn to read by reading, but how much is enough?
Students should have enough books to sustain them for a workshop period of reading for a week. Students should have enough just-right books in their box or bag to read (and re-read in Lower ES) without having to spend precious workshop time browsing for new books.
Here is a suggestion that I saw while in New York…
Levels A-C = 10-12 books *
Levels D-G = 5-10 books
Levels K-M = 5-6 books
Levels N-Q = 3-4 books
Levels R-T = 2-3 books
Levels U-Z = 1-2 books
Are your students reading enough volume while building their reading stamina? Are they making the most out of their reading time?
* Levels are Fountas and Pinnell Levels
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Thanks for the info, Sarah. I’ve been thinking about numbers of books too, and wondering if your chart means new books or does it include all books read. The students in my class are encouraged to read their just right books again and again, especially while we are focusing on fluency. Let’s say an F reader reads More Spaghetti, I Say three times in a week, is that one book or three?
Cheers,
Amy
Hi Amy
Great question. Reading a book multiple times is so valuable for developing readers-Good for you.
THe chart shows numbers for books in a book box or bag. So the a student reading books at an F level can have 8 books that they read multiple times over a period of a week. (This is where a tally-reading log can come in handy to track student reading and so that the student can see their own reading growth)
Sarah