The independent reading program described in this lesson plan gives students time to read what they want to read, share what they have read, and receive the support they need for further reading explorations and reflections. Students will: work in a community of readers and learners, including other class members, family members, their teacher, and other school volunteers; focus on lifelong learning strategies by providing experiences, formats, frameworks, and attitudes for study in the present and future; participate in student-centered learning; explore their ideas, reflect on their writing, and revise their work; and read and discuss texts in guided and independent practice, using literacy as a way to think, as a tool for understanding. The instructional plan, lists of resources, student assessment/reflection activities, and a list of National Council of Teachers of English/International Reading Association (NCTE/IRA) Standards addressed in the lesson are included. Attached are excerpts from "Volunteers Working with Young Readers" (Lester L. Laminack); a list of questions to use in book chats; a reading portfolio form; "Positive Parent Involvement" (Arlene Midgett Clausell); and "Becoming Proactive: The Quiet Revolution" (Cathy Fleischer, Kathleen Hayes-Parvin, and Julie A. King). (RS)