Teachers know that establishing a robust independent reading program takes more than giving kids a little quiet time after lunch. But how do they set up a program that will maximize their students' gains? Teachers have to know their students' reading levels inside and out, help them find just-right books, and continue to guide them during…

This article presents easy computer projects to send students into the summer feeling good about the past year and looking forward to the next. The projects involve printing summer reading book lists, making bridges to the next grade, publishing books of class events, designing reading posters, and creating summer calendars. (SM)

To motivate students to read, it is important for teachers to teach the reader, not the reading. This article presents three strategies for accomplishing this: studying the child, not the book; focusing on students' reading lives and knowing them as readers; and thinking of students as readers. (SM)

In this article, the author shares the lessons he learned from Aaron, a 12-year old kid who had never been to school, on the importance of crafting systematic fluency lessons. The following are strategies that worked for them: (1) Demonstrate what fluency sounds and feels like; (2) Read aloud to the students at least three times a day from a…

Teachers must make changes in their reading programs that reflect a desire for students to compose lives in which reading matters. Strategies presented include getting serious about independent reading, building a literate environment, making every child bookish, setting up reading partnerships, and ideas for home-school reading support. (SM)

Describes New York City teachers' emphasis on independent reading, with the rest of their reading curriculum growing out of needs identified during that time. They begin with mini-lessons, then create social supports for reading, make independent reading central and collaborative, reinforce what works, make time for solitary reading, and learn…