I do free voluntary reading in my French classes for 10 minutes a day every day. Kids like it. Administrators don't like it. I have about 100 books I bought myself. 3 main types of books. Comic books, Disney books, and graded readers. I spread them out on tables so the kids can see the covers instead of on a shelf. The research is very supportive of free voluntary reading as a means of language acquisition. The students learn so much- vocabulary, grammar, syntax. And they retain it because it is in a meaningful context. I wait about 2 months before we start it with French 1 students. We start with 5 minutes per day, then 6, then 7, and work our way up to 10 minutes per day. Every day. I also do read alouds and teach and test vocabulary in sentences. But they do not understand anywhere near 98% in the free voluntary reading. French 1 is more like 10-20%, French 2 is 30-40% and French 3 is 50-60%. With the Disney books, they already saw the movies, and there are pictures so they can understand it somewhat. Comic books also have pictures which help with comprehension. The graded readers have glossaries in the back. I also read while the students read. If I read something they are more likely to want to read the same thing later. This is super effective in helping students acquire the language. I highly recommend free voluntary reading to all classes and all levels. I even had some special Ed kids and kids who struggled reading in English. They did it too. It is relaxing. In reading the research, there is no advantage in holding them accountable for it. I sometimes have to shush them. But basically, everyone just sits and reads.
@SrtaSpanish They want more active learning. Have the kids run around with flyswatters. Play games to memorize vocabulary. Sitting still while listening or reading is too passive. So, basically they are anti-CI.
I do free voluntary reading in my French classes for 10 minutes a day every day. Kids like it. Administrators don't like it. I have about 100 books I bought myself. 3 main types of books. Comic books, Disney books, and graded readers. I spread them out on tables so the kids can see the covers instead of on a shelf. The research is very supportive of free voluntary reading as a means of language acquisition. The students learn so much- vocabulary, grammar, syntax. And they retain it because it is in a meaningful context. I wait about 2 months before we start it with French 1 students. We start with 5 minutes per day, then 6, then 7, and work our way up to 10 minutes per day. Every day. I also do read alouds and teach and test vocabulary in sentences. But they do not understand anywhere near 98% in the free voluntary reading. French 1 is more like 10-20%, French 2 is 30-40% and French 3 is 50-60%.
With the Disney books, they already saw the movies, and there are pictures so they can understand it somewhat. Comic books also have pictures which help with comprehension. The graded readers have glossaries in the back. I also read while the students read. If I read something they are more likely to want to read the same thing later. This is super effective in helping students acquire the language. I highly recommend free voluntary reading to all classes and all levels. I even had some special Ed kids and kids who struggled reading in English. They did it too. It is relaxing. In reading the research, there is no advantage in holding them accountable for it. I sometimes have to shush them. But basically, everyone just sits and reads.
whaaaaaat! Your admin doesn't like your students reading more??? What is up with that?
@SrtaSpanish They want more active learning. Have the kids run around with flyswatters. Play games to memorize vocabulary. Sitting still while listening or reading is too passive. So, basically they are anti-CI.
@@ronlugbill1400 HUH. Is this all subjects or are they just pushing it on you as a "special"?
Have you done this routine before? How frequently do you use it? 👇👇👇