Why Self-Selected Reading Matters: Building Lifelong Readers in Secondary Schools

By Nicole Leachman

One of the greatest problems that secondary English teachers face is how to help students have purposeful and meaningful interactions with literature. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by incorporating self-selected, independent reading into the classroom culture.

What are a few of the benefits of self-selected reading?

1. Meets kids where they are
   • You will find a wide range of reading abilities in any given classroom. While teachers can scaffold whole-class novels for struggling readers and provide extensions for advanced readers, self-selected reading provides an opportunity for natural differentiation. Students can choose books based on their skill and interest levels, which sets them up for reading success. This is especially important for struggling and reluctant readers who might be more apt to resist traditional whole-class reads.
2. Leads to engagement
   • When students are able to choose what they read, they’re naturally more engaged in the process. The same is true for most adults. As much as I love my students, I would much rather dive into the latest Jodi Picoult novel than read 100 literary analysis essays. So, when we give them the power to choose, rather than slogging through the text because they have to, students are more apt to want to read and discuss their texts. This can ultimately help them to become more confident and capable readers because they’re more diligent in practicing their skills.
3. Improves reading stamina
   • In today’s world of Instagram feeds and TikTok reels, students have increasingly little exposure to long-form texts. However, it’s undeniable that in order to be college and career ready, they must be able to interact with longer and more dense reads. To do this, they need sustained practice: the books they choose provide the perfect opportunity. As a result, students will simultaneously increase their reading speed, fluency, and stamina.
4. Cultivates a love of reading
   • Isn’t one of our ultimate goals as English teachers to turn our students into lifelong readers? To do that, students have to be able to figure out what they like to read. They must try different types of texts to find their preferred genres, authors, and series. However, kids can only figure out what they like and dislike in books if they are given the opportunity to do so…which will not happen if teachers are the only ones putting books in their hands.

It’s important to note that it isn’t enough to require students to always read a self-selected book at home; teachers must allocate class time to independent reading. Students implicitly understand that we devote class time to what we value. If we aren’t willing to “sacrifice” class time for students to read, do we really think it is important? Furthermore, students are busy outside of school. Many are involved in extracurricular activities, have after-school jobs, help out with younger siblings, or are even just burdened with hours of homework each night. While it’s easy for us to assign independent reading homework, chances are it will take a backseat to everything else students have going on. To be fair, the same is true for me: between managing a household, caring for my young son, and keeping up with planning and grading, I don’t have much time for leisure reading at home…the other stuff has to happen first, and by that point, I’m usually collapsing into bed at the end of a long day. I believe that we must give our students the same grace that we deserve ourselves. Consequently, to ensure that students read independently, we must create a space and a time for them to do so.

This being said, scheduling time for independent reading shouldn’t be completely hands-off. There are a variety of activities that teachers can do to ensure that students’ independent reading is both meaningful and purposeful:

Apply new skills
As you teach new concepts, have students apply what they have learned to their independent novels. For example, if you’re teaching tone, students can analyze the tone on a page of their independent novel. If you’re examining the impact of character development on a theme, students can do the same for their personal reads. In addition to making their novels relevant to in-class instruction, this practice can facilitate deeper understanding as students apply their learning to something personally relevant to them.

Try one-on-one conferencing

Another way to make independent reading meaningful and productive is to have one-on-one reading conferences with students. During independent reading time, you can walk around the classroom, asking students to tell you about their books: what do they like about it? Dislike about it? What’s going on in the story? What could they tell you about the main character? What are they learning about the world? You could even tell your students about the books that you’re reading! In addition to helping students think more deeply about their books, these conversations are also useful in creating meaningful connections with your kids.

Create book clubs
This year, at the suggestion of one of my colleagues, I experimented with genre-based book clubs with my students; I called them “Reading Families.” After students selected their first novel of the year, I placed them in small groups by genre. The students met once a week for 15-20 minutes to talk about their books. I provided the students with potential discussion questions to get them started, but they rarely stuck to those questions and instead simply discussed their books as readers would. As I walked the classroom, it was easy to insert myself into these conversations to check for students’ understanding and analysis of their novels. It created a classroom culture of readers, and we are certainly more prepared to dive into literature sets this semester.

While, yes, we as teachers want to be actively involved in our students’ reading lives, we don’t have to accomplish this solely through whole-class texts…and perhaps it is best that we don’t. Instead, there are myriad benefits to treating our students like the readers that they are and allowing them to choose their next books.