16 Strategies To Help Students Begin To Read Independently

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 1, 2025, 12:12 AM

16 strategies to help students begin to read independently

Are you looking for strategies to help students begin to read independently? If so, keep reading. 1. Get the learner to be a peer tutor to teach younger students reading or to read orally to younger students. 2. Pair the class with a lower grade-level class weekly.

Let each learner read to a younger child. 3. Make reading learning materials easily accessible to the learner in the classroom. 4. Make visiting the library an enjoyable weekly experience. We want our students to be lifelong learners and readers.

Encouraging independent reading in the classroom will help our students develop a love of reading that extends beyond the school day. This blog will break down different strategies for independent reading as well as some of the benefits it can offer. Independent reading can be any type of material, from nonfiction articles to fantasy chapter books, as long as it’s the student’s choice rather than an assignment. Independent reading is crucial for building various skills from vocabulary development to comprehension. As teachers, it’s important to encourage students’ choice but it’s also their job to ensure the texts are appropriate for each student. There are countless benefits of independent reading in the classroom, from improving mental health to building critical thinking skills.

In the age of modern literacy and its emphasis upon having students take on more challenging text, independent reading and student choice can easily take a back seat to the demands of increased rigor. However, in a balanced literacy program, they remain important. Motivation and choice play key roles in reading. And, strong and capable readers are those who read widely and diversely in a wide variety of genres and text types. In the quest to build capable readers, promoting independent, self-selected reading remains key. Creating ravenous, lifelong readers doesn’t just happen, it takes a schoolwide culture to help reach that goal.

We want kids to read more. We want them to enjoy reading. We know that reading builds vocabulary, fluency, and background knowledge. So let’s do our part to promote and encourage independent reading across our schools. Below are 25 ways schools can create a reading culture for independent literacy. Independent reading lets students practice strategies that they learned during the other instructional contexts along the gradual release of responsibility.

During independent reading, students read from texts on their independent reading level or texts that are easy enough for them to decode and understand without a lot of effort. The goals of independent reading are to practice a smoothly operating reading process, to exercise choice, and develop reading interests. Historically, research on independent reading has produced mixed results (Shanahan, 2006; Manning, Lewis, & Lewis, 2010), but literacy leaders attribute this to models of independent reading that have little or no structure. Independent reading that offers guided choice, that teaches children how to select books that are on an appropriate reading level for them, and during which teachers confer with students yields positive results (Kuhn et... It is critical to maintain the balance between student choice and text demands. Independent reading is often referred to as reading practice, and the ways students interact with texts at this point in the gradual release of responsibility should echo those practiced in read-aloud, shared, and guided...

For Further Reading Allington, R.L. (Ed.) (1998). Teaching struggling readers: Articles from The Reading Teacher. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.Burkins, J.M., & Croft, M.M. (2010). Preventing misguided reading: New strategies for guided reading teachers.

Newark, DE: International Reading Association.Hiebert, E.H., & Reutzel, D. R. (Eds.) (2010). Revisiting silent reading: New directions for teachers and researchers. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.Kelley, M.J., & Clausen-Grace, N. (2009, December).

Facilitating engagement by differentiating independent reading. The Reading Teacher, 63(4), 313–318. Moss, B., & Young, T.A. (2010). Creating lifelong readers through independent reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Independent reading isn’t just a classroom strategy; it’s one of the most impactful ways to help students grow as lifelong readers and thinkers. According to the National Council of Teachers of English, independent reading has the most significant effect on student reading success, yet structured programs or interventions often replace it. As educators, we’ve seen the benefits of independent reading firsthand. While assigned reading may build specific skills, it rarely sparks the same engagement or growth as when students choose books they truly care about. Independent reading encourages students to read more, stay focused for longer periods, and develop fluency, stamina, and confidence in their reading skills. Beyond academic growth, independent reading fosters empathy and curiosity and even strengthens connections between school and home.

It’s a simple yet powerful habit that shapes not just better readers but also more thoughtful and curious individuals. Carving out time for independent reading in a packed schedule is worth it in the end, and we’ll show you how to do it during the school day. Consistency builds strong reading habits. When students have a dependable time to read each day, they gain the structure they need to settle into their books and find their interests. Teachers and schools integrate independent reading time differently depending on their students' needs and time constraints. Suggestions for fostering independent reading include: (a) Give children books that are not too difficult.

(b) Help them find books they will enjoy. (c) Encourage them to try many kinds of material. Although independent reading cannot substitute for teaching decoding, it improves reading comprehension and the habit of reading. Independent reading is children’s reading of text — such as books, magazines, and newspapers — on their own, with minimal to no assistance from adults. It can consist of reading done in or out of school, including purely voluntary reading for enjoyment or assigned reading for homework. There are strong associations between independent reading and reading achievement, and many researchers believe that independent reading plays a key role in the development of reading fluency (speed and ease of reading), vocabulary, background...

Not surprisingly, motivation also is associated with independent reading; children who are interested in and motivated to read tend to do more independent reading. Unfortunately, children with learning disabilities in reading often do not read independently, because they tend to find reading effortful, may have trouble obtaining books at their reading level, or may have generally negative attitudes... The National Reading Panel concluded that more research was needed to show the effectiveness of independent reading programs commonly employed in schools, such as Sustained Silent Reading. (In these programs, students may spend a substantial block of time reading books of their own choice silently, with the teacher also reading silently at the same time.) In addition, the panel cautioned that... These cautions are especially relevant to youngsters with LD, who tend to have problems with word decoding. Independent reading is never a substitute for focused remediation and interaction with a teacher in key skill areas, such as word decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Nevertheless, encouraging independent reading for pleasure in youngsters with LD is important for developing habits of reading, interest in reading, and practice of learned skills. Here are a few suggestions for parents and teachers interested in fostering independent reading in students with learning disabilities: Anderson, R. C., Wilson, P. T., & Fielding, L. G.

(1988). Growth in reading and how children spend their time outside of school. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 285-303. I’ve written several blog posts about the importance of independent reading in the ELA classroom. This week, I rolled it out with both my Honors and AP Lit students in different ways. Here is a rundown of different ways you can roll out independent reading with your high school students, regardless of the ability or grade level.

Just to clarify, I do different types of independent reading with these grade levels. Honors sophomores read nonfiction books, one per semester. Their final exams assess and apply their knowledge of their chosen book each semester. My AP Lit students read only three whole class novels/plays per year, but they read four additional choice novels, one per quarter. I originally tried book tastings in 2019 with my AP Lit class. While I enjoyed this strategy, it was a bit more front-end work than I liked, which is why I moved to a few different models.

But to read about the original experience, click here to read the blog post. With my sophomores, I like the round table approach. I set all of my tables in a circle and put 2-4 books on each desk. Each book represents one of my independent reading books. I set the timer for 90 seconds, and in that time students read the back covers or paged through the books on their table. My students recorded their book interests on this simple document (feel free to download!).

16 Strategies To Help Students Begin To Read Independently

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