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.
Book Review Book Tasting
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.
Round Table Book Tasting
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!). After 90 seconds, they passed the books on to the next person and checked out 2-4 more. By the end of the class period, each student had a list of 5-12 titles they were interested reading.
To keep things diplomatic, I put every student’s name in this online wheel of names. The first name selected equals first pick on an independent reading title.
(I was so into this activity that I forgot to take any pictures!)
Genre Sampling
With my AP Lit students, I tried a different tactic. I organized my independent reading books into different genres (many books were in more than one) and laid them out on different desks. My students moved through the desks like in the Round Table Book Tasting, but this time there was more organization to the books.
Here are the categories I created and some of the books I put under each genre:
Unreliable Narrators
- Room by Emma Donaghue
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Adventure/Journeys
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
- The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Ancient/Classical
- The Iliad by Homer
- The Odyssey by Homer
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Dystopian Texts
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Coming of Age
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Romance
- Brooklyn by Colm Tóiboín
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Mystery/Suspense
- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
- Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
- In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien
- Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Shakespearean Inspirations
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Biblical Allusions
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Gothic
- A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
Comedy/Dark Humor
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
- Candide by Voltaire
Non-Fiction
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Race Relations
- Kindred by Octavia Butler
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Historical Fiction
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
No matter how you roll out independent reading, it will be worth your time. To just say, “Time to read, pick a book,” will lead to an attitude of begrudged reading or even fake reading. Check out this blog post for more tips on rolling out and sustaining a love for reading in your classroom.
