Make Free Voluntary Reading Work with AC Quintero

In Episode 86 of “Growing With Proficiency The Podcast,” I had a powerful conversation with AC Quintero, a remarkable Spanish teacher, writer, presenter, trainer, and coach in language acquisition.

In this conversation, we dove into the significance of free voluntary reading in the classroom, exploring how to make reading an engaging and meaningful experience for students of all levels. Alicia emphasized the importance of building a supportive community and understanding students’ diverse relationships with reading before initiating free voluntary reading activities.

In this post, I’m highlighting our conversation, but to listen to our full discussion on free voluntary reading, listen above or here. 

What is Free Voluntary Reading?

First, let me explain about free voluntary reading. Free voluntary reading is when you have an activity or a chunk of time where your students self select, with a little instruction, a book or reading from the class library. The library should have a variety of books and readings. Then, the students will read freely for a certain time period that you set beforehand. Usually, this is between five to fifteen minutes.

This self-selected reading is important because what we have learned about second language acquisition is that reading is the best strategy for students to acquire language, acquire grammar, and acquire spelling. Additionally, when we read, we discover how others write which improves our own reading. 

Implementing Free Voluntary Reading

Alicia started implementing free voluntary reading by having books readily available to her students, which was great, but she knew her students needed more. She wanted to make this reading time more memorable for her students. 

First, Alicia stressed for teachers to understand that not all of your students have the same relationship with reading as you or other students may have with printed material. 

Next, she suggests to have a variety of short introductory activities. One of the activities she uses before students even start reading a book is her use of a slide deck that she is sharing with us. You will find the link to this resource below. What teachers should ask about is if their students enjoy reading and what they have been reading recently. 

Alicia likes to put her students into groups and have them ask each other about reading. There are about seven questions that encourage talking among the students. Afterwards, Alicia talks with her class as a whole to help build community in her class. In episode 86, Alicia shares examples of questions for different levels of her classes. Listen above or here. 

Choosing Books

Alicia made an important point about the books that our students self select, “We want students to read books that are at their level or just slightly above so that they’re not frustrated”. If we just send our students off to the library to choose a book, they may choose a book way above their reading level, and it will be overwhelming to them. By taking a class period to do an activity such as with the slide deck, you are acquiring important information about your students’ skills and reading  interests. With this information, you can then direct students to books at or above their reading level and with their interests in. mind. 

What’s Next

After the classroom talk, Alicia likes to introduce a book to her students that she has brought in and do a book talk. This not only introduces vocabulary to her students, but it also models how she wants her later discussions with her students about their reading material to look like. 

Once students choose their book, the first thing Alicia has them do is to spend a few minutes looking at the cover, and then they have another social activity. In this activity, students talk to another classmate about the cover of the book and why they chose the book.

Then, students are given about eight to ten minutes to read their book during the free voluntary reading time. Because Alicia has a unit on this, her students spend about ten to fifteen minutes a day on reading over the course of a couple of weeks. Students continue to discuss things such as the setting of the book, themes, and the characters. 

Students then move on to a write and discuss. After writing, they chat with a partner about what they wrote about. Basically, each time they read, it is connected to an activity. The questions are all based on the level of the students. So, for level four or five students, they may have to write about what they would have done if they were the character. Listen to more here. 

After the Book is Finished

Once students are finished with their book, they participate in a conversation circle. Students get together with another group of students and talk about their book, and the other kids have to listen attentively and ask questions. To ensure that her students are successful, Alicia reviews what a quality question is and models one herself. This is especially important because students are graded on the quality of their questions.

Managing Free Voluntary Reading Issues

I asked Alicia how she manages issues that may arise, such as if students do not like their selection and handling students finishing a book at different times. First, she gives her students a time window for being able to switch out a book they don’t like. However, after this time window closes, they must finish their selection. When students finish their book faster than other students, Alicia suggests to let that student go ahead through the activities planned. If a student has not finished their book, see if they have read enough of the book to participate in the required activities. Be flexible, and you may have to try a few different things. 

Changes After a Free Voluntary Reading Unit

Alicia has been pleasantly surprised to see how free voluntary reading supports students’ learning. Oftentimes, she will ask a student where they learned a word. Surprisingly, a student will often say they learned it through the reading they did during the free voluntary reading unit. She also notices that their writing is a more cohesive. 

The key is to remember that what works for one teacher may not work for you. So, try something, but if it doesn’t work, try something else. Remember, by doing free voluntary reading as a unit to begin with, you can then move to doing it as a daily activity. The unit will show students how to analyze their book and how to share about their book. And, if you don’t yet have a library in your class, in episode 86, I share a few ways that you can acquire free and low-cost reading materials. Click here or listen above for a great conversation where Alicia and I explore the power of free voluntary reading