Reading in the Wild

In Reading in the Wild, reading expert Donalyn Miller continues the conversation that began in her bestselling book, The Book Whisperer. While The Book Whisperer revealed the secrets of getting students to love reading, Reading in the Wild, written with reading teacher Susan Kelley, describes how to truly instill lifelong "wild" reading habits in our students. Based, in part, on survey responses from adult readers as well as students, Reading in the Wild offers solid advice and strategies on how to develop, encourage, and assess five key reading habits that cultivate a lifelong love of reading. Also included are strategies, lesson plans, management tools, and comprehensive lists of recommended books. Copublished with Editorial Projects in Education, publisher of Education Week and Teacher magazine, Reading in the Wild is packed with ideas for helping students build capacity for a lifetime of "wild" reading. "When the thrill of choice reading starts to fade, it's time to grab Reading in the Wild. This treasure trove of resources and management techniques will enhance and improve existing classroom systems and structures." —Cris Tovani, secondary teacher, Cherry Creek School District, Colorado, consultant, and author of Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? "With Reading in the Wild, Donalyn Miller gives educators another important book. She reminds us that creating lifelong readers goes far beyond the first step of putting good books into kids' hands." —Franki Sibberson, third-grade teacher, Dublin City Schools, Dublin, Ohio, and author of Beyond Leveled Books "Reading in the Wild, along with the now legendary The Book Whisperer, constitutes the complete guide to creating a stimulating literature program that also gets students excited about pleasure reading, the kind of reading that best prepares students for understanding demanding academic texts. In other words, Donalyn Miller has solved one of the central problems in language education." —Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus, University of Southern California

Foreword, by Teri S. Lesesne xi Introduction xvii Life, the Universe, and Everything 1 Chapter 1 Wild Readers Dedicate Time to Read 5 Creating a Workshop Schedule That Works for You 37 Chapter 2 Wild Readers Self-Select Reading Material 42 Curating a Classroom Library 79 Chapter 3 Wild Readers Share Books and Reading with Other Readers 87 Conferring: What’s the Point? 129 Chapter 4 Wild Readers Have Reading Plans 135 Building a Personal Canon 158 Chapter 5 Wild Readers Show Preferences 162 Coda 194 Appendix A: Reader’s Notebook Sheets 198 Genre Requirements Graph 199 My Reading List 200 Books to Read List 206 Status of the Class 207 Appendix B: Reading Habits Reflections 208 My Reading Itinerary 209 My Selection Reflection 214 My Reading Influences 217 Appendix C: Reading Habits Assessments 219 Independent Reading Time Observation 220 Reading Habits Conference Chart 221 Appendix D: Reading Habits Surveys 222 Wild Reader Survey 223 End-of-year Reading Habits Survey 227 End-of-year Reading Preferences Survey 231 Appendix E: Students’ Favorite Titles and Series 234 References 248 Acknowledgments 254 About the Authors 258 About the Sponsor 259 Index 260