Reading Sprints to Increase Student Engagement in ELA

The following is a guest post written by Lindsay from @smalltownela

cultivating a love of reading

One of my biggest goals as an ELA educator, like many others, is to promote independent reading to my students as much as possible. Because of course we want them to love reading or at least enjoy it more than they want to let on. Over the years I have tried many different ways to promote reading in the classroom including, reading logs, AR tests, and journaling. But the one way that I have found that helps my students read more and apply it to topics we learn in class is through reading sprints. 

LET’S TRY READING SPRINTS

Now I just want to come out and say that I am most definitely not the first person to come up with this concept because I saw it on Instagram from some of my favorite accounts (@missboverseas and @elaeveryday) and tweaked it for my own classroom. 

But here is the gist if you haven’t heard of them yet:

• Have your students mark down the page that they are starting on, and then you have your students read for an allotted time, usually around 8-10 minutes.

• Once the timer goes off, have them mark down where they finished and then have them take a break and answer a question of your choosing.

• Then, repeat the process. Usually, I only do 2 reading sprints in my class, but you are free to do more or less however you see fit.

Amanda has a reading sprints slide deck that teachers love to keep the time structured and you can grab it here.

READING SPRINTS: THE STRATEGY

When using reading sprints in your classroom, you can do multiple things in between “sprints” with your students. You can have them do a quick reflection, ask them to write a summary, or look at a different element in their reading, including tone, mood, foreshadowing, or make a  prediction to name a few. The easy thing about it is you can constantly switch up the questions and then every quarter or so just reuse them because the answers and the analysis will be different because they will be reading a different novel. This helps them understand the topic that you are learning and apply it in many different ways to strengthen their skills. 

The best part about reading sprints is how easy it is to implement them in your classroom on a regular basis. Not only are you building in solid independent reading time, but also having them work on skills or standards that you want them to practice more. I have found that using reading sprints in my class on a regular basis helps my class build up their reading stamina which helps when reading full class novels, poems, or close reading activities. 

STREAMLINING READING SPRINTS IN THE CLASSROOM

Here are a few more ways you could use Reading Sprints in my class.

1. Early Dismissals - this is the best way to have a productive class when you are on an early release schedule. The students know to walk in, open up their computers and we get started right away. Usually, I try to link it to whatever standard we have been learning about that week.

2. Bell-Ringer - depending on how long your class is having your students do one reading sprint every day and answering a question in their journal or on Google Slides is an easy way to have them read every day while also being held accountable. 

3. End of the Week - I personally do reading sprints on most Fridays with my students. It’s the best low stakes end of the week plan that both my students and I look forward to. We look at different skills we worked on during the week and apply them easily to our independent novels. Plus it’s an easy way to end the week and send them off with no homework for the weekend.

READING SPRINTS AND FLEXIBILITY

I love using reading sprints in my classroom and my students begin to look forward to them as well. The best part about them is you get to decide how often and how long you get to use them. This can be a random activity you do once in a while or something you do on a consistent basis with your class. I hope you can go and find new ways to use them in your classroom. 

Hey! Amanda here checking in :)

Reading Sprints are another great tool to help teachers move away from plot-centered teaching. When it feels like we’re so tied to plot level detail comprehension, it can be hard to remember the big picture. As you work through building your craft and aligning your goals, I made this YouTube video to help you think through the ways in which critical thinking can show up in your lesson planning. I hope it helps!