independent reading assignments

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15 Fun Ways to Freshen Up Your Independent Reading Activities

Inside: Is your choice reading program feeling stale? Are the independent reading activities falling flat? We can engage students and keep book love fresh by weaving in new ideas from time to time!   

Independent reading programs can be the life of your English Language Arts classroom party. Books truly can be magical for students and teachers to share together and to read independently. When inspiring stories are ubiquitous in our classrooms, vibrant discussions help to strengthen the overall community and culture.

Whether you’re just dipping your toes into independent reading or looking for ways to freshen up your existing approach, you’ll find lots of ideas here! If you’ve been around my blog or my Instagram account for long, you probably already know my strong distaste for reading logs and accelerated reader. Compliance-driven accountability tools create a negative space between students, books, and teachers.

In this post, you won’t find unnecessary strategies that frustrate or bore readers. Instead, you’ll find over a dozen fresh ideas for bringing healthy discussion and community to your independent reading program.

Previously, I’ve written about assignments we can use to assess students’ progress with reading literature standards when it comes to their independent reading books. But, beyond standards assessment, I find little to no value in layers of accountability that feel like work just so we can “make sure” students are reading.

If we establish a positive reading culture , students will read. Let’s check out the activities. Keep in mind, you won’t find predictable, structured bell-ringer type approaches here. I like to keep it fresh because that’s my style. Also, variety drives away boredom and unleashes creativity.

For the purpose of clarification, independent reading refers to when students are reading a book of their own choosing . They may be using an audiobook or even sharing the book with parents, but students are reading the book either in class or at home because it’s a book they have chosen to read. Typically, this work is a meaningful extension of additional required classroom texts.

1:  ENTRANCE QUESTIONS

Entrance questions can be a fun way to open up thinking. We can pose these questions when students walk into class or after independent reading time. The purpose of an entrance question is to get students talking about their books, which contributes to a social reading environment. Indirectly, students will be getting ideas of books they may want to read in the future, and those who are answering the questions will be reflecting on what they are currently reading.

Consider these possible examples:

• Find the most important word from the last 2 pages you read. Why is it important to the story?
• What is the setting of your book? Does the protagonist enjoy living in this setting? How do you know? How does the setting cause limitations or provide freedom for the characters?

Entrance questions provide a thin layer of accountability. Students who are not reading their books will have a difficult time coming up with authentic answers to the prompts.

You can find more entrance prompts like this here .

2:  SKILL APPLICATION

One of the best ways we can bridge the gap between whole class texts and independent reading activities is to ask students to apply the skills we are teaching in a whole-group setting to their choice reading books.

For example, if you teach students a five sentence summary strategy using a short whole-class text, ask them to apply their summarizing skills to their independent reading book. Analyzing figurative language as a class? Why not extend that practice to independent reading? Making inferences about characters? Same thing.

I like to use scaffolding tools like graphic organizers and bookmarks to make a seamless connection between whole-class texts and independent reading books. I recommend modeling with the same tools students will be using on their own.

Reluctant readers will be more likely to invest in their independent reading books if they feel the books are an important part of their learning process.

3:  READING CONFERENCES

Reading conferences are opportunities to get to know readers. During a true reading conference, the teacher sits with each student to have quick conversations about how students are approaching their independent reading books. We can ask students summary questions, inference questions, analysis questions, and more.

Reading conferences are another opportunity to bridge the lessons and skills we are working on as a whole class with the books students are reading on their own. Many secondary teachers stray away from reading conferences because we have so many students and a short amount of time to meet with them.

I’ve used five-minute reading conferences during independent reading time. This means I am able to conference with two students each day, and it takes me two to three weeks to make it through the whole student roster. That’s okay! Meeting with students one-on-one allows us to differentiate the reading skills and strategies we want them to work on, and it helps to build relationships with them.

Plus, if we can tell they aren’t really engaging with their book, we can use this time to help them find a book they will enjoy more.

If you aren’t ready to embrace the one-on-one reading conferences approach, give small group conferences a try! Meet with three to four students at a time to discuss a reading strategy (predicting, inferring, visualizing). We can talk about how dialogue impacts pace or how the author uses figurative language to engage readers.

4: BOOK CHECK-INS

In Reading in the Wild, Donalyn Miller recommends a status of the class, which is where we touch base with each student to inquire about their reading progress. When I say your name, share out what page you’re on and something interesting about your reading! We can do this while conferring one-on-one, when taking attendance, as we circulate the room during independent reading, or in small group format when sharing about our reading.

However, Pernille Ripp recommends a second option for reading checks, which is asking students to sign in at the beginning of each class by updating the current page number of their independent reading book. We can streamline this process with a digital or print whole class book check-in sheet that can later be analyzed for trends (pictured below).

At the end of a week or month, we can ask students to total the number of pages they have read and submit that number via a Google Form. This is data we can use to reflect on as a class.

5: CASUAL BOOK TALKS

What are people typically really excited to do after reading something super good? Tell others, of course! That’s why informal book talks are an engaging way to open up authentic social reading situations.

After independent reading time, ask for volunteers to share something exciting, moving, or humorous from what they’ve read, a favorite line or passage, or an impressive example of author’s style. I consider these informal book talks, but I don’t recommend titling them as such to students because it increases the formality.

Just ask who wants to share, and let a few voices shine. To make sure everyone has an opportunity to participate, keep track of who has already shared. When you run out of volunteers and still have students who haven’t shared, ask them questions about their book.

“Jaclyn, I see you are reading ___. What happened in your reading today?” 

“Nathan, what’s your favorite part of the book you are currently reading?”

The expectation to share our reading is a gentle reminder to students:  You need to be reading. It will be your turn soon.  This layer of accountability is one I’m comfortable with because sharing good books is an authentic reading practice.

6:  READING SPRINTS

Here’s another after-independent reading activity, and this one engages the whole class! Reading sprints are when students answer a standards-aligned question about their book directly following reading time. They jot their thoughts on a sticky note and then share it on the board.

As a teacher, there are multiple ways we can lead short or long on-the-spot discussions about literature skills using these sticky note collections. Students’ responses to questions will give us insights as to what skills we need to hone.

Reading sprints keep the spirit of community reading alive in our class and allow us to tie independent reading to whole-class reading lessons seamlessly!

7:  READING RATE GOALS

In 180 Days , Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle recommend having students set their own reading goals based on their reading rates. To do this, have students read for ten minutes. They should record the page they begin on and the page they end on. With that number, they will multiply by 6 to find the number of pages they can read per hour. Then, students should set a goal for the number of pages they want to read in a week.

Gallagher and Kittle suggest teachers could grade students upon whether or not they meet their self-determined goal, but my own preference is to avoid grading with independent reading as much as possible. There have been plenty of times I haven’t met my own goals for finishing a book or reading as much as I should have in a month, and I’ve needed to give myself some grace.

Of course, text complexity plays a role in students’ reading rates, and they need to be taught to set goals that are appropriate for the text they are reading. Students can also set goals for engagement, environment, stamina, and variety of reading.

8:  FIRST PAGE SNEAK PEAKS

Hooking students on good books is the first step toward a thriving independent reading program. Over the years, I’ve noticed the most engaging books often have high-interest first pages.

So…let’s take advantage of some sneak peaks! Either with physical books or digitally, have students read the first page, record their thoughts, share their thinking with a small group.

This activity is not necessarily an alternative to a reading log, but it is excellent for building our “to read” lists and promoting a positive reading culture.

9:  VIEWING PARTIES

Viewing parties have recently become popular because they enable groups of people to watch videos together even when they’re apart. When it comes to independent reading, why not host trailer viewing parties? Students can enjoy the trailers as they sit in our classrooms, or they can watch remotely.

Viewing parties are yet another way to share amazing book recommendations with others. Students can recommend book trailers they think their peers would enjoy, and teachers can generate book trailer lists based on weekly or monthly themes.

Why not host monthly viewing parties as a way to recap First Chapter Friday books (here’s a list from a friend !) you have previewed or other excerpts you’ve shared? They’re a friendly reminder that those books are still available for the reading!

Get new books on students’ radar by finding authors who are reading excerpts from their own books. Or, invite authors on Twitter like Jennifer Nielson to host a virtual book reading or Q and A with your class.

10:  GENRE EXPOSURE

I first began introducing literary genres slowly throughout the year when I read The Book Whisperer years ago. Over time, I saw the value of this approach. While older students generally already have a specific taste for certain genres, exposing them to a variety of them throughout the year helped students to expand their palettes.

Some specific ideas…

Introduce new genres with a brief set of notes. ( You can find mine here .) Discuss common characteristics of that genre. Read excerpts from those genres…first pages, first chapters, high-interest passages, and back covers. You can also hold a genre sorting activity to get more books in students’ hands.

11:  COLLECTIVE READING WALLS

After students finish a book, have them fill out a book spine and add it to your classroom decor! This simple activity gives both teachers and students a visual for community reading volume. The trickiest part of using the book spine strategy is remembering to have students fill them out! So, I recommend building in a regular space for this to happen.

Choose a day of the week, and write it into your lesson plans for that day! On a bi-weekly or monthly basis, give students 5 to 10 minutes to complete their book spines in class and add them to the wall if you desire.

12:  READING LADDERS

Reading ladders are my absolute favorite alternative to the reading log! They still allow space for students to record what they’ve read. But they feel less intrusive. Plus, reading ladders are convenient for discussing book diet, reading volume, and reading identity.

With a reading ladder, you start with a bookshelf. Then, choose how you want to label each shelf. I often choose to label shelves with words like “just right,” “entertaining,” “challenging,” “easy,” and “frustrating.” This labeling system helps readers to identify the complexity of books they are reading. We always discuss how it’s okay to read a picture book that is easy. And, it’s okay to read a classic that is challenging! The key is to know what you are reading and why.

Here are my my print and digital reading ladders.

13:  READING DISPLAYS

Another way we can make reading a visible part of our classrooms is through bookish displays. It’s hard for students to forget about reading when they are surrounded by high-interest novels! Reading displays are a non-invasive way to track collective reading.

Display novels you want to draw attention to at the front of your classroom or face-out on your library shelves. Consider having students contribute to a class bulletin board. Here are some bookish bulletin board ideas I’ve created using social media concepts.

14:  READING CHALLENGES

Engage readers with challenges to get them reading more often! Try challenges with unexpected twists. Read under a homemade fort, in a hammock, or on vacation. Expand your genre diet by dipping your toes into something new. Recommend books to a friend or read something recommended by a coach!

Format reading challenges into a tic-tac-toe choice board or BINGO board and have them submit their titles whenever they finish a certain number of novels.

You can also work with students to create individual or whole-class challenges to read a certain number of pages each week or month. Students can fill out a simple Google Form at the end of the time period to indicate how many pages they read.

15:  READING JOURNALS

After reading, we can ask students to write about what they’ve read. Connecting reading and writing is a healthy habit that encourages reflection and creativity. When students see literature from an author’s point of view or when they approach their own writing to apply the literature techniques they’ve analyzed, students are empowered!

Reading journals (whether recorded digitally or in a reader’s notebook) are one way to build in standards-aligned accountability. We can hit both reading and writing standards! Here are two sets of writing journals you can use to get started with journaling about reading:  Set 1 and Set 2 .

Want to prioritize the questions but cut the writing? Readers naturally discuss what they are reading with others! Promote a book club type culture ( even when students are all reading different books! ) by keeping high-interest discussion prompts or more basic comprehension-style questions handy.

The KEY:   Every good idea is only good in moderation.

As with reading logs, any and all of these tools could be used in a way that negatively impacts our readers…including using them too often or treating them as “I gotchas.” It’s ongoing work and reflection to identify whether what we are asking of students is drawing them closer to reading and further on their reading journeys or whether it is doing the opposite.

If we really want to know whether our students are reading, all we need it do is watch them. Are they devouring books? Sharing their favorite parts? Carrying books with them? Flipping pages with eyes tracking during independent reading time? These are authentic indications of reading. Best of all, they don’t add anything to our plates, and they won’t turn our readers away from books.

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7 Independent Reading Activities to Increase Literacy

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Independent reading is time set aside during the school day for children to read silently to themselves or quietly to a buddy. Providing a minimum of 15 minutes each day for independent reading is vital to help students improve reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension, and to increase their vocabulary.

Allow students to select books of their choice for independent reading and select new books weekly or monthly. Guide them to choose books they can read with about 95% accuracy.

Schedule individual student conferences during the independent reading time. Use the conference time to assess each student's reading fluency and comprehension along with his understanding of key story elements.

Use the following independent reading activities to increase literacy in your classroom.

Character Diary

The objective of this activity is to increase reading accuracy and fluency and to assess students' understanding of the book through a written response.

• Blank paper
• One or more "just right" books of the student's choice
• First, students will fold 3-5 blank sheets of paper together so that they open to the right. Staple the pages together along the crease.
• Each day, after students complete their independent reading time, they should complete a dated diary entry in the main character's voice.
• The entry should detail an important or exciting event, the student's favorite part of the day's reading, or what the student imagines the main character may be thinking in response to what happened in the story.
• Students may illustrate the diary entries if desired.

Book Review

The objective of this activity is to increase reading accuracy and fluency and to assess students' reading comprehension .

• Student book
• Students must read a book, either independently or as a group.
• Ask the students to write a review of the book they read. The review should include the title, author's name, and plot, along with their thoughts about the story.

Lesson Extension

If you choose to have the entire class read the same book, you may wish to let students create a classroom graph showing who liked and disliked the book. Display the graph along with student book reviews.

Cover Story

The objective of this activity is to assess the student's comprehension of the story through a written response.

• Crayons or makers
• Student's book
• Students will fold a piece of blank paper in half so that it opens like a book.
• On the front cover, students will write the book's title and author and draw a scene from the book.
• On the inside, students will write a sentence (or more) stating one lesson they learned from the book.
• Finally, students should illustrate the sentence that they wrote on the inside of their book.

Add a Scene

The objective of this activity is to assess students' comprehension of the book they've read and their understanding of key story elements through a written response.

• Crayons or markers
• When the students are approximately halfway through the book, instruct them to write the scene they think will happen next.
• Tell students to write the additional scene in the author's voice.
• If students are reading the same book, encourage them to compare scenes and record similarities and differences.

And One More Thing

The objective of this activity is to engage students with literature and help them understand point of view and the author's voice through a written response to a story.

• After the students have finished reading a book, instruct them to write and illustrate an epilogue.
• Explain to students that the term epilogue refers to a section of a book that takes place after the story has concluded. An epilogue provides closure by giving more information about what happened to the characters.
• Remind students that an epilogue is written in the author's voice as an additional part of the story.

The objective of this activity is to assess the student's comprehension of the story and his ability to identify the topic and main points.

• Students will draw a circle in the center of a blank piece of paper. In the circle, they will write the topic of their book.
• Next, students will draw six evenly-spaced lines around the circle from the circle toward the edge of the paper, leaving space to write at the end of each line.
• At the end of each line, students will write one fact or event from their book. If they are writing events from a non-fiction book, they should maintain the proper sequence from the story.

The objective of this activity is to assess a student's comprehension of the story setting and encourage her to use details from the book and her mental picture to describe the physical layout of the setting.

• Instruct students to think about the setting of the story they just read. Does the author give details about the location of the places in the story? Usually, authors provide some indication, although the details may not be explicit.
• Ask students to create a map of their book's setting based on explicit or implied details from the author.
• Students should label the most important places such as the main character's home or school and the areas where much of the action occurred.
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• 7 Reading Strategies and Activities for Elementary Students
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20 Independent Reading Activities For Middle School: Worksheets, Discussions, And Practice Ideas

April 23, 2024 //  by  Jill Webb

Middle grade English students can struggle to focus during independent reading time. They need structure to not only continue reading their book but also to improve their reading comprehension and other skills.

Different activities and reading strategies can help keep them engaged and also give you a better understanding of their reading needs.

1. Think Marks

Having a student annotation guide is a great way to keep students actively reading. They work well with a chapter book – or a reading passage – and are a simple way to help middle school students better understand what they read.

Learn More: Writing Mindset

2. Conferences

Short one-on-one independent reading book conferences are an activity that will help both struggling readers and higher-level students. Having a healthy discussion around what students are reading gets them excited and also holds them accountable.

Learn More: Jennifer Findley

3. Stop and Jot

If you need a fun way to get students to answer reading questions, try a stop and jot with colorful sticky notes! They cover different topics such as characters, summarizing, and making connections.

Learn More: Pinterest

4. Coffee Shop Book Club

Making space for students to feel excited and comfortable is important! Create a “Starbooks” club where students can spend time snacking (as if at a coffee house) and getting to know books they are interested in (like a classroom party, but for books!)

Learn More: The Hungry Teacher Blog

5. Comprehension Skills Bookmarks

Comprehension questions and thinking stem bookmarks are good for keeping middle school students on track. They can use the book analysis questions on the bookmark as a reminder to stop and think about what they are reading. It also covers a variety of topics so you can focus on specific skills!

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

6. Art Book Cover Project

Give students time to express what they have read in a creative way in the English language arts classroom with an independent reading project. Have them create a new book cover for what they read – they should use important quotes and images that relate to the text.

Learn More: FC Fox

7. Somebody Wanted But So

This activity is great at any grade level and especially for students who have a difficult time explaining what they have read. The SWBS assignment for students is color-coded with highlighters so they have a visual of the four pieces.

8. Exit Slips for Independent Reading

These exit slips are general discussion prompts on different genres! It will keep students thinking about what they are reading whether it is fiction, non-fiction, informational, etc.

Learn More: Wild About Fifth Grade

9. Book Connection Chain

A fresh idea is to assign a book connection chain project. This activity extends over a longer amount of time, as it uses the independent books students have read in a quarter, term, or year. They will make connections between all of the books and explain how they are related.

Learn More: Angela Collis

10. Book Interview

A reluctant reader will be more motivated if they know someone is holding them accountable. In book interviews, the teacher has discussions with students or “book talks” where they ask a series of general questions. It also helps the teacher collect reading data.

Learn More: Teacher Thrive

11. Reading Response Journal

This task is perfect for quiet time in class and can even be assigned as homework!  Use these menus, created for both fiction and non-fiction texts, to give your learners a chance to decide what writing prompts they’d be keen on completing. Simply have them pick a prompt and record their response in their journal!

Learn More: Creatively Comprehensive

12.  Accountability Tool

The idea for this activity stems from Nancie Atwell, “In the Middle”. Rather than doing reading logs , students will give their “status”, meaning each day they tell the class a little about what they are reading.

Learn More: Tarheel State Teacher

13. Book Spine Art

This bulletin board idea is a fun activity to do when your readers finish a book! They can create a book spine for the text they read and add it to the board!

14. Bookmark and Notes Tracker

Working on reading skills should also happen during independent reading time, but it can be hard to keep track of all your students. An easy tool to add to your independent reading program is this notes tracker. Each day students will add notes from the book to their bookmark, when finished they put the sticky on their notes sheet.

Learn More: Raise The Bar Reading

15. Text Connections

No matter what the independent reading level, all students should be able to share in making connections. This simple activity has students add links to a change when they make one of the three connections. Extend the activity by having them write what their connections were on the link.

Learn More: The Art Of Learning

16. Reading Raffle

Help motivate students to reach their reading goals and add a layer of accountability. Students get a raffle ticket each time they reach a benchmark. For example, finishing a book or passing a reading quiz.

Learn More: Hanging With Mrs. Hulsey

17. Creative Reading

These are different task cards with fun prompts based on specific topics like theme, setting, conflict, etc. Students can pick whichever they would like to answer while doing their reading. Keep a set in your classroom libraries for an easy go-to activity.

Learn More: Teach Nouvelle

18. Reading Sprints

Need a lesson plan to build stamina and fluency? Reading sprints are a burst of time where students try and read as many pages as they can, BUT they must read at a pace where they can still comprehend the text. It motivates students through a bit of fun competition!

Learn More: Reading And Writing Haven

19. Book Pass

A fun way to find a favorite book is by doing a “book pass”. The video shows you how to implement this mini-lesson into your class. The gist is that you pick a selection of a book students will enjoy. Then you have them read just a few pages and write a review to see what interests them.

Learn More: Colby Sharp

20. Currently Reading

A nice way to have informal book talks is by using this activity. On laminated cards, students will update daily what they are reading. If a student feels like they are confused or want to discuss something with the teacher, they place their card in the “Let’s talk about it” section.

Learn More: Teaching In Room 6

Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

Independent Reading – The Foundation of Lifelong Reading

Successful independent reading is the end result of a well-executed balanced literacy program.  Independent Reading allows students the chance to “practice” the strategies they’ve learned through guided reading, shared reading, and teacher read alouds – the other components of balanced literacy.  With level appropriate materials, students now have the skills they need to read on their own.  That means they can read confidently and are actually excited about their ability to read.

Why Should Independent Reading Be Encouraged?

When students have a voice in the reading process, they’re learning to contribute to their own knowledge.  Because they can select the books they wish to read, they have greater control over what they want to learn. Students are much more likely to view reading as a priority when they have some ownership in the reading process.

However, this doesn’t mean students can make their independent reading choices willy-nilly.  There does have to be some structure involved. First of all, the independent reading selection must be at their reading level.  No “easy” books during independent reading. “At their reading level” means students should be able to read their selections with 95%-100% accuracy.

Also, students should choose books that don’t need teacher support.  That rather defeats the purpose.  In order to experience improvement in fluency, comprehension and vocabulary, reading needs to be truly independent.

How To Incorporate Independent Reading Into The Classroom

While students have much control over what they choose to read, teachers need to encourage them to choose from different genres. One of the goals of independent reading is to help students feel confident with their ability.  This is accomplished by independent reading on a level they feel comfortable with.  And when given the opportunities and the right environment, students are much more likely to develop a love for reading.

That’s why independent reading is more than just letting students pick a book and read while the teacher does something else.  Teachers have a responsibility in this as well.  They’re the ones that need to provide the tools students need to be independent, life long readers.  That leads to the four essential elements of independent reading:

Essential Element #1 – Choice

Children are thrilled when they’re given a choice of what to read.  They’re much more motivated.  Who wouldn’t be?  However, since students must make a selection that’s on their reading level, teachers need to have an exceptional classroom library.  That means books on many different levels, topics, as well as genres.  And like any library, classroom books need to be organized so students can easily make a selection.

Element #2 – Strategies

Before students can become proficient independent readers, they must have the tools they need to be successful.  Inside the toolbox are two basic strategies; decoding strategies and comprehension strategies.  Decoding strategies help children move forward when they stumble upon a word they don’t know.  They know what to do to figure it out.

Comprehension strategies guide students to think about what they’re reading – to make connections, use visualization, ask questions, and make inferences… all to synthesize the words they read into something they comprehend.  How do students learn these strategies?  The teacher models them.  Independent reading time is when the students apply them.

Element #3 – Time

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice!  How do you get to be a proficient (even prolific) reader? Practice, practice, practice!  As all musicians and athletes know, practice takes time.  That’s why time should be set aside to practice independent reading as well.  Also, by dedicating long blocks of time to independent reading, students quickly get the idea that reading is important.

Element #4 – Goals

Encourage students to set independent reading goals but teachers do need to specify what kind of goal.  Otherwise, a student’s goal could be to get to the end of the book.  Because there is already a long period of time set aside for independent reading, the teacher can use this time to conference with the students.  Listen to their independent reading and see how they apply the strategies. Then help students set an independent reading goal based on the strategy they need to strengthen.

Independent Reading Activities

If you’re like most people, after reading a really good book you want to tell someone about it – you want to share.  Why not give students the same opportunity?  Here are 5 activities that will engage students in sharing what they read.

Independent Reading Activity 1: Illustrate an important character or event in the story.

Independent Reading Activity 2: Create an advertisement to promote the book.

Independent Reading Activity 3: Have students pick out words they are unfamiliar with and make a word wall.

Independent Reading Activity 4: Make a bookmark that represents the theme or main idea of the book.

Independent Reading Activity 5: Write a question to the author or a character in the book.

Creative as well as analytical students will enjoy these activities.  If all goes well, other students will want to read the books shared, too!

The Big Benefit of Independent Reading

Aside from higher test scores and ensuring that students read something everyday, there is an overarching benefit of independent reading.  And that is the fact that independent reading lays the foundation for becoming enthusiastic lifelong readers, not simply school time readers.

13 Fun Reading Activities for Any Book

Whether you walk into a classroom in Asia, North America or Europe, you will almost certainly see teachers and students building their understanding of the world through a dedicated daily reading session full of great reading activities.

Books allow students an opportunity to be informed, entertained or escape as they comprehend fiction and non-fiction texts against their understanding of the world, their personal insights, and opinions and finally compare those texts to others.

Whilst you may have a wealth of books in your school library, developing fresh and engaging ways to study literature can often be challenging.  So today, we will explore 25 proven activities that can be applied to any book and at any age level.

These reading activities to improve reading comprehension are easy to follow and suitable for most age groups within an elementary/junior high school level.

125 Text Response ACTIVITIES, Games, Projects for ANY BOOK

This massive collection of ☀️ READING ACTIVITIES☀️ covers all essential reading skills for elementary/primary students. NO PREP REQUIRED! Works with all text and media types.

Thousands of teachers have adopted this as a GO-TO RESOURCE for independent and group tasks.

A COLLECTION OF FUN READING ACTIVITIES

A lifetime tale in pictures reading task.

Draw the main character from a book you have recently read.  Show them as a baby, middle-aged and an older person.

Underneath each picture, write what you think they might be doing at that point in their life, and explain why they may be doing so.

For example, if you drew Harry Potter as a baby, he might cast spells on his mum to feed him lots of yummy food.

Post-reading activities like this are accessible for all age groups to adapt their skill level and text style.

If you want to learn more about characters, read our complete guide here.

TEXT TO SELF-READING TASK

Based upon a book you have just read, share a  story about yourself related to an event or character in the book.

It is probably best done in the form of a written recount. Link your experience to no more than four situations that occurred within the text.

Text to self is an excellent opportunity for students to become introspective about the content they read and compare it to their own life experiences. 

This activity is appealing to teenagers more so than juniors .

IT’S IN THE INSTRUCTIONS READING TASK

From a book you have just read, select either a critical object or creature and create a user manual or a guide explaining how to care for it.

Ensure you use any vital information learnt from the book and any other information you consider essential.

If you are writing a user manual for an object, remember to focus on using it correctly and taking care of it.

If you are writing a user guide for an animal or creature, focus on keeping it alive and healthy as well as information that explains how to keep it happy and under control if necessary.

Dear Diary, READING TASK

Place yourself in the shoes of one of the characters you have just read about and write a diary entry of a critical moment from the story.

Try to choose a moment in the story where the character has plenty of interaction and emotion to share in a diary entry.

Your diary entry should be around a page long and contain information you learned from the book when the character was in that specific place and time.

Remember, when writing a diary entry, you are writing it from a first-person perspective. It is usually but not always written in the present tense.

Diary writing has been a very popular activity throughout time, but social media tools such as Facebook and blogging have in some ways changed this.

Mapping it all out, READING TASK

How do you make reading lessons fun? This reading activity answers that question confidently.

Have a go at drawing a map of one of the places from the text you have just read. See how much detail you can include, and be sure to discuss your map with another reader so you can compare and add more if necessary.

Take some time and effort to ensure your map appeals to the same audience the book aims at.

All good maps should contain the following BOLTS elements.

B – Bolts

O – Orientation

L – Legend

S – Scale

Express Yourself READING TASK

Using an iPad or a digital camera, make faces of the emotions the main characters would have gone through in your book and take photos of them. 

Put them together in a document on your computer or device and explain the emotion below the image and when the character would have felt this way.

This is an excellent opportunity to use some creative direction for this task.

Be sure to play around with the images, filters and graphical styling available.

Travel Agent READING TASK

Think of yourselves as a group of travel assistants whose job is to promote a  city of your choice from the text you have been reading.

As a group, you need to develop a concept map of all the exciting things that happen in your city and then present it to the class.

Don’t forget all of the exciting things such as theatres, restaurants, sports, adventure activities, entertainment and much more…

If you are a little short on details of the location of your story, do some research if it was an actual location or just get creative and make up some locations and tourist attractions based on what you read.

You’re Hired READING TASK

Select a character from a book and consider what might be an excellent job for them. You can choose something entirely suitable such as a security guard job for Superman or a more oddball approach, such as a pastry chef.

Either way, you will have to write a letter from this character’s perspective and apply for a position.

Be sure to explain why your character would be a great employee and what special skills they would possess to make them ideal for the role. Sell your character by explaining all the great attributes they possess.

What’s the Status? READING TASK

Create a Facebook page for your character with some status updates about what they have been up to.

Include some pictures and ensure your status updates are relevant to the character and the story.

Around 3 – 4 status updates with mages should give an overall picture of the character.

Use your status updates to explore what your character does for a job, leisure time, places they might go on vacation and the like.

Bubbles and Clouds READING TASK

Using speech bubbles and pictures of the characters, draw a conversation between two characters from the story you have read.

Remember, thought is drawn as a cloud, and a spoken statement is drawn as a  bubble.

Be sure to look at some comics or graphic novels for inspiration and insights.

This activity is usually best done on pen and paper, but numerous digital apps and tools will allow you to make this a reality through technology.

Amazing Artifacts READING TASK

An artifact is an object that has some significance or meaning behind it. Sometimes, an artefact might even have a very important story behind it.  I am sure you have a favorite toy, or your parents have a particular item in the house that they would consider an important artifact.

For today’s task, you will select five artifacts from the text you have been reading and explain what makes them significant or essential.

They don’t all have to be super important to the story, but I am sure that at least a couple played a significant role.

Be sure to draw a picture of the artifact and if necessary, label it.

FREE READING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE TO DOWNLOAD

Thinking Differently READING TASK

Choose three important events from the text and explain how you would have handled them differently from the characters in the story.

Explain how it may have changed the story’s outcome in either a minor or significant way.

Be insightful here and think of the cause and effect.  Sometimes your smallest action can have a significant impact on others.

Popplet Mind Mapping Task

Popplet is a mind mapping tool that allows you to connect ideas together using images, text and drawings.

From a text, you have recently read, create a family tree or network diagram that explains the relationship the characters have with each other.

Some may be father and son, husband and wife or even arch enemies.

Try and lay it out so it is easy to follow.

You Have Three Wishes READING TASK

A genie lands at the midpoint of the story you have just read and grants the two main characters three wishes.

What do they wish for and why?

Finally, would their wishes have changed anything about the story?  How so?

Again think about the cause and effect relationship and how this may have altered the path of the book you have been reading.

A COMPLETE DIGITAL READING UNIT FOR STUDENTS

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MORE GREAT ARTICLES WITH READING ACTIVITIES

Top 7 Reading Comprehension Strategies for Students and Teachers

How to teach Guided Reading: Teaching Strategies and Activities

Identifying the main idea of the story: A Guide for Students and Teachers

Teaching Cause and Effect in Reading and Writing

Graphic Organizers for Writing and Reading

Top 7 Tips for Teaching Guided Reading in Large Classes

5 Reasons You Need a Digital Reading Diary In 2023

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10 Independent Reading Time Ideas

Independent reading is a favorite time of the day in my classroom! My students love finding a cozy place to read and get lost in their books. As the year goes on, independent reading stamina grows and grows. One of my favorite parts of teaching students how to read is watching them grow into avid, lifelong readers who don’t want to close their books!

Except…every year, SPRING happens. At this point in the year, it never fails. My superstar readers get a little… restless when it comes to routine. When that “restless routine” feeling starts to creep into our classroom, I start adding in some surprises when it comes to independent reading time. These ideas never cease to boost student motivation, engagement, and energy! In this post, I’ll walk you through 10 ideas that are easy to implement, teacher-tested, and student-approved. Ready? Let’s go!

The following blog post contains Amazon affiliate links. This just means my blog receives a small compensation if you purchase any of these independent reading supplies using these links, but don’t worry- there is absolutely no extra cost to you! I hope you find the links helpful and convenient!

Flashlight Fridays

My students look forward to Flashlight Friday all week long! Every Friday, during independent reading time, I break out my mini flashlights or our finger lights for the students to use. I close all the blinds and turn off the main lights. They LOVE it! Flashlights and finger lights are such small tools, but they always create huge excitement when it’s time for independent reading. You can see a picture of our finger light Flashlight Friday in the main picture at the top of this blog post. Below are the links to the flashlights and finger lights that I use in my room.

Furry Friend Fluency Day

Announcing a Furry Friend Fluency Day always results in cheering from my first-graders! On these days, they get to bring a furry friend in from school to “read” to during independent reading. They can sit by their furry friend, whisper read to their furry friend, retell, summarize, etc. Furry friends must stay in their backpacks until it’s time for independent reading time and they must return to the backpacks right after reading time is over. If we have any mini-lessons at the carpet (pre-covid days and hopefully again soon!) the furry friends sit in their chairs and wait for them during the lesson.

Reading Reporters

Novelty items never fail when it comes to giving my independent readers an engagement boost! What’s more fun than reading to yourself with a pretend microphone ?! Reading Reporters use reading microphones to read smoothly and with expression. During our mini-lessons, we discuss the idea that nonfiction readers use a “reporter voice” to read and deliver facts and information. My students LOVE to use their plastic microphones to be news reporters when they read nonfiction books independently! When they read their fiction books, they get to be storytellers with their microphones. The microphones I use in my classroom are linked below. I like them because they are cheap and easy to clean!

Rule-Breaking Bookworms

Are you feeling exhausted, yet you’re wanting to amp up the stamina and motivation during independent reading time? Explain to your students, “Today only, you get to be Rule-Breaking Bookworms! What can a Rule-Breaking Bookworm do? Rule-breaking Bookworms can sit ON TOP OF THEIR DESKS! They can even sit UNDERNEATH their desks. (Gasp!)” (Of course, you’ll want to go over safety rules and model how to get up, down, and how to sit on the desks.) Nevertheless, they will think Rule-Breaking Bookworm Day is the best independent reading time they’ve ever had!

Magic Carpet Reading Ride

You’ll need about 15 minutes prior to independent reading time in order to implement this idea. Ideally, you’ll also need an outdoor space on the ground that you can draw on with chalk. Tell the students that today, they will go on a magic carpet ride ANYWHERE they want. They can think of anything or anywhere they would like to read independently. You can throw out some ideas to get their creativity started: a pirate ship, under the sea, on a beach, in dinosaur land, on the moon, etc. “Where would you read if you could choose from anything or anywhere?” Then, students will draw a picture of their imaginary reading place with chalk outside and sit IN their chalk creation as they read independently! I’ve had students read with mermaids, on a unicorn, in a castle, etc. They think it is SO fun! Be sure to give them a time limit for drawing their creations, and then have them return the chalk before independent reading time begins.

If you don’t have space outside, you can also complete this idea using large pieces of construction paper or paper rolls and crayons. Students would simply draw on the paper and sit on or by their magic carpet ride destination.

Hoola Hoop Reading

Does your gym have hoola hoops? Ask your physical education teacher if you can borrow them! Either take them outside with your students’ book bins, reserve the gym, or spread out around your classroom (if space allows). Students can sit inside their hoola hoop to read! Sometimes the simplest novelty item is all it takes for them to get excited for independent reading time!

Bubblegum Bookworms

This one may or may not work, depending on school rules, your students, and your own feelings on bubblegum ha! Giving students a piece of bubblegum to chew on during independent reading, or even a few mints, can feel like a super-special independent reading day to them! It can also decrease hyperactivity during independent reading time and increase a students’ ability to focus while reading.

Playground Reading

If the weather is nice, have a Playground Reading Day! During independent reading, students can sit anywhere on the playground they’d like. This works best, of course, when you have the playground reserved to yourself. If you have a grassy area, the simple act of getting OUT of the classroom and reading outside in the fresh air can work wonders for student concentration. My students LOVE when they get to sit on the bridge of the playground, at the top of the slide, or under the monkey bars! Of course, our rules are that we are reading on the playground during the entire independent reading time and NOT playing. (However, at the end of our independent reading time, an extra 5-10 minutes of playtime is always a hit!)

Magic Wand Word Wizards

Magic Wands can actually be magical when it comes to independent reading engagement! There are many ways to use them. For kindergarten readers, using a magic wand during reading time will keep students pointing to the words as they read. First and second graders can use their magic wands to be what we call “word wizards.” As my first graders read, they “zap” a word in the text with their magic wand depending on our focus for the day. Some days, they zap interesting words. Other days, they zap tricky words and keep a list of their tricky words in their notebooks. The magic wands that I use are listed below.

My magic wand disclosure: They ARE on the larger side. I don’t mind that because my students love the idea of the magic wands. However, if you want something thinner and smaller for your students to point with, these Star Wands on Amazon are also really cute and fun!

Bonus Independent Reading Idea!

The ideas above are perfect for “special edition” days! If you’re looking for a way to help your students stay engaged during independent resource on a daily basis , meet your new best friend, Read and Think ! My Read and Think Comprehension resource helps readers think, respond, and monitor their understanding while they read.

Each comprehension symbol provides visual reminders for students to stop and jot down their thoughts as they read. Students will respond to the books they read with these six symbols:

• I predict… (making predictions)
• I wonder… (asking questions)
• I notice… (noticing details in the illustrations or photographs)
• ___ feels… (identifying character feels, emotions, and character changes)
• The lesson is… (thinking about the lesson or moral of the story)
• This part makes me think… (making connections)

Each strategy symbol, includes a model, whole-group lesson plan that you can use when you introduce the symbol to your students. Independent reading bookmarks, posters, graphic organizers, and sticky note templates are included, too!

If you have wanted your students to start responding to what they read on their own during independent, whole-group, or small-group reading but have not been sure where to start, this resource is for YOU! Learn more about the Read and Think resource by clicking HERE!

Make Independent Reading Fun!

If you or your students are starting to feel restless with your daily routine, or you just need to re-energize your readers a bit, these ideas should do the trick! For me, the ideas in this post provide opportunities to make our independent reading time memorable and FUN! You see, it’s okay to break routine once in awhile. Novelty helps our brains stay engaged and activated for learning! (If you are wanting some major breaks in your reading routine, check out my Restaurant Retell blog post or my Compare and Contrast Construction Day ideas!)

Have fun, and leave me a comment below to let me know which idea you’re going to try first!

Feel free to use the image below to save this blog post on Pinterest! On Pinterest, you can share this post with a colleague, or save it and refer back to it at a later time. Thank you so much!

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One Comment

Thank you! I have your bookmarks but have not used them as I am trying to figure out a way for my online kiddos to use them. I have in person students too and am going to introduce to them. I love all the ideas and like the tip about microphones and “reporter voice”! Flashlight Friday will be my first choice

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Independent Reading

Everything teachers, parents, and kids need to boost skills through independent reading! Here are multi-purpose book lists, mini-books, fiction & nonfiction texts, lesson ideas and strategies, worksheets, reading logs & records, reading response activities, writing prompts, graphic organizers, as well as tips for classroom management, ELLs, and school-home connections.

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Bell Ringers

Independent reading activities for middle school ela.

Independent reading in the classroom has a ton of benefits for students, but when your schedule is already jam-packed, it can feel impossible to find the time. But just because it feels impossible doesn’t mean it is! I’m all in favor of independent reading in small doses, so you can do it more often and stay consistent. Plus, with these independent reading activities, you can keep students engaged and accountable during that time.

Why is Independent Reading Important?

There are a ton of benefits of independent reading, from increased comprehension to building stamina. But a lot of teachers feel like they don’t have time for independent reading in the classroom, so they dedicate a bigger chunk of time once a week – as opposed to smaller reading moments throughout the week.

I want to give you a few benefits of independent reading and why it pays off to do it more often (even if it’s only for a few minutes each day).

#1 Retention and Comprehension

A lot of students get lost while they are reading. They might lose focus or “drown” in the amount of information. Reading in smaller chunks each day prevents students from reading to the point of “information overload”, so they can better retain and comprehend what they read.

Students also get a chance to practice their comprehension skills when independent reading, which of course helps those skills grow. Another great reason to make time throughout the week for independent reading!

If you have a dedicated independent reading day (or a big chunk of reading time each week), you might notice students getting restless halfway through. Even most adults can’t sustain reading for 30-50 minutes straight.

Luckily, reading in smaller chunks throughout the week and staying consistent with the schedule can increase stamina. Stamina isn’t just important for reading longer, but also comprehension. When students get tired of reading or aren’t focused, they are less likely to absorb what they read.

#3 Normalcy

The ultimate dream as an ELA teacher is to see students engage in independent reading all on their own . That starts by making independent reading a consistent and normal part of your classroom routine. Reading consistently reinforces the idea that reading is valuable and essential, and can help students develop habits for lifelong reading.

Independent Reading Activities

A big fear teachers have around independent reading is that students will be off task. Fair enough. You’ve probably experienced class periods where independent reading time turned into nap time (or secretly sneaking a peek at phones). With these independent reading activities, you can hold students accountable and reinforce reading skills.

#1 Daily Rating

After each independent reading session, have students summarize the events that took place and give it a rating. You can even have them explain their rating. For example, they might give the book a 3 out of 5 for the day because the pace was too slow or the characters’ actions were frustrating.

This independent reading activity does a few things. It asks students to stop and summarize after they read, which helps them process the key points. It also forces them to analyze the text by rating it and explaining what they enjoyed or what was missing from the reading.

#2 Reading Response

If you want to focus on a certain skill, give each student a reading response question for the day. The trick is you want these questions to be vague enough that no matter what book students are reading, they can answer the text. For example, you might ask students to analyze character development in the story or how the setting effects the novel.

This is a good independent reading activity if you want to hone in on a certain skill that students are struggling with or that you have been working on in class.

#3 Reading Conferences

Reading conferences aren’t just for your reading units (and they don’t have to be formal either). With reading conferences , the goal is to chat 1:1 with students and check in on their reading progress. Instead of trying to quiz students during this meeting, just ask what they like about the book or their favorite moment so far.

This independent reading activity helps you gauge where students are at. It also helps course-correct if a book isn’t the right fit, and get them excited about reading. (Who doesn’t love to talk about a good book?)

I know that implementing an independent reading routine can be challenging, but I promise that the benefits of independent reading make it worth it! Plus, when you have students read for a little bit each day, it’s easier to fit into your schedule, you’ll see fewer behavior issues, and students can grow their skills more quickly. Use these independent reading activities to hold students accountable and keep their skills growing, even when reading solo.

• Read more about: Middle School Reading

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Creating Independent Readers

By: Amber Chandler

Independent reading assignments do not make students independent readers. Here are ways you can foster students on the journey to being independent readers

The words “independent reading” should bring celebration, right? Somehow, a confluence of amazing events has occurred that has brought a student to a point in life where she is reading! However, indulge me on the topic, and let me draw your attention to a tiny little difference that is worth a column of discussion: independent reading , as an assigned, teacher-directed activity is very different than a child who is an  independent reader . A truly independent reader is one who chooses not only what to read, but also which strategies to use, how to respond to the reading, and the autonomy to decide if a particular choice is worthy of continuing. This is opposed to the independent reading, which is done on your own (but frequently with a hovering authority figure nearby).

Most teachers would agree, and research supports, that reading on your own is a part of the journey towards becoming an independent reader. However, by the time many students reach middle school, with years of forged reading logs lying in wake, teaching reading can be a daunting task, and often one that teachers don’t feel qualified for, as we are mostly not specifically trained for it. Despite these obstacles, there are several ways to foster independent readers. Here are a few that any teacher can try:

Choice in What to Read

The more choices a student has, the more authentic the reading experience will be. Students should be provided opportunity to choose what they read. If a student wants to read all of the Harry Potter series, far be it from me to stop him. The great benefit of the internet is that a quick Google search of “non-fiction about Harry Potter” yields a wide variety of ideas for exploration and extension on topics such as the science of Harry Potter, witchcraft, boarding school culture, and fashion. Offer students a menu of non-fiction options, but don’t necessarily force it on the child. The more interesting and enticing the selections are, the more likely they’ll want to delve into them.

Choice in Strategies

Direct instruction of reading strategies, preferably using authentic text that are used across the curriculum, will help students understand that not only are reading strategies portable, but also effective in helping them in all subject areas. Too often, kiddos compartmentalize and only use reading strategies when they are in an ELA class. We should give students as many strategies as possible because all readers aren’t the same. I don’t enjoy any strategy that artificially disrupts the flow of reading. I personally prefer pre-reading activities like “skim and scan” for unfamiliar words ahead of time. However, this might not be effective for others. Forcing students to use a specific reading strategy, particularly if a student is already a proficient reader, can turn students off to reading altogether. This, in fact, is the number one reason students in my classes say that they no longer enjoy reading.

Choice in How to Respond

This one is always tricky, but unless you are specifically interested in teaching students how to write an essay, that might be the least effective way to engage students in reading. This is not to say that my students don’t write literary responses—they do—but it is to suggest that there isn’t a necessity to do so. If students want to create a podcast, make a webpage, write a series of poems, or stage a recorded conversation that they then send to me, I encourage them to do so. After all, how many of us take quizzes on our reading to see if we “got it”? Instead, we engage in book clubs, have conversations with our friends, or write fan fiction.

Reading instruction has its place, obviously, but I’m challenging you to look at planning to create  independent readers  instead of  assigning independent reading  assignments.

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Samantha in Secondary

5 During Reading Activities for Independent Reading

August 22, 2022 by Samantha H.

Are you looking for ways to keep your students engaged and accountable while providing meaningful activities for independent reading? I’ve got a ton of great ideas for you!

These activities are my go-to bread and butter for choice reading, literature circles, or book clubs. There can be some trial and error with your own particular students, but one thing I’ve learned is that providing choice can go a long way. Maybe try giving students a few activities to decide between during the unit. That way they can decide what best suits them.

#1: Doodle Notes

My students love to doodle while they do just about anything. These literary element doodle notes allow students to take notes on the most important parts of the story while reading. It’s a good way to keep students on track without distracting them too much. Click here to check out my pre-made doodle notes that I use with my own students.

#2: Response to Literature Activities

I stopped giving reading quizzes a long time ago. Instead, I utilize response to literature activities. These kinds of activities include before, during, and after reading assignments that allow students to think critically about what they’ve read. They activate prior knowledge, give students an active role in their reading, and allow for a unique assessment that will let you know what your students have learned in a creative way. To see my pre-made resource, click here .

#3: Character Analysis

Character analysis activities are especially effective activities for independent reading. If students can tell you specifics about a character then they are most likely actually reading their books. There are so many ways you can incorporate character.

First, I like to make sure students understand the basics when it comes to how an author shows character. I have a great Character Mini-Lesson to help students with this.

Next, I like to incorporate some fun projects so students can demonstrate understanding. Having students come up with a soundtrack for a character or curating social media for a character are easy ways to tell if a student understands the material in an engaging way.

For more ideas on how to teach character, click here to read my full blog post.

You can also get my Character Analysis Mega Bundle full of resources for teaching character by clicking here.

#4: Nonfiction Text Connection

Having students find a nonfiction text connection to any book and then research articles is one of my favorite ways for students to make text-to-world connections.

All books inevitably connect to the world in some way and encouraging your students to find those connections will help them make deeper meaning within the text.

Give your students some time to brainstorm ideas. Then, have them research articles on the topic and gather ideas. They can even write about how the articles they found connect to the book. Have them share with a partner or with the class. This can also be a great activity for a literature circle discussion.

#5: Book Blogs

Book blogs are a fun way for students to react to what they’re reading. At regular intervals during the reading process, have students stop and write about what they read. You can have them respond to a specific prompt or free write. Students can share with each other (or even other classes!) and comment on each other’s work. This is also a great way to include an authentic audience for their writing.

Get the Bundle and Save!

Download my full Independent Reading Unit Bundle and save 20% on  ONE FULL INDEPENDENT READING UNIT . From start to finish, this unit is fully stocked with engaging activities and everything you need to run an organized, meaningful choice reading unit. Check it out  here !

What are your favorite during reading activities for independent reading? Sound off in the comments below or follow me on IG or Facebook to join the conversation.

Happy teaching!

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Teaching Sam and Scout

Teaching, Motherhood, and Life In-Between

Independent Reading Unit You Can Start Tomorrow

January 26, 2016

Today is our third snow day and fifth straight day out of school. Listen, I’m  not  complaining, but my house looks like 12 zoo animals live here, and I’ve had on the same pair of black leggings since Thursday morning. Also, Nora is teething. #awesome

My fellow teachers know the snow day struggle… At this point in the game, you start to live in anxiety that the next day will be the day you have to go back to school. This is a crisis NOT because you don’t like your job, but because it means you probably should take a shower, and clean up your house, and grade a set of papers, but… maybe not. It is very stressful. On that note, I totally think there should be some kind of a rule that if you miss more than two days of school for snow, the first day back MUST be a 2-hour delay. No one can be expected to suddenly start waking up at 5AM again. Amirite?

Anyway, joking aside, snow day season can be tricky for planning. In the past, I have taught works like  Julius Caesar  or  Huck Finn  in January/February, and it’s been a disaster because everyone forgets everything after three days out of school, and I spend more time reviewing than actually reading and teaching. This year, I’ve wised up a little and created independent reading units for my ninth and tenth graders. I’m including the full assignment(s) as a Word document below, but here’s what I’m doing in a nutshell:

• Students choose any book they want to read within a set list of criteria. (I let my ninth graders choose any work of fiction, and I required tenth grade to choose something multicultural.) Only one student per class can read a book, and it is “claimed” only when the student has the book IN HIS/HER HANDS and has submitted the signed parent permission form. Students are expected to bring their book to class EVERY DAY once the unit starts.
• During the unit, I teach a series of Mini-Lessons on “generic” topics like archetypes, tone, word choice, etc. (see the full list of what I taught on the assignment sheets below – I just made my own quick Power Points, but you can also google for tons of free ones already done). After the lesson, students are required to post on the class discussion board (I set mine up in Blackboard) relating the lesson to their specific book. They are also invited to read each other’s responses and comment back and forth.
• At the end of each week, students submit a “Productivity Log” to record how much they have read etc. (This is also where I take off points for students that don’t bring their book to class, goof off during reading time, etc.)
• In addition, each student also conferences with me at least two times for a grade. They should be prepared to tell me what their book is about, answer questions about it related to topics we are discussing in class, and connect it to larger themes/motifs.
• At the end of the unit, students submit an “index card review”(explained in attachments) and participate in a class Socratic seminar where we introduce our novels to each other and attempt to find similarities across cultures/genres/etc.

You can download the entire assignment as an editable Word document here with lots more details/specifics:  Independent Reading Assignment – Multicultural  (10)   Independent Reading Assignment – Fiction  (9)

In addition, here’s a copy of the “Productivity Log” I give my students:  Productivity Log

And, here’s the chart I use to keep track of scores etc. as we go:  Reading Workshop Grading Chart

*Bonus* Here’s a fun survey I gave my students about their reading habits before we started:  Survey

To answer a few questions…

– I think this unit is ideal for three to four weeks max. Obviously, that may need to be adapted depending on snow days, the pace of your classes, etc.

– I tell my students that if they finish one book, they must immediately start another. I also allowed them to stop a book in the middle if they hated it (remember, this was meant to be enjoyable for them). The only requirement is that they are constantly reading. (This helps with the discrepancies between reading speed, etc. and has worked great for me so far.)

– The mini lessons should be short and sweet. I found that my students generally took a lot of time on their discussion board posts, and I still wanted them to have time to read every day, so I kept my entire lesson to 15 minutes max.

– I did not censor the content of the books, but I did put a disclaimer that it should be “appropriate for a high school reader” meaning not  Charlotte’s Web  OR  Fifty Shades of Grey.  I also had parents sign a permission form to cover all the bases.

– I think you could pretty easily adapt this unit for students as young as third or fourth grade and to cover all kinds of topics/genres (memoirs, classics, survival stories, dystopian, etc.).

My ninth grade class finished one of these units right before winter break (also a GREAT time to do this since attention is at an all time low then), and they loved it. They are already asking to do it again!!

What other questions do you have for me? Have you ever done something like this with your classes? How has it worked?

May your snow days be plentiful and your make-up days be few,

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January 26, 2016 at 1:16 PM

Three snow days sounds amazing to me right now. We got two feet of snow and we had NO snow days, not even a delay!

However, I can totally feel your pain of five days at home with the kiddos.

I love this unit plan. I really like how it supports differentiation for different reading levels.

January 27, 2016 at 9:56 AM

I can’t wait to check out your unit plans. Thank you SO much for generously sharing them! I did an independent reading unit with 10th graders once, years ago, and loved it. I teach 8th grade now and I think they would love it too… if I could just squeeeeze it into our mandated unit curriculum somehow, I’ll be golden! (It can be done, just takes some finagling.)

January 29, 2016 at 6:25 PM

Hey, I have a quick question about the grading chart. What does DB stand for?

August 17, 2017 at 3:24 PM

discussion board

January 27, 2016 at 10:21 AM

Thank you! So appreciate this, and completely agree with the required-delayed-opening-after-two-days-off rule :)All new classes start the day we return to school…eek! Thanks for such well organized plans and editable templates!

January 27, 2016 at 11:18 AM

Thanks so much for sharing this. I’m always looking for new things to do with my English classes.

February 3, 2016 at 12:17 AM

So, I’d love some tips on how to get more organized. This is my first year teaching high school (I’m an early-childhood major), and I’m having a lot of trouble keeping up with the organization and grading. I understand the concepts and procedures, I’m just having trouble actually managing to implement them. I feel like I’m really lacking the TIME to get everything set up enough to keep it going. I don’t know what to do…! Please help! If anyone has ideas/tips, I’d really appreciate it 🙂 Thank you in advance! (p.s. I teach history)

December 13, 2017 at 11:32 PM

I am also a 1st time high school teacher (I taught elementary school ages previously). I am finding that not every little thing needs to be graded. I have classes grade things in class and some days my students want “chill days” so I give them an assignment they can do on their own while I grade notebooks or assignments that they need immediate feedback. I also recommend noredink.com or membean.com where you get immediate feedback on how the students are doing and it helps on those days when you want to take care of business like catch up with grading that particular class and talk one-on-one with students about how they are doing in class. Like I said, I don’t do this every day, but I find it really helps every now and then when things are hectic!

March 4, 2016 at 9:28 AM

for the person who asked what db stood for, I believe it’s a discussion board post…

August 29, 2016 at 12:51 PM

Excellent lesson design for teaching free-choice novel selections!

March 28, 2017 at 11:07 PM

What powerpoints did you use? Do you have your unit plan with the materials you used?!

August 27, 2018 at 1:46 PM

Same question as another reader: What powerpoints did you use? Do you have your unit plan with the materials you used?!

April 24, 2017 at 9:38 AM

This is amazing and was exactly what I was looking for in my search. Thank you for sharing!

August 17, 2017 at 1:10 PM

Thanks for the great ideas! I’m really excited to try this method. I am using this idea as a jumping off point and tweaking it to fit the needs of my students. I”m wondering about your Socratic Seminar. What sorts of questions are you asking the students to consider regarding universal themes etc.?

November 30, 2017 at 7:15 PM

Do you have a link to examples of questions you put on your DB’s? If not, do you mind sharing examples of those please? Thank you!

December 12, 2017 at 9:02 AM

Yes, how do you do discussion boards? On the internet?

August 17, 2019 at 10:54 AM

Thank you so much for these awesome resources! I have done several versions of Independent Reading…I am loving these ideas!

January 1, 2020 at 11:28 PM

I am curious if you read ALL the book titles for yourself or not.

October 11, 2020 at 10:26 PM

Thank you so much for these resources! Due to the pandemic (which has blessed me with the responsiblity of teaching four preps in a hybrid learning environment – phew!), I am looking to try some new things with my English class. I have done literature circles before in which students read the same book in small groups, but since my students are only in-person twice per week, I wanted to adapt that and do an independent novel study instead. These resources are just what I was looking for! Thank you for this post and for sharing your ideas.

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Spark a Reading Transformation in Your Classroom with Structured Independent Reading Activities

This structured independent reading activities unit is the perfect way to get your students embarking on reading journeys. With a variety of engaging activities and resources, your students will be so excited to read that they won't want to put the books down.

Students who don't read are at a disadvantage in school and in life

Students today face a different world. Ask them, and many will admit they're not big fans of traditional reading. Why? Well, the answers are at their fingertips - through YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms. Plus, with jam-packed schedules filled with work and extracurriculars, finding the time to dive into a good book often takes a back seat. And let's be honest, when school focuses so much on decoding and comprehension, it can overshadow the sheer joy of reading for pleasure.

So, how do we reignite that love for books? Help them discover the joy of reading together!

Teachers are under more stress than ever

Here's the thing: when reading is fun, students naturally want to do more of it. And guess what? The more they read, the better they become. It's a win-win! However, when they've faced challenges with reading – maybe even as early as third grade, being held back behind their friends – they might dodge books altogether. This can lead to a cycle where they miss out on the joys of reading and even develop anxiety around it. We definitely don’t want that, right? Let's break that cycle together and reignite their passion for books! 

How Do You Reignite the Joy of Reading in a Standards-Based World?

Being English teachers, we truly get it. Our students deserve those golden moments where they can just read for the sheer joy of it. But, with all the standards, high-stakes tests, and increasing classroom demands, it's tough to squeeze in those precious reading moments. And let’s not forget, we're often expected to have regular graded assignments. On top of that, we want to give our students timely feedback and chances to express themselves about their readings. It feels like a race against the clock, doesn’t it? We're in this together, striving to find that balance for our students. 

Enliven Your Students' Love of Reading with Reading TRIIPS Independent Reading Projects

Over a decade of teaching middle and high school English, I've crafted a unique independent reading curriculum. Think about how much we all love a good adventure – be it wandering through a field nearby or scrolling through captivating IG photos from distant lands. I've channeled that universal love for travel into our reading journey using the acronym TRIIPS. It’s all about encouraging students to embark on literary adventures, dive deep into the stories they choose, and then reflect and share their experiences. Just like a traveler documenting their escapades, our students can journey through books and bring back tales to share. Ready to set sail on this literary adventure? 

Our Product Main Benefits

Our structured independent reading activities provide independent choice within a framework of reading groups to help scaffold student learning.

Increased motivation to read

When students are given the choice of what to read, they are more likely to be motivated to read. This is because they are more likely to be interested in the books they choose, and they are more likely to find them enjoyable.

Improved reading comprehension

When students read books that they are interested in, they are more likely to pay attention to the text and to understand what they are reading. This is because they'll want to learn more about the characters and the plot.

Broadened knowledge base

When students read a variety of books, they are exposed to a variety of topics and ideas. This can help them to broaden their knowledge base and to become more well-rounded individuals.

Students can share their thoughts and ideas with others

When students work in groups, they have the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas about the books they are reading. This can help them to better understand the books and to develop their own critical thinking skills.

Students can develop social skills

When students work in groups, they have to learn to collaborate and to communicate effectively. This can help them to develop important social skills that will be valuable in college and in the workplace.

Reduced stress levels

Reading can be a relaxing and enjoyable activity. This can help students to reduce stress levels and to improve their overall mental health, particularly when students have choice in both what and how they read.

What You Get

Teacher Guide

This guide includes the purpose and rationale for the year-long reading journey, instructions for setting up the reader's notebooks, and ideas for projects students can engage in as they discover who they are as readers.

Student Guide

Print or upload this guide to Google Classroom or another closed course management system for access by students in your class.

Reading Autobiography Lesson

Not only will you earn about who your students are as readers (knowing your students is one of the most important elements of accomplished teaching, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards), they will need to spend time analyzing their own experiences as readers and how it is they have arrived where they are, whether they are avid readers or reading avoiders. Download this lesson below.

Mini-Lessons Slideshow

Introduce your students to each element of the reading TRIIPS on which they will embarks this year, including T ie-ins (connections), R eactions, I nferences, I nquiries (Questions), P redictions, and S ummaries. Download the slideshow as a PowerPoint file, but you can upload it to Google Drive.

Student Reader Surveys

The best way to encourage students to read books or articles is to help them find reading that they are interested in. You can best do that by simply asking the students. Of course, if you're like most secondary teachers and have dozens of students, it might take you weeks to talk to each one. With this Google Forms survey, you can ask all of them and them pour through their answers and send them recommendations on your planning period, at home, or anywhere!

Reading Challenge Signup

Some students love a challenge! (Yes, I know that others aren't such fans…) So we've incorporated a reading challenge in which students are facing off against themselves and their reading pasts. Encourage your students to read more than they did last year, or to read a wider range of genres. Any growth your students experience is a win! (Replace the academic standards section with the relevant standards from your state or school.)

Reader's Notebook Graphic Organizers

Tracking reading isn't about you grading the numbers–it's about students evaluating their own reading habits. Did they read this week? What did they read? Did they abandon a book? Is there a pattern that they see in what they choose to read and what they abandon? Students setup this tracking system and use it throughout the year to watch their growth as readers.

Structured Reading Response Graphic Organizers

What is reading without conversations? Students, after all, are very social. With this graphic organizer, students are not only encouraged to choose or create a question to answer about their reading, but also to quote text, cite their source, and write commentary that analyses what they have read. Students are also encouraged to respond to each other!

Reader's Notebook Rubric

Once a month, or on your schedule, students evaluate their progress in their reader's notebooks. Have they maintained their current reading list? Do they have a list of books they want to read in the future? Have they finished reading any books? Students fill out the rubric and you take a quick peek at their notebooks to verify. No grading at home!

Creative Alternatives to Your Reader's Notebook or Culminating Projects

Encourage your students to share their reading with each other and a wider audience. Students can choose from projects such as a printed book advertisement to an online book trailer they upload to YouTube. Push them to use their imaginations as they persuade each other to read! Can be used for students who struggle with the notebook or as culminating project options for all students.

Are you ready for a completely done-for-you unit that engage your students in structured independent reading projects?

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Google Classroom & Distance Learning Ready!

Risk-Free Guarantee: You may request a full refund within seven days of your purchase and it will be given. No questions asked!

Independent Reading Activities for Kindergarten To Try Right Now

I bust out the kids' favorite independent reading activities for a minimum stress, maximum fun phonics time. These can be used one on one, as kindergarten reading station activities, or be done with a whole classroom of kids.

All 3 of these independent reading activities have many ways to differentiate to meet the needs of all your young learners and build their phonics skills. So whether you're working on beginning and ending sounds, letters, CVC word reading , or digraphs like "sh" and "ch," I've got something for you.

Without further ado, the 3 most begged for independent reading activities are...

Beginning and Ending Sound Parking Lots

Phonics dominoes.

• CVC Words and Digraph Cup Stacking Challenge

*As an Amazon Associate I may get a small commission if you decide to purchase from my links. Thank you.

3 Top Rated Independent Reading Activities

Get ready to sit back and watch kids get excited to practice reading all on their own. You might even have time to sit down and drink coffee while it's still hot. The best part? It's all hands-on!

Kids dream of the day they'll get to drive, so bring that dream to life with phonics parking lots. It's so simple, you'll need 10 plastic cars, hot wheels, or trains you have lying around the house.

If you don't have ten little cars you can usually pick them up from the dollar store or here on Amazon.

Print out the 3 beginning sound parking lots or the 3 ending sounds parking lots and you're almost ready to play. Just label the cars with the 10 necessary letters using a dry erase or sharpie.

All the beginning sound parking lots use the same letters, and the ending sounds have the same letters on each of their mats too! This makes it so you only would need to change the letters on the cars when you're ready to move from beginning to ending sounds.

I love this game because kids are SO psyched to play and can do so independently. So they're working on their phonemic isolation (isolating sounds in words), while I can step back and beam with pride.

Kids can play this independent reading activity with a partner or on their own. You don't need anything but a sharpie, crayon, and popsicle sticks.

I played this game with my kindergartners using CVC words, but you can also play it with the alphabet , shapes , numbers, sight words, spelling words, etc.

Prep this quick independent reading activity in 5 steps:

• Line up an even number of jumbo popsicle sticks.
• Add a color to every other one.
• Write a number, word, shape, or letter on both sides.
• Whatever you wrote on the right sight of the first popsicle stick, write the same thing on the left side of the next stick.
• Continue till the phonics dominoes all have two words each.

Once you teach this game to your kids or students, they'll know how to play forever. This makes it the easiest independent reading center. They see the popsicle sticks, and you barely have to say a word!

Cup Stacking Challenge - CVC words and Digraphs Sh and Ch

Just print and play. Kids freak out when you share they'll be reading and building based on the words they have on their cups.

The Cup Stacking Challenge bundle comes with 4 building challenges per vowel and digraph. So you get stacking cards that focus on CVC words and digraphs ch and sh. The set comes with 7 sheets of challenges, focusing on each of the vowels in CVC words and the two digraphs.

Each challenge requires only 6 cups. Use either plastic or paper to write the words listed at the bottom of that challenge's sheet. Below is an example with the "i" words using paper cups and the "sh" words using plastic cups.

Download your bundle now to start playing these independent reading activities that kids beg for!

Worried your kids are not ready to play these independent reading activities?

Most kids begin reading in kindergarten at the age of 5 or 6. What does "reading" look like at this age? Well, in kindergarten kids by sounding out simple 3 letter words using their knowledge of letters and sounds. They also read words they have explicitly memorized aka sight words.

Everyone learns at different paces, so don't be worried if your child is not yet doing this. However, if you want to progress their learning through fun, hands-on games such as the ones you just read about, check out our signature program, The Fun Club.

TRUTH: The Fun Club is a monthly subscription with 20+ activities a month that WILL TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ (and so much more).

Each week includes reading and math activities that transform learning at home. Suddenly learning goes from being a chore to being the highlight of your day. Activities progress from beginning letters and numbers to mastering kindergarten reading and math standards.

Kids in The Fun Club can read this to you!

Whether you're looking to make learning fun or catch your kiddo up, join The Fun Club and start playing to learn.

Related Posts:

Join our signature program KinderReady Summer

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Putin says gunmen who raided Moscow concert hall tried to escape to Ukraine. Kyiv denies involvement

Russia’s Federal Security Service says at least 60 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in an attack at a Moscow concert hall. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Putin suggests Ukraine was linked to deadly attack on Moscow-area concert hall

At least 133 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall. Russian President Vladimir Putin says authorities have arrested four men suspected of carrying out the attack.

In this photo taken from video released by the Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, firefighter work in the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. (Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

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People place flowers and toys by the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 133. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

A woman reacts as she place flowers by the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

Bodies of victims are loaded into vehicles at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 60 people have been killed and over 100 injured by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo)

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

A view of the burnt Crocus City Hall after an attack, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 133. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

People place flowers by the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 133. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the photo in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that authorities have detained 11 people in the attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 115 people and left the sprawling venue a smoldering ruin. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

People react next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 133. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo taken from video released by Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, a Kalashnikov assault rifle lies on the ground as Investigators from the Investigative Committee of Russia together with the operational units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, work the scene after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. Several gunmen burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

People stand at a body of a victim near the burning building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo)

People lineup to donate blood to help victims of the attack in Crocus City Hall, near the Blood Center of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Over 90 people were killed, including three children, authorities said. (Denis Voronin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

A man places flowers on the fence near the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Over 90 people were killed, including at least three children, authorities said. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

A view of the Crocus City Hall burned after an attack is seen on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing and injuring multiple people and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

Bodies of victims are loaded into vehicles at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Over 90 people were killed authorities said. (AP Photo)

A woman reacts as she comes to place flowers at the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

Traffic on the highway passes a message displayed on a billboard that reads: “We Mourn 03.22.2024" in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In this photo released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 23, 2024, firefighters work in the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)

A woman lights candles at the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 133. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

People lay flowers tributes outside of the Russian embassy in Paris, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday on the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen secures an area as a massive blaze seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo)

MOSCOW (AP) — The suburban Moscow music hall where gunmen opened fire on concertgoers was a blackened, smoldering ruin Saturday as the death toll in the attack surpassed 130 and Russian authorities arrested four suspects. President Vladimir Putin claimed they were captured while fleeing to Ukraine.

Kyiv strongly denied any involvement in Friday’s assault on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, and the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility.

Putin did not mention IS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia’s war in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year .

U.S. intelligence officials confirmed the claim by the IS affiliate.

“ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

The U.S. shared information with Russia in early March about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow and issued a public warning to Americans in Russia, Watson said.

Putin said authorities detained a total of 11 people in the attack, which also wounded more than 100. He called it “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said Russian authorities captured the four suspects as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a “window” prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border.

Russian media broadcast videos that apparently showed the detention and interrogation of the suspects, including one who told the cameras he was approached by an unidentified assistant to an Islamic preacher via a messaging app and paid to take part in the raid.

Russian news reports identified the gunmen as citizens of Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia that is predominantly Muslim and borders Afghanistan. Up to 1.5 million Tajiks have worked in Russia and many have Russian citizenship.

Tajikistan’s foreign ministry, which denied initial Russian media reports that mentioned several other Tajiks allegedly involved in the raid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the arrests.

Many Russian hard-liners called for a crackdown on Tajik migrants, but Putin appeared to reject the idea, saying “no force will be able to sow the poisonous seeds of discord, panic or disunity in our multi-ethnic society.”

He declared Sunday a day of mourning and said additional security measures were imposed throughout Russia.

The number of dead stood at 133, making the attack the deadliest in Russia in years. Authorities said the toll could still rise.

The raid was a major embarrassment for the Russian leader and happened just days after he cemented his grip on the country for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since the Soviet times.

Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who have relentlessly suppressed any opposition activities and muzzled independent media, failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warnings.

The assault came two weeks after the U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a notice urging Americans to avoid crowded places in view of “imminent” plans by extremists to target large Moscow gatherings, including concerts. Several other Western embassies repeated the warning. Earlier this week, Putin denounced the warning as an attempt to intimidate Russians.

Investigators on Saturday combed through the charred wreckage of the hall for more victims. Hundreds of people stood in line in Moscow to donate blood and plasma, Russia’s health ministry said.

Putin’s claim that the attackers tried to flee to Ukraine followed comments by Russian lawmakers who pointed the finger at Ukraine immediately after the attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily rejected Moscow’s accusations as an attempt by Putin and his lieutenants to shift the blame to Ukraine while treating their own people as “expendables.”

“They are burning our cities — and they are trying to blame Ukraine,” he said in a statement on his messaging app channel. “They torture and rape our people — and they blame them. They drove hundreds of thousands of their terrorists here to fight us on our Ukrainian soil, and they don’t care what happens inside their own country.”

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

Images shared by Russian state media showed emergency vehicles still gathered outside the ruins of the concert hall, which could hold more than 6,000 people and hosted many big events, including the 2013 Miss Universe beauty pageant that featured Donald Trump .

On Friday, crowds were at the venue for a concert by the Russian rock band Picnic.

Videos posted online showed gunmen in the venue shooting civilians at point-blank range. Russian news reports cited authorities and witnesses as saying the attackers threw explosive devices that started the fire, which eventually consumed the building and caused its roof to collapse.

Dave Primov, who survived the attack, told the AP that the gunmen were “shooting directly into the crowd” in the front rows. He described the chaos in the hall as concertgoers raced to escape: “People began to panic, started to run and collided with each other. Some fell down and others trampled on them.”

After he and others crawled out of the hall into nearby utility rooms, he said he heard pops from small explosives and smelled burning as the attackers set the building ablaze. By the time they got out of the massive building 25 minutes later, it was engulfed in flames.

“Had it been just a little longer, we could simply get stuck there in the fire,” Primov said.

Messages of outrage, shock and support for the victims and their families streamed in from around the world.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the U.S. condemned the attack and noted that the Islamic State group is a “common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere.”

IS, which lost much of its ground after Russia’s military action in Syria, has long targeted Russia. In a statement posted by the group’s Aamaq news agency, IS’s Afghanistan affiliate said it had attacked a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk.

The group issued a new statement Saturday on Aamaq saying the attack was carried out by four men who used automatic rifles, a pistol, knives and firebombs. It said the assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers, casting the raid as part of IS’s ongoing war with countries that it says are fighting Islam.

In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacation-goers returning from Egypt.

The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in the past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.

Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen secure an area at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, March 23, 2024. (Alexander Avilov/Moscow News Agency via AP)

The group’s Afghanistan affiliate is known variously as ISIS-K or IS-K, taking its name from Khorasan Province, a region that covered much of Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia in the Middle Ages.

The affiliate has thousands of fighters who have repeatedly carried out attacks in Afghanistan since the country was seized in 2021 by the Taliban, a group with which they are at bitter odds.

ISIS-K was behind the August 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport that left 13 American troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal. They also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Kerman, Iran, in January that killed 95 people at a memorial procession.

On March 7, just hours before the U.S. Embassy warned about imminent attacks, Russia’s top security agency said it had thwarted an attack on a synagogue in Moscow by an IS cell and killed several of its members in the Kaluga region near the Russian capital. A few days before that, Russian authorities said six alleged IS members were killed in a shootout in Ingushetia, in Russia’s Caucasus region.

Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Washington and Colleen Long in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.

• International

March 24 Moscow concert hall attack

By Heather Chen , Andrew Raine , Catherine Nicholls, Antoinette Radford, Maureen Chowdhury and Kathleen Magramo , CNN

Our live coverage of the Moscow concert hall attack has moved here.

Suspects in deadly concert hall attack facing life imprisonment. Here's what we know

From CNN staff

All four suspects in the Crocus City concert hall attack case have been remanded into pre-trial detention until May 22.  

They are charged with committing a terrorist act, according to the courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow, which under the Russian Criminal Code is punishable by up to life imprisonment.

Three of the defendants pled guilty to all charges, according to state media news agency TASS.

All four are from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic, and had been in Russia on either temporary or expired visas.

Friday's attack left at least 137 people dead. The attack is Russia's deadliest in two decades .

Catch up on the latest developments:

• Day of mourning: Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Sunday a day of national mourning for the 137 victims in Friday's attack .
• Authorities work to identify victims: Procedures to identify those killed in the attack have begun, the city’s Department of Health said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. The Russian Investigative Committee said 62 bodies had been identified so far, adding that "for the remaining victims, genetic examinations are being carried out to establish their identities."
• Fighting terrorism in Syria and Turkey: Putin held separate calls with his Turkish and Syrian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar al-Assad, on Saturday and promised closer cooperation in fighting terrorism following the attack, according to a Kremlin readout.
• Russian Embassy says no warnings from US: The Russian Embassy in Washington says it did not receive any warnings about a potential attack in Moscow from the US. Last week, Putin dismissed warnings by the US embassy in Russia that there could be attacks on large groups.
• Putin links attack to Ukraine: Putin said the main suspects arrested planned to flee into Ukraine. Ukraine has denied any connection. The UK warned that Russia was creating a "smokescreen of propaganda."
• Terror alert: France has lifted its terror alert to its highest level following the deadly attack in Moscow, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said Sunday.

Here's what we know about the four suspects in the Moscow concert hall attack

From CNN’s Masha Angelova and Josh Pennington

Each of the four defendants charged with committing a terrorist act in the Crocus City concert hall attack was brought to court individually in Moscow on Sunday.

They are accused of committing a crime under part 3, provision “b” of article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorist act), which the Russian Criminal Code states is punishable with up to life imprisonment.

Three pled guilty to all charges, according to state media news agency TASS .

Here's what we know about the accused:

• Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev: The 32-year-old was the first defendant brought to court. Mirzoyev, from Tajikistan, had a temporary registration for three months in the southern Russian city of Novosibirsk in Siberia, but it expired, according to RIA Novosti.
• Saidakrami Rachabalizoda: He appeared as the second defendant, and told the the court that he had Russian registration documents but couldn't remember where they were. He communicated through an interpreter, according to state media RIA Novosti. Rachabalizoda was reportedly born in 1994.
• Shamsidin Fariduni: He was born in 1998 in Tajikistan and is a citizen of the Central Asian country. Fariduni was officially employed at a factory in the Russian city of Podolsk and was registered in the city of Krasnogorsk, according to state media RIA Novosti.
• Muhammadsober Faizov: The fourth defendant appeared nonresponsive in a wheelchair and was accompanied by a doctor to his court appearance, as seen in Moscow City Court’s video shared on Telegram. Faizov was temporarily unemployed, before which he worked in a barber shop in Ivanovo, a city northeast of Moscow, and is registered in that city, according to state media RIA Novosti. He was reportedly born in 2004.

This post has been updated with more information on the charges against the suspects.

Moscow court orders preventive detention for all four defendants in concert hall attack case

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow on Sunday granted the investigators’ motion for detention, as the chosen preventative measure, for all four defendants in the Crocus City Hall attack case.

All four men have been remanded into pre-trial detention until May 22, stated Moscow City Court via Telegram.  

They are all charged with committing a terrorist act, according to the courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow, which under the Russian Criminal Code is punishable up to life imprisonment.

Each of the four defendants was brought to court individually on Sunday.

Three pled guilty to all charges, according to state media news agency TASS. 

The names of the four accused in the case are Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, Moscow City Courts announced via Telegram.

All four are from Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic, and have been in Russia on either temporary or expired visas.  

The court held closed hearings for each of the accused with no members of the public allowed, TASS reported, citing the court’s press service. 

2 defendants identified in Crocus City Hall attack

From CNN’s Masha Angelova, Michael Bodenhorst and Josh Pennington

The first defendant in the Crocus City concert hall attack case, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, has pleaded guilty on all counts, the press service of Moscow City Court told state media RIA Novosti.

He will be held in preventive custody at least through May 22. 

Mirzoyev is one of two defendants implicated in the attack who are facing possible life imprisonment, as reported by state media.

The suspects — Mirzoyev and Saidakrami Rachabalizoda — appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on charges related to the attack.

Both individuals are accused of committing a terrorist act and could be sentenced to life imprisonment, according to state media outlet RIA Novosti. The prosecution has requested detention as a precautionary measure for both defendants.

Authorities have petitioned the court to conduct Mirzoyev's hearing behind closed doors to safeguard the integrity of the proceedings, state media news agency TASS reported. 

First suspect apprehended in the Crocus City Hall attack arrives in court

From CNN’s Masha Angelova

The first suspect apprehended after the attack on Crocus City Hall that killed at least 137 people has arrived in court at the Basmanny Court of Moscow. 

Crocus City Hall killings are deadliest since Beslan school siege — these are some other recent attacks in Russia

From CNN Staff

The attack on Moscow's popular Crocus City Hall that left at least 133 dead has become the deadliest attack in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004.

Some other recent attacks include:

• September 26, 2022 : Eleven children and four adults were killed when a gunman wearing Nazi symbols opened fire at a school in the western Russian city of Izhevsk. The shooter, who was reportedly wearing a black T-shirt with Nazi insignia and a helmet, died by suicide following the attack.
• April 3, 2017 : At least 11 people were killed in a blast on the St. Petersburg metro. The explosion tore through a train as it was traveling between two stations in Russia’s second-largest city.
• October 31, 2015 : A Russian passenger jet, Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed  on October 31 after departing from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh,  killing all 224 people  on board. US intelligence analysis suggested that ISIS or its affiliates  planted a bomb on the plane .
• December 30, 2013 : A massive explosion at a train station in the Russian city of Volgograd killed at least 16 people, including one police officer, the Investigative Committee of Russia said.
• January 25, 2011 : A suicide bomber attacked Domodedovo Airport , Moscow's busiest airport, killing 35 people and wounding about 100, authorities and state television said.
• March 29, 2010 : Two explosions rocked the subway stations in central  Moscow during rush hour, killing at least 38 people and wounding more than 60 others, spawning widespread public outrage. A website associated with Chechen separatists, who have long fought for independence from Russia, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Rescuers, robotic systems and canine teams are currently on site of Crocus City concert hall

From CNN’s Darya Tarasova and Eve Brennan

More than 300 “specialists” and 154 pieces of equipment are currently on site at the Crocus City concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow region, where a deadly attack took place Friday , Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram on Sunday.

The ministry said more than 400 cubic meters of structures had been dismantled by rescuers while specialized robotic systems, canine teams and psychologists from the ministry continue to work.

More than 1,600 calls have already been received on the department’s hotline, the ministry added.

The post was accompanied by a video showing dozens of emergency workers digging through the rubble of the partially burned-down concert hall.

Remember : At least 137 people died on Friday after attackers opened fire on civilians at the Crocus City concert hall, and set the building ablaze. The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has claimed the attack and  released graphic footage  purporting to show the incident. 

Putin lit a candle in memory of victims of the concert hall attack

From CNN's Eve Brennan and Anna Chernova

Russian President Vladimir Putin lit a candle Sunday in memory of victims of the deadly attack at the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow region on Friday.

Putin also expressed deep condolences following the Moscow shooting, calling it a "barbaric terrorist act" in a video statement released Saturday.

More background: The deadly attack comes barely a week after Putin secured his fifth presidential term. The large-scale attack is damaging for a leader who portrays himself as someone able to guarantee order.

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