Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller

The book Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller, explores the different strategies and ideas about creating lifelong readers out of students. She talks about what to look for while students are reading in class. Miller goes over what a “wild reader” is and how you might determine if they are wild readers. Some of the habits she mentions in the book about wild readers is reading for your own purpose, dedicating time to read, have reading plans, have certain preferences for genres, authors, and topics, share books or readings with others. She also goes over what fake reading may look like or what fake readers do; students that abandon books often, fidgets or talks a lot, finishes a few books or finishes them too quickly, rarely has a book to read, and acts like a wild reader are more likely fake reading. She highlights the importance of allowing students to have reading a time during class instead of having them take a reading log or something similar home. Miller explains different types of reading plans and how it is categorized into two types, commitment plans that are going to build a strong foundation of reading habits and challenge plans that help expand our reading. It is important to have a commitment plan as a wild reader, without effort or planning an individual can easily fall out of reading habits. Reading challenges are also important for wild readers, this helps the individual increase their knowledge. Reading challenges aren’t competitions between readers, they are challenges that a reader will set for themselves in order to keep reading fun and engaging. Miller goes over many ideas, activities, and strategies to help teachers get their students more engaged while reading and to help them love reading. I would definitely recommend this book to teachers in every grade level.