After hearing a lot about FVR (Free Voluntary Reading, also called SSR, Silent Sustained Reading) at Comprehensible Online I decided I had to do it! But how?? How would I get the books I needed? How would I decide which books to order? What if my students didn’t like it? What if they didn’t actually read?
In April 2019, I started being super pro-active. I researched tons of student readers and scoured the Internet to find the cheapest prices. I read blogs about how to organize my library, and how build student interest.
In May, I used my profits from my TpT store to buy ten books by author Mike Peto. This was the start of my tiny Spanish library!!
I was able to get other books from the following sources:
-Two massive sets of readers were purchased using student lab fees.
-I shopped library sales and picked up another 20 books for less than $1 each.
-Two Donors Choose products secured 40 additional books AND a rug.
-Kellogg’s Summer Reading program earned me six different titles.
-Teachers Pay Teachers has TONS of free & paid readers that you can print.
-I printed out Special Person Interviews that I had typed the year before.
I outlined all of this in a brief presentation I recently gave to our local World Language group. You can download the full PDF version of my 20-slide presentation here or by clicking the image below. It includes tons of links to free resources, blog posts, and websites where you can purchase books.
Besides the books, I also purchased bins for storage (Dollar Tree), some lawn chairs (end-of-summer clearance sale), and some pillows.
The posters behind my chairs are La Misi de Español’s TpT Store. The book rack was a gift from my aunt and purchased from Amazon. The paper books hanging from clips in the left picture are from a collection of readers written by A.C. Quintero and available here.
So, yes, I have poured my heart, soul, & pocketbook into this program, but it is so worth it! But even if you don’t have the money for fancy pillows or lawn chairs (one of which broke last week), you can still take advantage of the TONS of free resources I’ve listed in my PDF presentation above!
I’ve included links to 19 free, downloadable readers in Spanish and a handful in French. I’ve also included two websites where you can print free Spanish materials in bulk. You could even print infographics from Pinterest. As long as you have access to a printer, you can start the foundations of a solid FVR program for FREE!
During FVR, some teachers like to project the image of a roaring fireplace in the winter. While I love that idea, I created a more practical slide that reminds students of the expectations and the amount of time we are reading that day. Click below to copy my presentation. The center box is a link to a timer from YouTube–be sure to MUTE this before it hits zero or some crazy sounds and sirens will go off!
I hope this post has encouraged you to at least think more about creating an FVR library for your language classroom. If you have any questions or suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them! You can comment below or email me at tiffanypistole1@gmail.com
You can check out my recommendations for Intermediate students here!
the NISH 