OTT 255: Building Reading Routines That Stick (and Don’t Drain You)

Struggling to establish reading routines that don't leave you exhausted? Discover the magic of sustainable reading practices that transform your classroom culture while building essential literacy skills.

The most powerful reading routines aren't complicated—they're consistent, joyful, and purposeful. In this episode, we explore how simple structures like read-aloud, turn-and-talk, and quick response activities create safe spaces where comprehension flourishes naturally. You'll learn why post-lunch read-alouds can completely reset classroom energy, turning potential chaos into calm, focused learning moments.

We dive deep into practical implementation, showing how character-driven stories naturally incorporate social-emotional learning without forcing connections. Books featuring characters like Junie B. Jones, Ramona, or Trixie from Knuffle Bunny create opportunities for rich discussions about emotions, perseverance, and problem-solving. These conversations build comprehension more effectively than multiple rushed activities ever could.

The true value of reading routines extends beyond literacy—they're relationship builders that strengthen your classroom community. When we slow down and enjoy stories together, we create shared experiences that bond students together while developing listening skills, discussion etiquette, and genuine reading joy. As you implement these routines, remember that quality trumps quantity every time.

Ready to transform your reading instruction? Grab our free four-week reading unit focused on establishing routines and exploring character development. Next week, we'll tackle another pressing classroom challenge: helping students re-engage with real life beyond screens.

What reading routine has made the biggest difference in your classroom? Share your experience or ask questions in the comments!

Free Reading Unit for Setting Up Routines and a Focus on Characters

Chapters

• 0:02 Welcome to Building Reading Routines
• 1:24 Why Reading Routines Matter
• 3:44 Simple Routines That Work
• 5:30 Connecting Books to Character Development
• 7:31 Reading Routines as Relationship Builders
• 9:22 Free Resources and Next Week

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 255, building reading routines that stick and don't drain you. So today we are talking about reading routines and I know that you know they've come a long way. There's a lot of different thoughts about all different kinds of routines and what do we do and what kinds of books should they be reading, and all this stuff. And I've actually spoken a lot about reading and I've done, I don't know, like 45 different videos on YouTube in Readers in the Making. So if you're looking for, like specific things to get kids excited about reading and love reading, then you might want to check that out. But today we're going to talk about building some routines that actually work and that don't make you feel like you can't sustain them. Hope you stick around. Welcome to One Tired Teacher. And even though she may need a nap, this teacher is ready to wake up and speak her truth about the trials and treasures of teaching here. She is wide awake. Wait, she's not asleep right now, is she? She is awake, right. Okay, from Trina Devery, teaching and Learning your host, trina Devery. Hey, so welcome back to One Tired Teacher.

Speaker 1: 1:23

Today we are diving into one of the most important parts of your school year reading routines. Now I know that sounds big Another thing to plan, right, but stick with me, I'm talking about simple, consistent reading routines that support comprehension, calm your classroom and even help you fall in love with read alouds all over again. All right. So why are reading routines? Why do they matter, especially in our earlier years or in our primary years? Why do they matter? Routines help kids feel safe and settled. They also give you structure when things get chaotic. Plus, they make it easier to enjoy to actually enjoy your read aloud time without the pressure of tying it to 100 different standards all at once. So one of my very favorite things about reading a read aloud is how it can just completely transform the moment, like if kids were a little bit too wound up. You know I love doing it after lunch. I also did it like as a shared reading during my reading block as well. Like read alouds are a crucial part of the day, but I also like to do them later on where it's like no pressure and we're just reading for the joy of reading. And that would make all the difference when we would come back from lunch and recess and kids would be like kind of wound up to have a little. You know, quick, little fun reading time, and usually I would do like maybe even you know a chapter book like Junie B Jones or any of the Beezus and Ramona books and my kids loved Ramona and. Or you know any of those kinds of things like that Magic Treehouse, any of those kind of books that are just fun and kids get to relax. I had a couch in my classroom and so they would. I would call teams to the floor and the team that was actually sitting, the nicest would get called first and of course, they would usually pick the couch. They got first dibs because they were, you know, doing a great job, and then kids would have to like come out, filter in to the rest of the spots. But it was just really relaxing and very calm and it definitely transformed the afternoon.

Speaker 1: 3:40

Okay, so what is what a simple routine can look like? So an example is like an example flow is a read aloud, a turn and talk and a quick response, whether that's oral, written or artistic. I really enjoyed teaching comprehension in this way because I would use it as like a think aloud or, you know, are also a shared pen experience or I would stop and let kids turn and talk to one another about like questions that we had about the story, or even formulating a question or responding to something that I asked, or even like sometimes I would have them bring sticky notes and they could jot things down and then I would have them do some kind of response afterwards. Whether it was just a turn and talk, whether it was written or whether it was like an actual graphic organizer, they had the ability to respond to the text. So that's kind of what a simple routine look like. You know, read aloud, turn and talk, quick response. Another thing to do is like a quick little exit ticket. That has always worked really well. It's not super time consuming, very focused, very intentional, and then it's like a quick, easy, little formative assessment. You can repeat this structure. It helps kids know what to expect and it frees up your brain. Another thing we can do is we can tie in like character work, or we can tie in even social and emotional discussions or comprehension skills. All these things are like naturally incorporated when, um, when we are able to do a read aloud.

Speaker 1: 5:19

I just love to find books that spark conversations about you know kindness or identity or courage, or you know bravery or perseverance or grit. Any of those kinds of things can just really enhance a discussion and a response from children. I also love books that have like character voices. One of my favorite books to read in the beginning of the year are the Trixie books by Mo Willems and Knuffle Bunny. I should say Knuffle Bunny books. I called it Trixie, I don't know, I just thought of Trixie for a second, but it's. It's Knuffle Bunny, so Knuffle Bunny, and then we've got Knuffle Bunny. Is it Knuffle Bunny 2? Knuffle Bunny 3? Yeah, I think it's Knuffle Bunny too. I feel like I don't know what the second one's called. Anyway, they're very cute books. I love to do Trixie's voice. That's really fun for kids. They think that's so. And then we can talk about, like you know, how Trixie's emotions change throughout the story, how she overcame losing Canuffle Bunny and how she got him back, and things like that.

Speaker 1: 6:27

We want to keep it light but meaningful. We don't feel I don't want you to feel like you have to do it all. One rich discussion is so much more powerful than five rushed activities. We use these discussion times to build comprehension and it actually works and it helps kids remember the story and better understand and gain perspective. We want to use routines to build listening stamina, respectful discussion and reading joy. We want to invite students into the process. What books do they love? What do they wonder? So it's really important to have like kids involved in the reading culture. It's, you know, it's important to have book bins and character boards and voting on read alouds and all the good stuff. So those are that's a really important aspect to invite as well.

Speaker 1: 7:23

So if you want a done for you routine to kick things off, I do have a free unit. It's a it's in my read a year long read aloud units. It's the first unit based on characters, but also the first two weeks are really strongly built on reading routines. So it helps you get those reading routines set up and it focuses on really, you know, digging into what that looks like, what it looks like to be a reader. It also we dig into like characters and characters overcoming obstacles and it's an easy way to launch your reading block with confidence and calm. So let me see if I can find the easy to remember URL. Sometimes I have a good one and sometimes it's not so great. Okay, so it's not bad. It's Trina Deberry, teaching and learningcom forward slash reading unit. All one word reading unit and you can grab that. It's a free, it's. It's several weeks. I think it's a four week units lesson plans, activities, graphic organizers, all the things and you can have that for free. It is part of my larger bundle. So if you like that and you want to keep looking at like genre studies and things like that, then you know maybe you will be like, oh, I want the whole thing and that's available as well, but you can grab that first unit for free.

Speaker 1: 8:50

A well loved reading read aloud isn't just a literacy tool, it's a relationship builder. I 100% believe that this is one of the keys to why I had such a strong classroom, family, classroom communities. Because of the books that I chose and the discussions we had and the characters that I brought to life for kids. I think it makes all the difference. So give yourself permission to keep it simple, slow it down, enjoy the magic of reading together. You've got this All right. Next week we're talking about screens, student focus and helping kids re-engage in real life. Until then, sweet dreams and sleep tight.