Anyone do nightly reading logs? Last year I tried to have the students read for 15 minutes a night and on their reading log write a sentence or two about what they read. It didn't really work out. Would you mind sharing yours? I'd like to see some other ideas.
Here is a copy of the homework sheet/reading log that me and my other 3rd grade collegues use. We sent one home every Monday that listed homework for the week, important dates to remember, math facts to study, reading minutes to complete, and the spelling words for the week on the back printed on yellow paper. There were 3 of us so we just took turns creating one on the same template. It worked the best for us cause parents had to intial that they read and I had over 70% of the students turn it in as required.
This the issue I face each year! I have done so many different kinds of reading logs ONLY because I haven't found the one that really works. I always hear from parents of strong readers that their children read far more than the requested time, but they forget to fill in the log which I believe. I want them to get lost in their books, that's the goal. So those students I don't worry about. However, it is the group for whom reading is a struggle that I do worry about. When they don't turn in their logs, and I subsequently talk to their parents, I hear, "We had such a busy night...", "It would have been a battle to make ________", "____________ is so tired by (you fill in the blank-afterschool, before dinner, after dinner, etc." This year, I am going to again write it on the weekly homework assignment sheet for the students to check off when completed and I will send home at the beginning of the year a letter I copied off from a post here at PT called Why Can't I Skip My Twenty Minutes of Reading Tonight. I'll try to attach it.
I actually make the reading log a homework grade, so they loose points if they don't read. Also, I do a reading incentive called Lunch Bunch, which you can read about on my website here:
This is also a link to some reading logs on my website that I have used. Hope it helps. The kids REALLY love Lunch Bunch, and just hate it when they aren't invited. I won't let them come if they have ANY blank spots on their reading log. They learn quickly.
I am posting the reading log I use. It is run back-to-back.
Each child has two...one at school (put an S in the upper right hand corner) and one for home (put an H in the upper right hand corner). Students have a stopwatch that they use to keep track of their minutes. They love the stopwatch, and it motivales them to read.
I am also attaching the genre abbreviations. These abbreviations are needed for the log.
My students must read fifteen or more minutes per night...even weekends. If they do not, they do not go to recess for the entire day. There are always a few at the beginning of the year with excuses, but excuses do not cut it. No minutes...no recess!! By the end of the first week, I seldom have students who do not complete this work.
Thanks for sharing - I really like the log. I tried last year and got so frustrated because they weren't filled out completely, not done, etc. But, I'm going to try again this year. Thanks!
I'd like to do a reading log, but no one else on my team wants to use one, so- here's what I'm going to do-
Our district purchases and requires the use of homework agenda notebooks. I plan to have the kids write their nightly reading in the reading portion of their agenda. The parents have to sign the agenda each day anyway, so hopefully it will help. I will use a lunch bunch and the prize box as incentives.
Here is the one I made last year. I had great success with it. Basically, I run the pages back to back so each sheet of paper has 5 sections on it (you will see when you look at it) The kids can then choose 4 to do over the course of the week (one per day).
Mine uses the Thinking maps and reading strategies (from Open Court, if anyone is familiar....but can be adapted to any basal or strategies I am sure)
I have posted this before on PT, so excuse if you have seen it before!
Personally, I think reading logs have some value, but just sending them home for a grade is just busy work and an easy grade for the teacher to get. I have talked to parents who have admitted that the logs aren't always truthful - that they scramble to fill them out to send back to school. Is this what we want to teach our kids? Kids that love to read will read with or without a reading log. Kids that do not like to read are not going to be "turned on" to reading by having to turn in a log each and every week. A teacher has to take time to read with the students, find out why students don't like to read, and help them find a book that will make them want to read.
Well, I love using the nightly reading logs...I don't care if the parents fudge it or not. To me, it is all about gaining responsibility and having the parents involved in their child's education. I mean, I would be really naive to think that parents wouldn't be fudging these....
> 
07-31-2007, 08:17 AM
