After sitting through countless English Language Arts professional development workshops and PLC’s one question always comes up: How can I get my students to read?

English Language Arts teachers are tasked to get students to improve in reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary and grammar…just to name a few. But reading is the heart of it all.  So as an English Language Arts teacher what do we all do. Assign reading logs!

We assign reading logs to give students the task to read at home to they can continue their growth, because with reading practice, you get better at reading. This ultimately can fill gaps in other content areas and make a non-level reader an on-level reader.

But along my teacher journey, I found out that reading logs don’t always work the way you hoped they would.

Old Reading Log Procedure

I use to assign a weekly reading log with a parent signature once a week. Each day, students would need to read 20 minutes either are home or during some class time. Then they would write a short 5 sentence response and have a parent sign off at the end of each week. I then would grade on the following Monday for the prior week.

This weekly task was an eye-opener. I would find that only a few students would have it completed with a parent signature. These students would receive their weekly accountability points while the rest of the class did not. That 20% of their grade would came back to haunt them at the end of the quarter.

No matter how I tried to remind students that they need to get it complete and turn it in, another week was going by with another incomplete or missing reading log.

I decided to look at my class -beyond the classroom.

I had students in and out of foster care, a homeless family, single parent homes, students taking care of younger siblings until late in the evening, and others with various tragedies. These things have easily prevented my students from completing a focused reading response log with parent signature. I knew this was too much to ask of my students.

At this point, I reflected and thought deeply of my own home life.

When I was 11 years old, I remember being so intently caught up in a book that I had it taken away from me. The reason: I wasn’t listening to parental demands of some sort and didn’t hear my name called. I also remember not having a designated place to complete homework, let alone a designated place to sleep at night. Sometimes I would be exhausted at school because I had to sleep on the floor the night before.

It finally hit me that with these weekly reading logs, I was setting my students up for failure. I had to rethink my entire reading log procedures.

After this realization, I remember telling my students that there will be no more reading homework for the rest of the year. And from that point on, it will be done in class.

Of course there were cheers but also with some asking why. I told them what I noticed across all my classes. I said that I knew it was tough to find time and space to read every evening.

Then, I explained that I felt like I let them down for not realizing it sooner (at that point we were already half way through the school year).

New Reading Log Procedure

I started to do old fashion Silent Sustained Reading (SSR). I selected Friday at the beginning of class to be reading log day. Students would read their library book silently for 20 minutes then respond to reading with their reading log.

This time, student responses would be focused by using reading response cards. I also had all my students paste the card in their classroom notebook for reference, and then I chose one question from the card as a point of reading focus for the students.

With this reading lens they can read with a purpose and they aren’t thinking about what question to choose after the 20 minutes is complete.

The reading response list is use is from a former colleague who said she got them almost 20 years ago! It was from a workshop where were they discussed the text Directing the Writing Workshop by Jean Wallace and Lynn Beverly. She also said she added a few of her own questions to the list as well. Here is a printable I made of the reading response card list!

Next, I let the class choose to sit anywhere they want in the classroom; on the floor, at the back table, anywhere but my desk chair (they always ask to sit there) or adjacent to their friends. Once everyone is settled, I start a timer for 20 minutes.

During these 20 minutes, I try to conference with at least 3 students. This way I have the opportunity to have students read a paragraph of their book to me and/or I can work with them on a Reading Fluency or Basic Reading Skills assessment for their IEP.

When the 20 minutes is complete, I give the class about 5-8 minutes to respond to their reading, going back to the focus question I gave them at the beginning. I prompt students to put their reading log in their classroom folder so it will be ready for next Friday.

Click Below to get a Copy of the Reading Log Template

Final Thoughts

Since I started using a reading log in the classroom, I continue to reflect on what are the best practices. With the new reading log procedures, I now only grade my reading logs once at the end of each quarter. I also get to focus on student individual reading needs once a week.

Overall, I believe it has to come down to the classroom dynamic as well as the rigor of classroom-based work. I have noticed growth, especially during the conferences with my students. Over time, they continue to grow as strong confident readers and that is the growth that I look for at the end of each school year.

Check out how to build your classroom library and what I did during distance learning!

Let me know your thoughts and how you use reading logs for your students.

Check out this virtual reading log template in my TPT store!