... Homework? Reading Homework? Reading Logs?
I guess it depends on the educational objective. But more basic than that, what are some ways that avid adult readers reflect on their reading? It might be interesting to have students find out and then choose a way to keep track of their reading... I have a little journal that I sporadically maintain. It has the date, title, author, and a running list of phrases or snippets of language that delight me or provoke my thinking in some way. For me, there are three main objectives for independent reading: 1. Strong readers do better academically across the curriculum. 2. An enjoyable reading habit now will likely lead to lifelong reading. 3. Literary analysis is a required skill for high school and college literature courses. I have replaced reading logs with weekly write/pair/shares and monthly personal notes that the students and I exchange based on a prompt dealing with elements or devices. It seems to be working--the students LOVE SSR time and they have a strong grasp of story elements and are getting better at recognizing literary devices, etc. EAch term they are required to read over 1400 pages in books of their choice, which means most of them have to read outside of class. I monitor their reading by checking titles and page numbers in class and I keep a word document of their progress. In addition to reading logs, the students do 2-3 formal assessments. We celebrate with reading parties after the class has read so many books and during the party, each student picks one of their books to review and recommend to the class. ~connie _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
