Rethinking Reading at Home
Mandy Robek
We struggle every year with the question of whether to have students fill out logs for the reading they do at home. On one hand, we want students to read at home because they want to, not because it's required. On the other hand, we know that some students won't read at home until they build the habit, and the home reading log helps them do that. The value of a home reading log is in the conversation it often sparks at home and at school.
Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop - by Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak
When I read this book and found this small section this past spring, I was relieved to know that two of my mentors felt the same as I did about home reading logs. Last fall I was frustrated and unhappy with my home reading log for students. Fourteen years ago when I was a brand new teacher, a colleague teacher shared his home reading log plan with me and I made it my own. The basic plan was that each night the students were to record the date, the title of the book they were reading, and ask their parents to initial the form. They were expected to read for 20 minutes, and there were enough lines for an entire month on a page. One thing I really liked about this plan was that every Friday the students brought in the home reading log for me to look over. I would mark how many days out of seven they read and put a positive note, symbol, or a word of encouragement on the log. I put my own spin on the home reading logs, renaming it "Refrigerator Reading" to help parents with their home organization. I figured if it was on the refrigerator it would be easier to remember and complete.
During the years that followed I made some small changes to the logs. I did away with the cute fruit and veggie clip art along with the "Refrigerator Reading" title. As I gained more experience and thought about responsibility, I realized having the parents initial the home reading log didn't benefit the students. It was more work for the parents (and in some respects became the parents' homework). This change may have happened about the time I became a parent and began to view things I did differently - through a parent's as well as a teacher's eyes.
I didn't set an amount of time the students had to read each night. My frustration began when I did some reflecting about this current home reading log. I wasn't seeing each student's home reading log each Friday. Sometimes parents were filling out the reading log. Each Friday I was busily trying to do my normal routines while checking home reading logs to return to students so they could be used over the weekend. I felt that I wasn't carefully looking at the student's home reading life or gaining valuable information that could support my instruction of each child.
From Logs to Calendars
I began to reconsider the format. I had seen several colleagues use a calendar format for home reading logs, and I preferred the visual effect of a calendar. I liked seeing a student's home reading history a month at a time; you can tell more about the student's reading habits and decisions when there is a bigger window to view. I now believe if homework is worthy of assigning, then it needs to be completed by the student without much parent support. I needed the physical size of my calendar larger so the children's handwriting would fit inside the squares, so I enlarged the calendar on our copier using 12" x 18" paper.
Next, I spent a great deal of time thinking about why I was having my students keep a home reading log, and how could I get them more involved with their homework. The "why" was obvious - research in all realms shows when we practice something we get better at it, reading included. I also wanted to guide my third grade transitional readers in home reading. I wanted them to see reading as something they could do for enjoyment, and to create a reading life outside the classroom walls. Readers making reading choices based on what they like to read or need to read. I wanted my children to think about reading a variety of genres, and encourage them to think about their genre decisions. I also wanted to encourage my students to read each day without a time limit.
Promoting and Assessing Varied Reading
To help the students have greater success with reading each day of the month, I tell them they can count some reading each day that I describe to them as functional literacy. This type of reading might be menus, road signs, or computer game directions, etc. Families are busy, and functional literacy shows them reasons for reading that can be motivating. It is very important, especially with transitional readers, that we show them reading doesn't have to stop when you are at a good part of the book because the timer dings after 15 minutes. Parents do get nervous when I get to this part of my Curriculum Night. I always tell them that they know their child better than I do, and if they need to set a reasonable amount of time for reading they can do that. All of these reflections led me to create a rubric where I was looking at frequency, amount of genres represented, and responsibility as the key components of home reading. I also included some motivational feedback to summarize their work as a reader. You can download a copy of the rubric at this link:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/readinglogrubric.pdf
The first month I tried this new format was refreshing and positive. I was able to see my students' reading life at home much more clearly, and talk with them in more detail about their habits. I also felt the rubric was more informative than my previous recordkeeping form for home reading, and families knew what was expected from the beginning. At my first set of parent teacher conferences, a parent asked me what I meant by genres but more specifically what genres I was looking for and if I could provide her with a list. What a great suggestion! I now attach a list right next to the calendar, so it is always available and everyone had the same coding system. You download the list and codes at this link:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/readingcodes.pdf
As the year progressed, I saw the children really using the rubric tool as they read. The most obvious change from previous years was the increase in frequency over the year and the careful decisions made about genres. The home reading logs are a terrific, continual reminder to the students and me that we are partners with their parents at home.
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