Independent Reading ??

[AW2245]

I was wondering how you make sure your students are reading during independent reading time (home and school) and that they understand what they have read. We have 30 minutes at school and I ask that they read 20 minutes at home. We have Accelerated Reader at my school, but I would like to branch out and encourage the kids to read more than just "for points." However, I find it a challenge because I'm not sure of an easy way to keep them accountable for actually reading! Any ideas out there?

[teacher5]

I like your thinking that you want accountability. I don't know what grade or age you have, but if it is elementary, don't give up on earning points, stickers, tokens, etc. because this really works for the good readers and encourages the reluctant readers who feel they have a shot at the reward or prize. Check with your colleagues for something called a book quiz or book check sheet. If not you can create your own. One teacher had them reproduced on 4 x 6 index cards. It basically asks the student to give the title, author, pub., copyright date and the number of pages in the book. If fiction, it asks them to list the main characters and setting/s too. It often asks them for 1-3 sentences about the beginning, 5-8 sentences about the plot, 1-2 sentences about how it ended, why they liked or disliked the book, and to whom they would recommend it. In order to earn points, you must fill this sheet out neatly and completely. Your parent or guardian must sign it, too. Within in a two month period you must complete at least two books, if not, you lose part of your overall ELA grade on your report card. Remember, this is independent reading, not instructional. All books must be approved by the teacher before reading. Be ready with suggested titles and authors or genres, especially for those reluctant readers. Good luck.

[dsmms]

My students keep reading response journals. I have given them 12 ways they can respond to the text. I like for them to read at home, and I give them Fridays for free reading. If they do not use their time wisely they will have a difficult time getting all of their responses. I take up journals for a grade twice during a 9 week grading period.

Last year I required my students to fill out a reading log. I was tired of getting parent-signed logs that had been totally fabricated. I was completely frustrated with it! This year I am not requiring the book logs - I hope that isn't a mistake.

I don't require students to participate in Accelerated Reading. It is there if they want to though. I have found that by sixth grade, they are over it. I am trying to get them excited about reading for the sake of reading. I am not sure sure if they are buying what I am selling though. We will see, we will see...

[AW2245]

I teach 4th grade. Thanks for the ideas I will try them and see how it goes. The book check sheet sounds really good. I really want to get the kids into reading chapter books, so this will be a helpful assessment.
dsmms - what are your 12 ways they can respond to their reading?

[dsmms]

These are what I use. I hope this helps! I got these from a college professor who had been a 4th grade teacher in her previous life.

What Can I do In My Reading Log

Me and the Book
Sometimes what I read makes me think about my own life. I can write about an event or a character in a book that reminds me of my life. I need to tell what is in the book and what it reminds me of in my life.

Compare/Contrast
I can tell how two things are alike or different. Two characters, two books, myself an a character, a book and a movie - any two things that share similarities and differences.

Intertextuality
Sometimes what I read about makes me think about another text - a book I’ve read or a movie I’ve seen. I can tell what other text this story reminds me of and why it makes me think of it.

Favorite/Least Favorite Part or Character
During a book, I usually have a favorite part or favorite character, and I usually have a least favorite part or character. I can write about any of these, making sure I tell why I like or dislike them.

Picture
Every time I read, I get a picture in my head about the story. I can draw the picture in my log and write several sentences under my picture telling what it is and why I drew it.

Character Map
I can draw a map of a character in the story. I can include personality traits, descriptions, actions, and anything else I think is interesting about that character.

Summary/Retelling
Sometimes it might be important to me to retell or summarize all or part of the story. I can write a summary and then tell why I decided to summarize this particular part.

Special Story Part
When I find a part in the book that I really like, I can write the page number in my log so I can remember where to find it. I can include an excerpt from the story and few sentences about why I think it is so special.

Questions for my Group
Sometimes there are things in the story that I wonder about. I can write questions to ask my group so they can help me understand the story better. Sometimes I might write questions to ask my group members how they feel about the story, or a certain part in the story.

Sequence
Sometimes events in the book might be important to remember in the order they happened. I can make a sequence chart, map, or list of these events, and tell why I think they are important.

Prediction
I can think about the story so far and predict what I think will happen next. I can predict a whole book, the next chapter, or how the story might end.

Feelings
Sometimes a book makes me feel a certain way. I can write about that feeling, and why the book makes me feel that way. I can also talk about what the character(s) in the book might be feeling.

[AW2245]

Thank you!!!

[overwhelmed1styear]

dsmms-- hi those are great response ideas!! How did you grade their respnoses, did they have to do one of each 12 or how did that work?

[dsmms]

I have just begun the Reading Response Journals for my sixth graders. I introduced the first six types of responses and they have had a week and a half to write one of each type of response. In the beginning, I am primarily giving them credit for getting their thoughts on paper. Any points I take off is for not having the title, the author, the type of response, etc. I spend a great deal of time reading the journals and writing notes on what they are doing well and giving recommendations on how they can make their responses better. I tell them that they are interacting with the text and I am interacting as well. The idea is that the they will show growth in their responses as we progress through the year. Later on, I look at the response and see how they supported their thoughts, feeling, predictions, visualizations, etc. using examples and descriptions from their reading. I created a rubric last year, but I need to work on it a bit more. I was not completely satisfied with it.

The next time they respond, I'll have them do the next six types of responses. Eventually, they will write responses for each category in a given time period. I generally take the journals up once or twice in a grading period. This accounts for 30 percent of their grade.

To compliment the responses, I have them find their own vocabulary words in their reading. They identify unknown, unique, or interesting words, and, based on what the benchmark objectives are for the grading period, they have various things they must do to learn the word. Right now we are working on words in context, so the students have to write the word and the sentence that contains the word, they predict what it means, and then they look the word up in the dictionary. They put this in the back of their folder like their own glossary.

The glory of the this journal is it covers many of the 6th grade curriculum objectives for reading! I think it encourages higher level thinking as well.

I hope this helps!

dsmms

[DarrenB]

Great advice everyone.

I take my Silent Reading time to conference with individual students. The questions I ask require them to have really read the story- questions like "What one word would you use to describe the main character?" When they answer, I say, read me a part of the story that shows that main character being _______. This way I get to hear them read and check their decoding skills while also reinforcing the skill of referring to the text to answer questions.

Darren B.

[dsmms]

Great advice everyone.

I take my Silent Reading time to conference with individual students. The questions I ask require them to have really read the story- questions like "What one word would you use to describe the main character?" When they answer, I say, read me a part of the story that shows that main character being _______. This way I get to hear them read and check their decoding skills while also reinforcing the skill of referring to the text to answer questions.

Darren B.

I did this some last year and had intended on doing every Friday during silent reading time. Here I am five weeks into the school year and haven't done it once. I also thought it would be a good time to bring up their grade on the computer so they can see how they are doing, and if they need to work on something or if they need reteaching on a certain skill.

I am hoping I can get it started soon!

dsmms

[BuBerry3]

Those are some wonderful ideas---although I am nine weeks into school and haven't incorporated them! So far I have had my students read 30 minutes a night, they have to identify an unknown word with a definition, and write three complete sentences about what they read. We are on our fall break right now but I think when we go back I may take some of those awesome ideas. I love this site!

[dsmms]

Last year I required 100 minutes of reading per week. I had them fill out reading logs to document the book, author, pages read each session and minutes read. I found repeatedly that they fabricated what they read all the time and the parents signed off on it! I was so frustrated with it that I gave up on it this year! I don't want them to feel like they have to lie their way through my class. I am frustrated this year because they are not reading as they should.

[silvana]

I started a reading club which got a lot of the kids so interested that they actually borrow the books.We have competions .....this week it is read the back of a cereal box and write about it on a postcard and then give the postcard to someone else to read.....
I find the more chilled the atmosphere the more my anti readers read its is awesome ...take a look we are here...
http://mrscunningham.edublogs.org/