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Middle School Teachers Chatboard

How do you have students respond to reading on reading day?

by Sherry

Jul 2, 2012

I have taught for 7 years but this is the first time I'm teaching Language Arts (8th grade).

At our school, the Language Arts teachers are encouaraged to set one day aside as reading day. Since this activity takes 20 percent of my teaching time, I want a way to be able to assess how my students are growing as readers.

I am thinking of having them respond in a reader's journal, but I want them to do more than just summarizing what they have read. Does anyone have ideas that you have used (whether it's a journal or something else) that helps you assess their silent reading?

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Debbie On 7/03/12, Debbie wrote: > On 7/02/12, Deb ms/IA wrote: >> I found some cool stuff on TeachersPayTeachers and some of >> them are free. If you have a PayPal account you can > purchase >> things. I don't have access to the files I downloaded at the >> moment or I'd share the names of the ones I found to be >> hel...See MoreOn 7/03/12, Debbie wrote: > On 7/02/12, Deb ms/IA wrote: >> I found some cool stuff on TeachersPayTeachers and some of >> them are free. If you have a PayPal account you can > purchase >> things. I don't have access to the files I downloaded at the >> moment or I'd share the names of the ones I found to be >> helpful. >> >> Deb ms/IA >> >> >> >> >> On 7/02/12, Sherry wrote: >>> I have taught for 7 years but this is the first time I'm >>> teaching Language Arts (8th grade). >>> >>> At our school, the Language Arts teachers are encouaraged >>> to set one day aside as reading day. Since this activity >>> takes 20 percent of my teaching time, I want a way to be >>> able to assess how my students are growing as readers. >>> >>> I am thinking of having them respond in a reader's journal, >>> but I want them to do more than just summarizing what they >>> have read. Does anyone have ideas that you have used >>> (whether it's a journal or something else) that helps you >>> assess their silent reading? > I did this last year with my 6th grade reading class. We use A/R > so the first 15 minutes of every class was set aside for silent > reading and response. I used very open ended questions that I got > off of a website. Try googling "reading responses". Here are some > examples: > -How does the setting effect the mood/tone of your story? > -Would you have the main character as your friend? why or why not? > -What advice would you give to the main character to help solve > the problem in the story? > -What words does the author use to set the mood or tone of the > story? Give complete sentence and page #. > -Which character do you connect with the most? The least? why? > -what is the main character's problem in the story? How would you > solve or respond to that problem? > -What issue does your story make you think the most? > -What is the author's message or the theme of the story? Ex: > friendship, doing the right thing, loyality, etc. > These are questions that require the reader to do some deep > thinking. I usually put "why?" at the end of everyone.

check out this website: [link removed]!

Jul 3, 2012

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eileen3g Lots of good prompts from Debbie.

I just want to cast my vote for what I think is a critical logistical move. Reading 10-15 minutes every day is far superior to reading an hour one day a week. The latter method caters only to those who are already readers. Students who have not yet developed the habit of reading will not have the stamina ...See More

Jul 4, 2012

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Debbie On 7/04/12, eileen3g wrote: > Lots of good prompts from Debbie. > > I just want to cast my vote for what I think is a critical logistical > move. Reading 10-15 minutes every day is far superior to reading an > hour one day a week. The latter method caters only to those who are > already readers. Students who have not yet developed...See More

Jul 5, 2012

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MaryB The other day I found a really neat site I'll be using lessons from with my Level 5 middle school ESL students. I especially liked the questions to focus on critical literacy (higher level thinking page). If the link doesn't work, check out:

[link removed]

I'm so glad I found this site. I've got several dozen pages printed to help...See More

Jul 6, 2012

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Christina As an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher for twelve years, and the Director of Operations for a non-profit organization for nearly ten years prior, I have seen in both lives how important it is to be a good reader. The reality is that, given the option, most people choose any other activity to reading - adults included. Sure, there are avid re...See MoreAs an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher for twelve years, and the Director of Operations for a non-profit organization for nearly ten years prior, I have seen in both lives how important it is to be a good reader. The reality is that, given the option, most people choose any other activity to reading - adults included. Sure, there are avid readers. We know those kids now who love to read on their own will probably continue to do so well into their adult lives, and, yes, there are even kids who "hate" reading now that will become hooked once they find the right material. But this does not describe the majority. Since the goal of an English teacher, especially those of us in the higher grades, is to assist students in their ability to read so they can do it without assistance in the future, I don't think that requiring students to answer questions every time they read is always the best way to go about doing so.

We must have a way to assess their progress based upon reading related to curriculum (I'm not sure if your Reading Day is curriculum-based or independent reading selections), but I find that allowing students to generate questions themselves as they read is just as effective as handing out a series of questions. Perhaps during your reading day, you can combine a bit of both. You can provide a model of the types of questions you want your students to think about: themes, characterization, motivation, tone/mood, conflicts, etc., but then provide them with an opportunity to ask their own. I have an activity I do with my 8th graders in which I teach them the difference between recall questions and questions that require inferential thinking. Periodically, rather than give them guided reading questions that they can't stand (although necessary!), I require that they create their own recall question and at least two inferential questions to determine their progress. It takes time in the beginning to teach this, at least two full class periods to teach and model, but the more they do it, the better they become. Eventually, they know that I will be using both methods to assess their understanding, so they start automatically thinking of their own questions, even when I provide questions for them. I make sure to include on my guided reading questions a space at the end for any of their unanswered questions in the event they have some. I hope this is helpful and good luck in your endeavor!

On 7/03/12, Debbie wrote: > On 7/02/12, Deb ms/IA wrote: >> I found some cool stuff on TeachersPayTeachers and some of >> them are free. If you have a PayPal account you can > purchase >> things. I don't have access to the files I downloaded at the >> moment or I'd share the names of the ones I found to be >> helpful. >> >> Deb ms/IA >> >> >> >> >> On 7/02/12, Sherry wrote: >>> I have taught for 7 years but this is the first time I'm >>> teaching Language Arts (8th grade). >>> >>> At our school, the Language Arts teachers are encouaraged >>> to set one day aside as reading day. Since this activity >>> takes 20 percent of my teaching time, I want a way to be >>> able to assess how my students are growing as readers. >>> >>> I am thinking of having them respond in a reader's journal, >>> but I want them to do more than just summarizing what they >>> have read. Does anyone have ideas that you have used >>> (whether it's a journal or something else) that helps you >>> assess their silent reading? > I did this last year with my 6th grade reading class. We use A/R > so the first 15 minutes of every class was set aside for silent > reading and response. I used very open ended questions that I got > off of a website. Try googling "reading responses". Here are some > examples: > -How does the setting effect the mood/tone of your story? > -Would you have the main character as your friend? why or why not? > -What advice would you give to the main character to help solve > the problem in the story? > -What words does the author use to set the mood or tone of the > story? Give complete sentence and page #. > -Which character do you connect with the most? The least? why? > -what is the main character's problem in the story? How would you > solve or respond to that problem? > -What issue does your story make you think the most? > -What is the author's message or the theme of the story? Ex: > friendship, doing the right thing, loyality, etc. > These are questions that require the reader to do some deep > thinking. I usually put "why?" at the end of everyone.

Jul 13, 2012

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