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I'm new to teaching middle school and my admin insists that I have the kids fill out a "reading log" entry each day to show that they are reading at least 20 minutes a night. I've been using the forms that the previous couple of teachers in my position used, but they feel really stale. On one side of the sheet they note the title of the book, pages read, and a short summary; on the other side they do something else each night like note a word they are unfamiliar with, how it was used in the text, and what it means, or fill out a character trait chart.

For most of them it's obviously a rote worksheet they do because they have to, but they aren't putting any real effort into it, and it's certainly not inspiring anyone to read more. If anything they read less - just enough to fill out the log sheet.

What else can I do that would satisfy my admin's need to have their reading documented? I'm told parents feel that their kids won't read at all if they don't have to do the...See More
Mae in Texas Read "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller. This book will change everything for you if you embrace the idea. Mae
Oct 6, 2010
EK Thanks for the suggestion, my local library has a copy and I put in a request for it. I'm so overwhelmed by these classes - they seriously lack "executive functions" and I'm spending way too much energy managing the class (or herding cats, more like). I really want to get them doing real reading - not faking it just to fill out a stupid worksheet. ...See More
Oct 6, 2010
Mae in Texas Lit Circles / Book Clubs is definitely something you should do. Try to give them choices. I've worked hard to collect sets of books on various reading levels to give groups lots of choices. I have all of my kids in some sort of book club already. One thing I'm doing this year is having them read the whole book before they meet to discuss it. They g...See More
Oct 8, 2010
question for Mae Do your students do any sort of response journal or reading log as they are reading their book club books? I ran into a problem with my admin that they insist the students do something to document that they are reading each night. I'm trying to find a way to keep my admin happy that will also be an authentic experience for the kids.

Thank...See More
Oct 9, 2010


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