Reading Logs: What Doesn’t Work and Five Alternatives That Do
What are reading logs?
Traditionally, reading logs consist of a table or chart on which dates, titles, pages, and minutes spent reading are recorded. Parents are often required to sign or initial these charts as further proof that a student has read a book. Kids are smart; they know you will sign just about anything at 7 A.M. when everyone is rushing to get out the door on time.
“Wait, mom! I need you to sign this!”
From an actual conversation that I had with my child. Yes, EVEN teachers lie on their kid’s reading log.
“What is it?”
“My reading log.”
Mom quickly looks the reading log over while simultaneously checking the time, “Did you read this?”
“Yes.”
Mom is pretty sure that statement is a work of fiction but signs anyway because it’s now 7:05.
What is the Purpose of a Reading Log?
In my experience, the sole purpose of a reading log is to hold students accountable for their reading. I know that reading logs do not accomplish this goal. I have been that mom signing the falsified records at 7:05 on a Friday morning. I’ve also been that mom trying to help someone remodel a cereal box for a book report the night before a book report is due. We spent more time on that project than my daughter spent “reading” the book.
Assigning reading logs to ensure students aren’t waiting until the last minute to start their books doesn’t help. Tacking on a book report or project to that farce only makes things worse.
The conclusions that I have drawn about methods of reading accountability are this:
- Reading logs can put students and parents in situations where they must lie.
- Online quizzes can cause struggling readers to feel like failures.
- Lying and failing are negative feelings that are then associated with reading.
- Creating something that is liked, shared, and discussed feels pretty good.
- It feels good when someone wants to read a book you liked because you shared something that interested them.
- Students will spend more time reading when they feel good about reading.
- Students who spend more time reading become better readers.
Why do I even need a method of accountability like reading logs?
This year, I felt overwhelmed when I completed a class profile and learned that about 60-70% of my class was reading at a 3rd-grade level or below.
I communicated with my students and their parents that they wouldn’t get homework packets in my class. I expected that they would read books (of their choosing) outside of class for homework. They heard, “You don’t have to do homework in this class.”
They didn’t read.
Quizzes Are Even Worse than Reading Logs
I thought the invention of online book quizzes would finally solve the “How do you know that they are reading?” problem. I noticed the same issues with this method: procrastination and a lack of motivation. If you only hold students accountable for reading at the end of their book, they may just read the night before their assignment is due. Nothing inspires a reluctant reader to love books like trying to power through a text at the last minute under the looming threat of failing a quiz.
What’s worse is now that they have waited until the last minute and are attempting to pass a quiz on a book they only partially read, they will most likely fail. Failing makes kids feel bad about themselves as readers. I know this for a fact and have experienced it with students who do actually read their books, and it is heartbreaking. After receiving a message from a student who said she could not meet her reading goal because she was stupid, I decided I needed to find another way.
A “Reading Log” That Works
When thinking about what kind of weekly tasks to assign, my primary goal was to develop an assignment that could be completed quickly. I didn’t want my students to spend more time completing an assignment than they were reading their books. I also want students to complete an assignment they share with the class. Sharing leads to conversations and generates interest in the books students read.
Student Choice
I like students to have a choice in how they respond to text, so I put together some different options: the Six Word Memoir (focus on character/conflict), Sketch Quotes (focus on determining importance), Headlines (focus on plot summary), or Word Clouds (focus on character/mood). These creative alternatives to the traditional reading log go beyond recording titles and parent signatures to inspire other readers to add titles to their “I want to read that!” list.
- The Six-Word Memoir: Six-word memoirs are a great way to summarize a character’s journey through a story’s plot. They take up little space but can convey big ideas.
- Sketch Quotes: While copying text from a book may seem relatively basic, students’ reflections about that text will show evidence of thinking and learning.
- Headlines: A quality newspaper headline aims to make someone want to read more, so adding this to your reading log arsenal makes perfect sense. While writing headlines may seem simple because they are so short, they require a fair amount of thoughtfulness because of their limitations in length.
- Word Clouds: Word clouds are a great option when you want students to focus on characterization, vocabulary, or mood. Students generate word lists as they read or listen to a text. Then, create character clouds, mood clouds, or vocabulary clouds from the words they selected from the text.
- Text Sketch: The Text Sketch is an easy way to increase engagement with text during a read-aloud of class novels. A key point to emphasize with this active listening strategy is that text sketches are about ideas, not art. Some kids may balk at this choice, saying, “I can’t draw.” Some of the best text sketches I have seen from my students used simple stick figures. What made them great wasn’t the artwork but how the students captured the most important moments from the text.
It is impossible to wait until the last minute to complete a book report when students submit a compilation of their “reading logs.”
Classroom Examples of Products Created When I First Began Testing Out Alternatives Using Whole Class Novels:
Get my Reading Log Alternatives Lessons
Reading Response Choice Board
Make reading a public celebration, and vary how students think, talk about, share, and respond to texts with these engaging reading log alternatives. When the method you use to keep students accountable for their reading is fun and engaging, they are less likely to view reading as a chore and more likely to enjoy it.
I have created activities with detailed instructions, student worksheets, and reflection pages to use after students share their work. Independent reading activities include single-point rubrics for scoring. I have included reflection pages to use after students have shared their work. You can assess a student’s work and gain insight into how their thinking about the text may have changed after interacting with the work shared by other readers. Click on the images below to explore reading log alternatives:
Another benefit to replacing reading logs with these alternatives is that when put together as a collection, there is no need for a book report or project. Students are already doing this bit by bit throughout the book. When they finish a book, they can read a new book without stopping to decorate a shoebox or something.
More Resources to Explore:
Text Talks: This is my favorite reading response task from the choice board. I will write a post just about text talks. Until then, you can watch this video that I made about text talks for nonfiction on YouTube.
