Revisiting The Reading Zone

One of the books I revisit and skim again frequently is Nancie Atwell's The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers. I decided to do a few posts with my reflections on the book. One of the topics that I ponder every time I look at the book (as well as in between times) is whether or not to use a reading log. I love the lure of her thoughts on just checking the page where students are during independent reading time and then using whether or not they have been progressing as an indicator of if they are doing their homework reading or not. I have been so close to switching over, and thought it over again this summer.

I take the concept of making sure that the components of my literacy block reflect what real readers and writers do. I know keeping a reading log would drive me crazy. I enjoy blogging about books I read, but I would not like having to record the pages and time I read each time I do. I even ditched the record keeping that I started filling out with my girls for the library's summer reading program. I realized that I just wanted to sit with my girls and enjoy the experience of getting into the reading zone. They are filled with excitement each time we go to the library and pick out a stack of books that we read together and they look through on their own multiple times before switching for a new batch of books. Watching the clock was taking away from the experience for me, and I also did not want to add in the extrinsic motivation with the rewards the library provided if my girls are already intrinsically motivated. By giving up the reading log for the reading program, I was not forfeiting anything important in the long-run for my girls and still focusing on an environment that will create life-long readers.

I am sure many of my ravenous readers feel the same way. One of my most voracious readers sometimes forgot to hand in her reading log, but there was no doubt in my mind that she had read well over the minimum requirement. For readers like her who are already well established, I would like to get rid of the log. Another student would usually read on the bus ride home but always forget to record what she read once she got home.Then I also think of students who are not yet avid readers and how the reading log is one more tool to keep track of their reading behaviors.

My biggest road block to giving up reading logs is that students do not necessarily always read the same book in school as they do outside of school. Just as I often read one book during independent reading time and other books at home, so do my students. In addition, our dual immersion setting means that sometimes students are reading a book from each language at a time. Other students read to where they need to be for their book club, when applicable, and then continue reading in their other self-selected book. My next thought was that again, students juggling multiple books may once again be avid readers who I would not need to worry about as much, but there are some students who are not necessarily established readers who read books with their families for their at home reading requirement and a different book while at school. Checking their progress with their in-class book may or may not reflect whether or not they did their home reading.

I would love to hear your thoughts on reading logs and whether or not you have found it realistic to skip the record keeping piece while still maintaining the follow-through on the students' side.