The focus on the timer and the 20-minute requirement had students choosing to do the bare minimum. Timers and parent signatures killed my students’ love for reading and made them see reading as a chore. Traditional reading logs limit students’ reading It was simply something they “had” to do. Students did not see reading as “fun” or something they would do because they wanted to. Reading became a rigid and structured requirement rather than something they might choose to do for themselves.
My students didn't understand the importance of the assignment but instead viewed it as a chore. Starting a new book in order to fill the time and never picking it up again. Randomly reading from a book to meet their minutes.Ībandoning books the instant the timer went off. I talked to my students’ parents about what reading homework looked like at their houses. When my students were required to read for 20 minutes, their focus was on the timer, not the book. I removed reading timers and parent signatures from my weekly reading log and never looked back.ĥ crucial reasons to ditch traditional reading logs Timers kill students’ love of reading When I asked myself those same questions, the answer was loud and clear. Is that reading log helping you achieve your objectives - is it building reading stamina and independence? If you’re still using timers and parent signature lines, I encourage you to ask yourself why. It became painfully clear that my well-intended assignment wasn't delivering its intended results. Students weren't completing the assignment correctly, notes had to go home when logs were returned unsigned, students "fudged" their work over and over again, etc. This traditional reading log system had flaws. Like many teachers, my reading log required students to read "x" number of minutes each night and needed to be signed by an adult before being returned to me at the end of the week. Research has proven over and over that the more a child reads, the more successful they will be in school and in other areas of life. I knew getting my students to read more was crucial. And, if we’re honest with ourselves, teachers don’t like them either.įor years I assigned nightly reading as homework for my students. Students don’t like traditional reading logs. Student fills out reading log and gets parent signature. Student reads only until the timer goes off. For years, student reading homework has looked like this.
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