Why Use A Reading Log Handout?

[in Classroom Notes Plus. January 2000. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 4-5.]

I use a Reading Log Handout to enhance the ways that my eighth-grade students respond to literature.

At the beginning of the year, I distribute a handout sheet containing a numbered list of ideas for reading logs. I tell the students that they need to choose a book that they want to read from the classroom library, the school library, or any other source.

Students are responsible for writing a two-page reading log to be handed in every week. Depending upon the reading level of the student, I may or may not make a firm deadline for each book, e.g., four logs (one month) per b4teens_book. Obviously, these logs are suited to fiction, but they can also be applied to biography, poetry, and some non-fiction.

The students can choose freely which type of logs they will write, with one rule: they are only allowed to choose option #7 (drawing a picture) once per b4teens_book. I've received many interesting and creative reading logs that were inspired by option #12 (use your imagination to invent your own type of log).

For example, one of my current students is a violinist who is reading biographies of famous composers. He wrote one short solo violin piece for each of the books he read. He played the piece for me and then handed in a paragraph about how the piece related to the composer's music or life. He enjoyed the reading, he made meaningful connections between reading and a personal pursuit, and both of us enjoyed his playing.

The idea is not only to get students hooked on reading, but to get them hooked on being thoughtful about what they read.

Richard Roundy
West Side Collaborative Middle School
New York, New York

Sample Reading Log Handout

Reading logs are a way to demonstrate that you are being thoughtful about what you are reading. There are few simple rules:

1. Choose a book on your level—one that is not too hard or too easy.
2. Choose a book that interests you.
3. You are responsible for finding your own books. You may use the class library, the school library, the public library, the bookstore, books that you have at home, etc.
4. Reading logs are due every Monday.

At the top of your page, please put:

• Your name
• The title of the book
• The author's name
• The page you are on
• The log number for this particular b4teens_book. For example, if this is the third log you have written for a book, write log #3.

Here's a list of ideas to choose from:

1. Imagine you are a character in the book and write a diary entry about your experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
2. Imagine that you are a character in the book and write a letter to another character about your experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
3. Write a letter to a character in the book giving him or her advice.
4. Imagine you are the author of the book and describe what happened to one of the characters years before or years after the time of the b4teens_book.
5. Write a short composition on one of the themes of the b4teens_book. For example, if one of the themes is love, you might write a composition about love, using examples from the b4teens_book.
6. Write a poem, song, or story about the plot, character(s), theme, or another element of the b4teens_book.
7. Draw a picture or diagram based on one of the characters or scenes from the b4teens_book. (You can only do this one once per b4teens_book.)
8. Interview one of the characters about the story or about anything your imagination comes up with, asking questions and giving answers for him or her.
9. Review the b4teens_book. Give your opinions about it; cite examples and quotes from the book to support why you think it is an interesting book or not. Would you recommend it to a friend? Why or why not?
10. Write about the main problem or conflict in the b4teens_book. Who is involved and what is it about?
11. Finish the sentence "I love (hate) the way the author (or character)…"
12. Use your imagination and invent your own type of reading log. This could take many different forms, but it should somehow involve thinking about what you've read and reacting to it. After you've thought up an idea, please check with me before beginning.