We’ve talked about how students can only become stronger readers by reading. And we’ve talked about how providing students with choice builds enthusiasm for reading as well as reading stamina. And of course, we’ve talked about how traditional reading logs do little to support goals for student reading. See previous blog posts here, here, and here.

If you’ve read the blog posts linked above, you know why I developed a new kind of reading log. And you know what a difference it made with my students. My year-long editable reading logs are available in my TPT store. I have them available for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.

I wanted to walk you through how to use these reading logs. Click below to watch the video. I’ll also take you through the steps below.

Current classroom practices are killing students’ love of reading.

Does that sound dramatic?

Probably. But that doesn’t make it any less true.

Look at how we’ve been approaching reading in our classrooms.

• Only allowing students to read books “at their level.”

• Requiring students to answer comprehension questions and complete worksheets after every book.

• Not providing sufficient time for students to read independently.

Have you ever told a student he couldn’t choose a particular book to read because it wasn’t the right level for him and seen the light go out of his eyes? I have.

Have you ever seen a student close a book in the middle of a sentence because the timer went off and she had no interest in reading past the required amount of time? I have.

Have you seen students fudge their reading homework because they weren’t interested in the book they were reading and, in their words, “Just didn’t like to read?” I have.

These are only some of the reasons I decided to take a long, hard look at how I was teaching reading and assigning reading homework in my classroom.

I knew I needed to make changes. My students’ abilities to become motivated, independent readers depended on it.

Students become stronger readers by reading. There are no shortcuts and no other paths to get there. Teachers need a way to hold students accountable for getting their reading practice in. The result? Reading logs.

Traditional reading logs have a bad reputation. Students don’t like them. Parents don’t like them. And teachers are often frustrated when logs are not filled out properly or at all. We can all agree that there needs to be a better way to encourage students to read and keep track of that reading. A way that doesn’t involve students sitting next to a timer, waiting for it to go off.

For reading logs to be successful in your classroom, you need your students to get on board.

Work together in the classroom, building reading stamina and trust before those reading logs ever go home.