Tuesday, June 25, 2013

100 Club AND Nighty Reading... {How They Work Together in My Room}

Gooooooood morning and happy Tuesday!

First up today- I am helping out the talented Ashley Hughes {aka- The School Supply Addict} with her 4,000 follower giveaway and today my prize is up for grabs!  You can win my "Special People Flippy Book" set with flippy books for Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Grandparent's Day!

Click the pic to head to her blog to enter!

And... the meat of the post today...

How my 100 Club and nightly reading work together in my classroom...

Thank you all so so much for your interest in the 100 Club!  If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, this is an optional "club" my students can join by reading books.  They can join the club at 50 books and then get recognized again at 75 books and then 100!


I've gotten quite a few questions about how this works with nightly reading and so that's what I'm going to fill you in on today.

First of all, we don't do reading logs.  What?!  No reading logs?  How do we know our kids are doing their required nightly reading?! 

I should say we don't *JUST* do reading logs.

Students do fill out a log of their reading... it looks like this:




Students fill in the date, book title, genre, strategy (I'll get to that in a second), number of pages read, and the AR reading level (or color) of they book they've read.

Then they write about their reading- telling how they used the strategy they selected.

So, they might summarize their reading, tell a prediction they made, make a connection, or tell how the author helped them visualize.

This is our RRJ (Reading Response Journal).  I LOVE THIS.  It's more than just a reading log because I can see my students' understanding and metacognition.  I can see who is really reading.  I can monitor their thought process as they write about the same book over several nights.  Not only that, but they are writing every single night which is huge!

I read these each morning (Tuesday-Friday) and write a brief comment back to students.  They always race in from their special to find their RRJ at their seat and immediately flip to see what I've written.  Sometimes it's just a smiley face, but they love to see it in there!

So, how do these two things work together...

In my room, the 100 Club is optional.  If a student wants to be in it, they just fill out both forms- their RRJ reading log AND their 100 Club recording sheet.  If they don't want to participate (which most DO!), they just don't fill out the 100 Club sheet.  It's that simple.

Here's a pic of the 1st sheet of one of the 100 Club recording sheets...

I would not use the 100 Club as a replacement for a reading log system; I would (and do) use it in addition to.  When I taught 1st and 2nd graders, they had to write their book title down on their homework sheet every night and they had to do the same thing as my 3rd graders: write it again on the 100 Club sheet to count it for that.

It's not hard.  It won't hurt them.  And no one ever, truly, said anything negative about it.  The funny thing is that sometimes kids would read a book for their RRJ that they didn't love and they wouldn't want to count it for the 100 Club!  I loved seeing that kind of thinking about reading and the pride the students took in wanting to reach their goal in the club... that they wouldn't want to get there reading books they didn't love!

I hope that helps answer some questions.  If you have others, please ask as I'm happy to share!

If you're interested in either item- the RRJs or the 100 Club, they are both available in my TpT store...  Just click the pics to check them out!  Both files include an editable element so that, using PowerPoint, you can customize some things to fit your classroom needs.




11 comments:

  1. Great post! We do the 25 book club (students can repeat for 50, 75, etc.) and we're trying to align our reading responses as well. I used to have students practice a strategy in their reading response log, too. I think it's completely reasonable because it's a strategy you practice frequently in class!

    Thanks for sharing this! Helps me to think about what we're doing!

    Buzzing with Ms. B

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  2. Love this! I've been searching for something meaningful to give my 4th graders for homework using our Scholastic magazines that we should get in August. This log should work well with it! I just added it to my Wishlist of things to purchase and download before school begins.

    Erica
    Shepherd's Shining Stars

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  3. you amaze me! I admire how much you get done for your kids and how talented you are. I will just continue to stalk you ;) and try to win some of your stuff

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  4. What a great idea!! I'm going into my second year teaching second grade and was looking for a fun way to incentivize reading as well as get the kids thinking about their reading at home. :)

    -Kelly
    slidinginto2ndgrade.blogspot.com

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  6. I found reading logs were like pulling teeth with my second graders (and their parents...) How do you monitor if they are completed? Are there consequences/rewards for having it filled in every night? I used to have parents complain that they hated seeing them come home as "extra work". Any great response to that?

    Thanks
    Jenn

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    Replies
    1. Jenn- No parent said anything all year about it. Not one. And I taught 1st/2nd for 6 years and never had anyone complain either. It's just an expectation that is set out from day one. My area is very high poverty with sometimes limited parental involvement. But in my 8 years of teaching, I've come across very few parents who don't support their children at home. Maybe I've just been lucky! This is just how we do things in my classroom and everyone's always been supportive!

      I also do a monthly "homework club" which is a HUGE incentive for my students.

      Have you ever seen the "Why should my child read 20 minutes a night?" thing? You should Google that and send a copy home with your students at the beginning of the year, and then maybe at the start of each marking period as a reminder to parents.

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    2. Also- RRJs are more than just a reading log, so I think parents see the merit in that!

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  7. Is there an incentive with the 100 club? How do you keep the students excited about reaching the 25, 50, 100 mark???

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    Replies
    1. Yes- if you check out the other blog post about it, it shows the things my kiddos receive. The pack on TpT has printable awards for the 50, 75, and 100 mark. They love it! :)

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    2. Thank you!! I didn't notice another post -- look forward to checking it out.

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