As I prepare to move to second grade, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want my reading block to look like. Our district is switching from the Daily 5 format to a workshop approach. I definitely see positive aspects to both approaches, but I am open-minded to making changes, especially since I am switching grade levels.
One aspect of the literacy block that will need to change is the way I track the reading students complete at school. I need something different than I used in fourth grade and different from the Daily 5 tracking sheets.
I do plan to continue tracking the reading stamina of my young readers. I definitely see the benefit of tracking the amount of time students can fully attend to their reading. It’s great to have a visual so students can see their growth. I like this cute form from Taming My Flock of Firsties. I plan on using it next year.
This week I spent a lot of time reading Lucy Calkin’s Guide to the Reading Workshop. As you can see from all of the Post-its, there were lots of great suggestions here.
One of the points she emphasized was for students to keep a record of what they read in class. I got to work on developing a form for my students to track their reading. One thing I definitely wanted to include was a goal section to help students set and maintain high expectations for themselves. Here is the form I came up with.
Then I thought about the students who were not quite ready to read chapter books. I know I will work together with the Intervention Specialist to help a few students who are below grade level. I wanted to make a form that would be appropriate for them to use as well. It is important to me to have the forms look similar forms so no one would feel different. My second form looks like this.
I am hoping these forms will help students set goals and stay on track during reading time. I will definitely monitor them closely and discuss reading through conferences and small group work as frequently as I can.
If you would like to download these forms, just click on the pink button below.
How do you track your students in-class reading? I’d love to hear your ideas.
I am looking forward to sharing more about what I learned from my reading. I have a lot to tackle, and I will share as much as I can.
Thank you!