Now that the back-to-school excitement (and in some cases, anxiety) is behind us, we are all hopefully settling into the various rhythms of the new school year. Things are starting to feel more predictable as what were initially novel expectations and schedules are now becoming familiar.
I taught and worked as a literacy specialist and coach for over twenty years. As a parent and a teacher, I always welcomed the transition to this part of the school year. It just felt good to have everyone on board the new-school-year train, at school and at home, and to start seeing the whole system pick up steam a little bit. Maybe you’re starting to notice school-based routines that your child’s teacher is introducing and asking students to take part in. Some of these might even involve the whole family! School-home partnerships are a high-leverage tool that many educators strive to maximize whenever possible. Let’s start out by taking a look at a common example you might be encountering this time of year, then talk about how you can set your child--and yourself!--up for success.
The Reading Log
It’s very common for teachers, especially in the early grades, to assign nightly reading homework. This might involve you reading aloud to your child, them reading independently, or some combination of the two. The task may range from 15 minutes or so for kindergarteners up to 20, or even 30 minutes in some cases, for second graders. The reading log, in all its variations, is often a component of that assignment.
Just like the name sounds this is a tool that some teachers ask students to use to log, or record, their reading behaviors outside of school. Typically the reading log is completed nightly and due at school weekly for the teacher to review. At any grade level, it’s highly possible the log may ask for an adult signature to verify that the family is monitoring and supporting at-home reading.
For kindergarten students, the reading log might be as simple as a coloring-style sheet sent home each week featuring fun seasonal items the student shades in for every book they read at home: apples for September, pumpkins for October--you get the idea!
In this case, the teacher is just looking to see how many books were read. A slightly more data-heavy kindergarten log might also ask for families to record book titles, so the teacher can see what kinds of books students are enjoying outside of school.
First grade reading logs are usually a bit more complex. They generally involve the student and family working together to record details like book titles and the number of minutes read. Teachers may also include some sort of rating system in these logs, like a series of faces with different expressions to circle or color in to show how a student felt about the book they read at home each night.
By second grade many students will be able to complete their nightly log without family assistance. Logs at this stage may include details like the date, the title and author, the number of pages read, and even something like a one-sentence retelling of the text.
Ello is a great addition to any child’s reading experience. It’s fun, motivating, low-pressure, and affordable.
It’s true that literacy instruction is a key component of every instructional day in grades K through second. And, according to a research review published in the periodical Reading Research Quarterly, findings indicate that greater reading volume leads to greater reading proficiency[1]. It turns out more reading does appear to be better! Research aside, this is probably something that many teachers and parents can vouch for having seen over the years. It just makes sense! The more you do pretty much anything, the better you get at it, and reading’s no different in that way.
In spite of this research, many young readers still aren’t huge fans of the reading log. Mixing up at-home reading with a tool like the Read With Ello app can help motivate your child to get in their reading minutes and avoid parent-child reading struggles.
Here at Ello, we love using reading logs as a way to help establish a good at-home reading routine.If your child’s teacher is one of the many who sends home a reading log, here are some tips for making this tool a successful part of your family’s reading routine.
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[1] Allington, Richard & McGill‐Franzen, Anne. (2021). Reading Volume and Reading Achievement: A Review of Recent Research. Reading Research Quarterly. 56. 10.1002/rrq.404.
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