Three Reading Engagement Tools for the Conferring Classroom
I can't wait to share my favorite reading engagement tools with you. There are so many parts to reading engagement in your conferring classroom. The three big goals to teaching reading engagement are: focus, stamina, and building a reading life.
Why are these goals important?
You could be the most passionate and enthusiastic teacher, super awesome at conferring with students. But if your students go back to independent reading time and they don't read, they won't make the progress you are hoping for.
So how do you know when your students' level of reading engagement is low? This is where the reading engagement tools can come in. It can help track the symptoms of the engagement problem. Maybe the lack of reading comprehension is the cause. Or, ask yourself when is the last time you had the class meet with their partner or club mates? When your students are socially collaborative while reading; that can really help to build reading engagement. Sometimes, you can rule out comprehension as the root of the engagement issue and just focus on “engagement” itself.
But how do you know what to part of engagement you need to focus on?
Let's dive into the 3 reading engagement tools; so you can pinpoint exactly what strategies you need to teach your students.
The Reading Engagement Inventory
The Reading Engagement Inventory tool allows you to record reading behaviors to decide on goals related to engagement and disengagement for one entire reading period. You would use this tool instead of individual conferences or small groups that day.
On the Reading Engagement Inventory you can track the following:
- chatting
- if they are engaged
- smiling
- switched books
- looking at the teacher
- looking out the window
- zoning out
- and so much more
The Reading Log
Reading logs can be a helpful tool to get information about reading histories, reading rate, and more. But you'll need to encourage your students to honestly keep track of how long they are reading and how many books they do read. If not, information you want to collect about their reading engagement will be skewed.
Your students can record:
- start and end times
- start and end pages
- Date
- Title and Author's Last Name
- Level
- Start Pages
- End Page
- Start Time
- Minutes Read
- Home or School
- Adult Initials
Here are a few All-Star Tips for Reading Logs
Tip #1: Reading Logs are good for students at level K-Z+
Tip #2: Look for a reading rate about three-quarters of a page per minute. Anything less than that could mean the student is getting distracted.
Tip #3: The book titles over time also tell you which books your students like or dislike.
The Reading Interest Surveys
The Reading Interest Surveys are powerful ways to help teachers match kids to books when they are having a hard time doing so independently, especially when they ask about nonreading things such as:
- Hobbies
- Favorite movies
- TV shows etc.
“Which were the best books you've read this summer or so far this year; and what made them so good?”
“What have you learned as a reader that makes you so proud?”
Looking for more resources to help build reading engagement?
Then, grab my Reading Engagement Strategies for Focus and Stamina.
These Reading Engagement Strategies will help you build reading engagement, focus, and stamina during independent reading time. This is so important because if you send your students back to independent reading and they don't read; they won't make the progress you're hoping for.
Let's build that reading engagement together!
Come join me for my next Coaching Week and learn more about how you can build engaged and independent readers and writers. Also, I have a FREE download to help you get started with conferences and small group instruction. Here it is: Conferring with Readers and Writers Free Guide.