Create a Better Independent Reading Routine

When I began teaching reading workshop in my classroom, there was always one big question on my mind: How in the world can I hold students accountable for their reading without killing the joy of devouring a great novel?

I knew reading logs were not going to work. Neither were the weekly plot summaries or required annotation sticky notes. These systems may work well for some, but for me and my students, they were time consuming, difficult to grade, inefficient, and caused an audible and collective groan from my classes when I mentioned the weekly reading assignment. Ultimately, my greatest purpose in my classroom is to teach students how to love reading. I want to foster a culture and community of kids who cherish stories and get excited for their next read. There is the reality, though, that students need to be held accountable. And, if a lot of class time is going to be dedicated to independent reading, there is usually an expectation in schools that a grade will be given.  Say HELLO to page goals!

Page goals are the best, most efficient way that I use to help kids keep a healthy reading momentum. Page goals allow me to stay informed and involved in my students’ reading lives, and they help me give a quick grade on whether or not my students have read their assigned pages each week.  A page goal is simply a set number of pages (individually tailored to each student’s needs) that I assign to each student on Monday and check the following Monday. So, at the beginning of every week, I record student’s book title, current page number, and assign a goal for the next week. 

But I always get asked: Won’t students just lie to you?? If they want to, they sure could! Just like they could forge that reading log signature or make up that plot summary.  But here’s the thing, friends--page goals are one piece of the reading community I create in my classroom. My students (almost never) lie to me about their reading because there is a culture and community in my classroom that understands that not meeting a page goal is no big deal! Lying, however, is.  In my classroom, it’s not worth it to lie. If a student doesn’t make their goal one week, no biggie! They’ll make it the next. Reading is a lifelong practice, and some weeks go better than others.  Try page goals. Try fostering a community of readers through trust, book talks, and fun incentives. You will be blown away by the results.  Grab my page goal system and some FREE reading workshop goodies by clicking on the images below! 

♥ Kara & Riley

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