Assess reading outside of class by using
reading prompts aligned with the 5th Grade
Common Core State Standards for Literary
and Informational Texts to get students
thinking within, beyond, and about their text.
By: Kasey Kiehl
Table of Contents
Content
Rationales for Using Interactive Reading Logs and Directions for Using Interactive Reading
Logs
Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Logs
Non-Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Logs
Weekly Independent Reading Log Grading Rubric
Reading Record
Genre Codes
Easy, Just Right, or Challenging?
Books to Read
Status of the Class-Independent Reader Check-In
Monthly Independent Reading Self-Reflection
Rationales, Explanation, Template, and Self-Reflection for Reading Minilessons
Recommended Reading Minilessons to Support Interactive Reading Logs
Common Core State Standards Met Through Interactive Reading Logs
Works Cited
Page
Number
Page 3
Pages 4-11
Pages 12-19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Pages 27-32
Pages 33-35
Pages 36-39
Page 40
2 Rationales for Interactive Reading Logs:
• Asking students to read outside of class encourages them to develop a consistent reading habit.
• Students who read consistently at home are more likely to experiment with different genres, authors, and
series and learn what their reading preferences are.
• Interactive Reading Logs are a great communication tool between teachers, students, and parents because
they allow parents to have daily conversations with their child about what they are learning about
reading in school, as well as what they are reading on a daily basis.
• Asking students to do a brief response to independent reading on a daily basis keeps them actively
engaged in their reading and continuously monitoring their comprehension.
• Because all of the reading prompts are aligned to the CCSS, teachers have a written record of each
student’s ability to apply the CCSS to his or her independent reading over time.
Directions for Using Interactive Reading Logs:
• Distribute and collect Interactive Reading Logs on a weekly basis. It works nicely to distribute new
reading logs on Monday and collect completed reading logs on Monday.
• Use the “Weekly Independent Reading Log Grading Rubric” to assess the Interactive Reading Logs. Make
sure you show and explain the rubric to students before the first time you assess.
• Alternate between the 4 different weekly reading log prompts for fiction and non-fiction texts to have
students apply many different types of thinking to their independent reading.
• Use the “Reading Record” and “Books to Read” charts to help students track their reading progress for
the year and log ideas for which titles they’d like to read next.
• Allow students to select their own independent reading books but encourage them to choose “just right”
books for their reading level. Distribute the Fiction or Non-Fiction Interactive Reading Log to students
appropriately depending which genre their independent reading book is.
• Use the “Monthly Independent Reading Self-Reflection” to have students reflect on their reading record and
independent reading habits in order to set goals on how to improve their reading.
• Consider using the Reading Minilesson structure to teach students the “Recommended Minilessons” in order
to give them the reading skills necessary to apply the reading prompts to their independent reading.
• Have students complete a daily independent reading check-in as they walk into class. This will allow you
to monitor the “Status of the Class” against their reading log.
3 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (1)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________ _______________________________________________ 4 Day One: Explain a part of your reading today. Use a quote from the text to support what you are
explaining.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: Make an inference about a character as you read tonight using evidence from the story. (I can
infer that ___________ because the text says ______________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Day Three: Summarize your reading from tonight using only what happened in the text.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: Write down a line of dialogue from your reading tonight that you feel is important to the story.
What does that line of dialogue tell about the character who said it?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: Write down one word or phrase from your reading tonight that you are not sure about and/or
has figurative meaning (simile or metaphor). Write down what that word or phrase actually means.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (2)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________ _______________________________________________ 6 Day One: Contrast 2 characters from your book. How are they different? Think about their personalities,
relationships they have with others, their appearance, etc. Use details from the text to explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: Pick a place in your reading tonight where the author’s word choice added meaning to the book.
Write down that word or phrase and discuss the meaning of it to the story.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Three: How does the narrator or speaker’s point of view impact how the events in the book are
described to the reader?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: Make a prediction about what will happen next in your book based off of evidence from the text.
(I predict that ___________ will happen next because in my book __________________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: Critique a decision that the author made about the plot while writing this book. (I like/dislike
how the author______________ because _________________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (3)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________ _______________________________________________ 8 Day One: Compare 2 characters from your book. How are they alike? Think about their personalities,
relationships they have with others, their appearance, etc. Use details from the text to explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: How is this book similar or different to a book that you have read that was written in the
same genre?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Three: If the section of the text that you read tonight was made into a movie, what would the scene
of this movie look like? If you are reading a text that has been made into a movie, how is this section
of the text similar and/or different to the movie version?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: Synthesize information from your reading by explaining how you have changed and/or added to
your background knowledge on a specific topic based on information from this text. (At first I thought
_______. While I was reading I learned _______. My new understanding is _________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: Critique a decision that the author made about the characters while writing this section of the
book. (I like/dislike how the author______________ because _________________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (4)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________ _______________________________________________ 10 Day One: Make a text-to-self connection as you read tonight. Include evidence from the text to support
this connection.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: What is a theme from your book? What does the text say that makes you think this is a
theme?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Three: Explain how the conflict is developing in the part of the book that you are reading tonight. Use
evidence from the text to support your thinking.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: What is the setting of the book you are reading? How does the setting impact the plot?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: How do the visual components of the text (cover, illustrations, etc.) add to the meaning of the
book?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Non-Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (1)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________ _______________________________________________ 12 Day One: Explain a part of your reading today.
explaining.
Use a quote from the text to support what you are
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: Make an inference as you read tonight using evidence from the text. (I can infer that
___________ because the text says ______________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Day Three: Summarize your reading from tonight using only what happened in the text.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: What is a main idea of this text? Based on what you read tonight, how is this main idea
supported by key details?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: Write down one word from your reading tonight that you are not sure about and look up the
definition in the glossary or dictionary to find out what the word means.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Non-Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (2)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________
_______________________________________________ 14 Day One: Contrast your current independent reading book with another book you have read in the past.
How are the books different?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: Pick a place in your reading tonight where the author’s word choice impacted the meaning of
the book. Write down that word or phrase and talk about the meaning of it to the story.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Three: What evidence does the author use to support a major point in his or her writing? Use
evidence from the section of the text that you read for tonight.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: What is the author’s point of view or purpose for writing this book?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: Critique a decision that the author made about the organization of this text. (I like/dislike how
the author______________ because _________________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Non-Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (3)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________ _______________________________________________ 16 Day One: Compare your current independent reading book with another book you have read in the past.
How are the structures of the two books alike?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: What is something you learned while reading tonight? Use evidence from the text to explain
your learning.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Three: Assess the author’s qualifications to write this text. What information do you know about this
author that makes he/she a credible person to write about this topic?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: Synthesize information from your reading by revealing how you have changed and/or added to
what you already knew on a specific topic based on information from this text. (At first I thought ______.
During my reading, I learned ________. My new understanding is _________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: Critique a decision that the author made about the use of text features in this book. (I
like/dislike how the author______________ because _________________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Name: ________________________________________________
For the Week of ____________________ to ____________________ Non-Fiction Weekly Independent Reading Log (4)
M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S M-T-W-Th-F-Sat-S
Book Title
Book Genre
Page I
Started
Reading
Page I
Finished
Reading
Minutes
(20+ minutes/day)
Something to
Share that I
Learned
About as a
Reader Today
Adult
Signature
Total Minutes for the Week:
Student Signature:
_________________ _______________________________________________ 18 Day One: Make a text-to-world connection as you read tonight. Include evidence from the text to support
this connection.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Two: After reading tonight, what is a topic in your book that you would like to learn more about?
What is your plan to find out that information?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Three: Would you recommend this book to someone else? If so, what type of person would you
recommend the book to and why? If not, what are specific reasons you wouldn’t recommend it?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Four: What is something that you learned while reading tonight? Use specific evidence from the text
to explain your learning.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Day Five: Critique the text as an example of its genre. What do you like/dislike about the decisions this
author made as a representation of its genre? (The genre of this book is _______. (I like/dislike how the
author developed the genre of this book because ____________.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 Weekly Independent Reading Log Grading
Rubric
5
Reading
Habits
Reading
Responses
4
3
2
1
Reading Log
Reading Log
Reading Log
The reader has
The reader has
shows consistent,
shows,
shows a reader minimal reading
inconsistent
daily reading
consistent, daily who is beginning
habits, and
reading habits
habits. The
reading habits.
to form a
therefore, is not
that indicate
reader makes
However, the
reading habit,
making adequate student who is
adequate
reader does not
but he or she
progress through not committed to
progress through
always make
has not done
independent
growing as a
his or her
adequate
this on a
reading books.
reader.
independent
progress through consistent, daily
reading book on
his or her
basis.
a daily basis.
independent
reading book.
The reader
responds daily to
the reading
prompts in a
thoughtful way
that shows
strong
comprehension.
Responses are
supported with
strong evidence
from the text.
Final Score:
The reader
responds daily
to the reading
prompts in a
thoughtful way.
However, the
responses are
not always
supported with
strong evidence
from the text.
The reader
responds daily
to the reading
prompts.
Responses are
general and are
not supported
with evidence
from the text.
The reader
Responses are
responds to some
unfinished or
but not all of
partially
the reading
complete and do
prompts in a
not display any
minimal way.
comprehension of
The responses
what the student
are not
is reading
supported with
independently.
evidence from
the text.
_______ / 10
Comments:
20 Name: _______________________
Reading Record
Book Title
(Underlined)
Author
Dated
Genre
Completed Code
E, JR, C
Date
Started
21 Genre Codes
Non-Fiction:
Genre
Informational Text
Biography
Autobiography
Memoir
Code
I
B
A
M
Fiction:
Genre
Code
Fantasy
F
Science Fiction
SF
Traditional Literature (myths, legends) TL
Historical Fiction
HF
Hybrid (genre combination)
H
22 Easy, Just Right, or Challenging?
Characteristics of an “Easy” book:
• The reader knows all of the words.
• The plot is very understandable to the reader.
• The reader doesn’t have to ever reread to figure out the meaning of the text.
Characteristics of a “Just Right” book:
• The reader sometimes has to sound out a word, use context clues to solve a
word, or look up a word in a dictionary.
• The plot is engaging to the reader and keeps the reader’s mind actively
engaged.
• The reader may have to sometimes reread to find the meaning of the text, but
the text is understandable to the reader overall.
Characteristics of a “Challenging” book:
• There are many words that the reader is unsure of. The reader has to stop
often to try to find the meaning of the words in the text.
• The reader understands parts of the plot, but there are several parts of the
plot that are unclear to the reader, so it is hard to put the text together.
• The reader often has to reread to find meaning in the text, disrupting his or
her fluency.
23 Name: _______________________
Books to Read
Book Title
(Underlined)
Author
Reason to Read
Genre
24 Status of the Class-Independent Reader Check-In
Student
Name
Book Title
Page #
Monday
Page #
Tuesday
Page #
Page # Page #
Wednesday Thursday Friday
25 Name:
________________________ Monthly Independent Reading Self-Reflection
1.
Discuss what you notice about your reading habits based on your
Reading Record. How many books have you read this month? Did
you abandon any books? What types of genres have you read?
Have the books that you read been easy, just right, or challenging?
2.
Based on your noticings about your Reading Record, what type of
goal could you set for yourself, as a reader?
3.
What is a reading skill that you’d like to learn more about or get
better at as a reader? (Examples: Summarizing, Predicting,
Synthesizing, Making Connections, Inferring, Analyzing, Critiquing)
26 Rationales for Reading Minilessons:
• By limiting a daily minilesson to 10-­‐15 minutes during the Reading Workshop, as a teacher, you are allowing your students a significant amount of time to read their independent reading book. • Minilessons are one, focused concept that can be applied to reading. Keeping a lesson focused to one concept allows students to focus in and be successful at practicing a specific reading behavior each day. • Minilessons allow teachers the time during independent reading to have reading conferences with their students to determine their strengths and weaknesses as individual students and determine each student’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Once this is determined, teachers are able to have collaborative conferences with students to build on what they know and help students add to their knowledge about reading to ultimately make themselves better readers. • Minilessons allow teachers the time during independent reading to meet with guided reading groups. • Reading minilessons teach students how to think within, beyond, and about the text in which they are reading. • Reading minilessons can be applied to books of any genre and reading level. This allows the teacher to teach a whole group lesson that all students can apply while still having time for small group guided reading and individual reading conferences. • Minilessons are structured in a way that allows students to construct their own meaning from a reading concept each day and apply it to their independent reading. • During minilessons, teachers are modeling what readers do as they are reading in order to take on different types of thinking and skills surrounding reading. This modeling of thinking supports inquiry-­‐based learning. 27 Explanation of Minilesson Parts: Book Talk (1-2 minutes):
This is the time where teachers generate excitement, curiosity, and interest for students about high quality literature that is available to them in the classroom or school library to check out and read independently. During a book talk, a teacher may read the back of a book, read a favorite part, discuss their opinion of a book they have read, etc. Students can write down any titles that interest them on their “What to Read Next” list in their Reader’s Notebook. Book talks should include a variety of genres and reading levels to meet the interests of all the different students in the teacher’s classroom. Rationale/Activate Background Knowledge (2-3 minutes):
During this portion of a minilesson, teachers may ask students a question about what they know relating to today’s minilesson and have students either turn and talk with a partner, share in a small group, or share a few responses with the whole class. This is the time in a minilesson where teachers are also explaining to their students why they are learning what they are learning today in Reading Workshop. Minilesson Statement (1-2 minutes):
A minilesson statement is telling what the learning goal or target is for the day. One of the most important things to remember when constructing a minilesson statement is that it should be one concept pertaining to reading, not multiple concepts. Minilesson statements are always phrased in a way that will show students what they should be taking on as learners for today. For that reason, all minilessons are phrased like, “Readers (complete a certain reading behavior) so that (providing the rationale for why they are learning that skill). Students should always write the minilesson down in their Reader’s Notebook in order to have a record of all the skills that they’re taking on as readers. Modeling (3-5 minutes):
The modeling is the portion of the lesson where the teacher is modeling exactly what it is that he/she would like students to do as readers on that day. Modeling can at times be explicit teaching to explain what it is that students will be doing as readers for that day, but it also could be a fishbowl where students are watching a reading behavior that is being demonstrated to the class and noticing what it is that is going on and writing it down in their Reader’s Notebooks. Another effective way to model is for teachers to think aloud to the entire class about the thoughts that go 28 through their heads as readers and/or point out evidence in their independent reading books or books that have been shared as a class during Interactive Read Aloud to support that thinking. Have-a-go (2-3 minutes):
This is a time for students to give what the teacher is talking about during the modeling portion of the minilesson a try. A have-­‐a-­‐go is meant for students to get a little support and start finding ideas that will help them be successful in the application of the day’s minilesson. A have-­‐a-­‐go could be asking students to turn and talk with their neighbor about their ideas surrounding the day’s minilesson, making a chart or list as a class that will help them generate ideas about the days minilesson, etc. Application (15-30 minutes):
This is the time for students to try out the minilesson concept while reading their independent reading book. While students are reading, it’s a great idea to ask them to write ideas surrounding their thinking about the minilesson on a post-­‐it note, thinkmark, exit slip, or in the form of a response in their Reader’s Notebook. This is also the time for teachers to hold individual reading conferences with students. Share/Self-Evaluation (3-5 minutes):
During this time, students share with the whole class, small groups, or partners what it is that they learned as readers that day, why it was helpful/important to learn that, and/or how they will apply this reading concept in the future. This is a great place for teachers to be able to take notes to understand which students understood the concept and which students may need further work with the concept in a small group or individual conference. This is the part of the minilesson that makes learning generative and gives the teacher a quick, formative assessment based on student response. Extension:
An optional part of the minilesson would be to have students continue to work on this concept of reading during assigned reading time at night to further enhance their understanding of the reading minilesson. 29 Template for Planning a Minilesson:
Book Talk (Title of Book/Genre/What I will cover during the book talk): Rationale/Activate Background Knowledge (Question to activate background knowledge, key understanding that I will share with students): . Minilesson Statement (Readers ________________________ so that ____________________________.): Modeling
(How will I model this concept to students so that they are able to take on the reading behavior from today’s minilesson during the application?): 30 Have-a-go (How will I support students to get them thinking about this minilesson in relation to themselves as readers before asking them to apply the concept independently?): Application (What will I ask students to do as readers today to demonstrate that they understand the minilesson concept?): Share/Self-Evaluation (What question will I ask my students to share about their learning as readers today? How will they share?): Extension (Would I like them to continue this learning in their independent reading tonight? If so, how would I like them to do this?): 31 Self-Evaluation of the Reading Minilesson:
-­‐Did I include all of the essential elements of the minilesson, including a book talk, minilesson statement, model, have-­‐a-­‐go, application, share, and extension? -­‐How long was my minilesson? If my minilesson was too long, was it because of one of the common reasons for long minilessons below? • I gave too many examples during the modeling. • I talked for too long while I was explaining the minilesson, telling my students versus allowing them to construct their own knowledge. • I wasn’t prepared for the lesson and had to scramble to find materials. • My minilesson wasn’t based on a single concept, but instead, I expected my students to apply multiple concepts to their independent reading today. • I did unnecessary things like such as showing video clips instead of teaching my students. • I allowed for too many tangents, side-­‐talk, and/or stories instead of staying focused on the learning concept for the day. -­‐What did my students learn as readers today? How do I know they learned this? Does what they learned match up to what I wanted them to learn? -­‐Did I provide a supportive model to my students that allowed them to understand the thinking surrounding reading that I was asking them to do during the application of the minilesson? -­‐Which students will I have to confer with about this thinking? Should I pull a small group of students to reinforce this concept or visit it further in guided reading? -­‐What do my students need next as readers? 32 Recommended Reading Minilessons
• Readers notice how the author’s word choice impacts the meaning of the story so that
they better understand the text.
• Readers make inferences about characters so that they can infer the decisions and
actions made by characters in the text.
• Readers write summaries without personal opinions so that they can retell the most
important details of the reading.
• Readers notice how characters respond to change so that they can analyze the
authenticity of the character.
• Readers notice connotative words and phrases in a text so that they can better
understand the author’s meaning of the text.
• Readers notice figurative words and phrases in a text so that they can better understand
the author’s meaning of the text.
• Readers compare and contrast their text with previously read texts to make connections
across texts.
• Readers analyze the point of view the author chose to write the story in to critique the
way the story is portrayed to the reader.
• Readers predict what will happen next in the story so that they are constantly thinking
about their reading and staying engaged.
33 • Readers critique the author’s decisions made about the sequence of the plot to consider
the authenticity of the plot.
• Readers identify the point of view in a story so that they can infer the author’s purpose.
• Readers synthesize information from their reading by revealing how they have changed
and/or added to their background knowledge to consistently monitor how new knowledge
is added to old knowledge to create a new understanding.
• Readers critique decisions the author made about character development throughout a text
so that they consider the authenticity of the characters.
• Readers infer themes of a text so that they can infer the message the author tried to
portray through his or her writing.
• Readers identify internal and external conflicts and their development throughout a text
so that they understand the motivations of the characters and the complexity of the plot.
• Readers analyze the impact the setting had on the characters and plot of a story to
critique the effectiveness of the setting developed by the author.
• Readers critique the text as an example of its genre in order to assess whether or not
the text was an effective piece of work within that genre of text.
• Readers identify the central and supporting ideas of a non-fiction text so that they
understand the information that the author wanted to portray through his or her writing.
• Readers analyze the structure of a major section in a non-fiction text to better
understand the craft the writer used to develop the main idea of the text.
34 • Readers infer the author’s purpose in writing a non-fiction text so that they understand
any motivations that may lead to biased information.
• Readers critique the organization of a non-fiction text to assess its effectiveness to them,
as a reader.
• Readers critique if the arguments and evidence made in a non-fiction text are effective to
assess if the text is a valid source of information.
• Readers assess the author’s qualifications to write a non-fiction text in order to
determine if the text is a valid source of information.
• Readers critique the use of text features in a non-fiction text to assess its effectiveness
to them, as a reader.
• Readers make text to world connections in order to constantly connect their reading to
the world around them.
• Readers consider topics they would like to explore further from their reading so that they
can learn more about topics that interest them.
• Readers make book recommendations to others so that others are inspired to read a
variety of genres about a variety of topics.
• Readers reflect on what they have learned from a non-fiction text to monitor their
comprehension of the text.
35 Common Core State Standards Met Through
Interactive Reading Logs
CCSS for Literary Text:
Standard: 1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support
conclusions drawn from the text 5th How this standard builds by Quote accurately from a text when
explaining what the text says explicitly
grade level: and when drawing inferences from the
text. 6th 7th 8th Cite textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the
text. Cite several pieces of textual evidence
to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text. Cite the textual evidence that most
strongly supports an analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. Standard: 2 5th 6th 7th 8th Determine
a
theme
of
a
story,
drama,
or
Determine
a
theme
or
central
idea
of
a
Determine
a
theme
or
central
idea
of
a
Determine a theme or central idea of a
How this standard builds by poem from details in the text, including
text and how it is conveyed through
text and analyze its development over
text and analyze its development over
grade level: how characters in a story or drama
particular details; provide a summary of
the course of the text; provide an
the course of the text, including its
respond to challenges or how the
the text distinct from personal opinions
objective summary of the text. relationship to the characters, setting,
speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; or judgments. and plot; provide an objective summary
summarize the text. of the text. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Standard: 3 5th 6th 7th Compare
and
contrast
two
or
more
Describe
how
a
particular
storyʼs
or
Analyze how particular elements of a
How this standard builds by characters, settings, or events in a story
dramaʼs plot unfolds in a series of
story or drama interact (e.g., how
grade level: or drama, drawing on specific details in
episodes as well as how the characters
setting shapes the characters or plot). the text (e.g., how characters interact). respond or change as the plot moves
toward a resolution. Standard: 4 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue
or incidents in a story or drama propel
the action, reveal aspects of a
character, or provoke a decision. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word
choices shape meaning or tone. 5th How this standard builds by Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
grade level: including figurative language such as
metaphors and similes 8th 6th 7th 8th Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of a
specific word choice on meaning and
tone. Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of
rhymes and other repetitions of sounds
(e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or
stanza of a poem or section of a story
or drama. Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative and connotative
meanings; analyze the impact of
specific word choices on meaning and
tone, including analogies or allusions to
other texts. 36 Standard: 5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to
each other and the whole. 5th How this standard builds by Explain how a series of chapters,
scenes, or stanzas fits together to
grade level: provide the overall structure of a
particular story, drama, or poem. 6th 7th 8th Analyze how a particular sentence,
chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the
overall structure of a text and
contributes to the development of the
theme, setting, or plot. Analyze how a dramaʼs or poemʼs form
or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet)
contributes to its meaning. Compare and contrast the structure of
two or more texts and analyze how the
differing structure of each text
contributes to its meaning and style. 7th 8th Analyze how an author develops and
contrasts the points of view of different
characters or narrators in a text. Analyze how differences in the points of
view of the characters and the audience
or reader (e.g., created through the use
of dramatic irony) create such effects as
suspense or humor. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. Standard: 6 5th 6th Describe
how
a
narratorʼs
or
speakerʼs
Explain how an author develops the
How this standard builds by point of view influences how events are
point of view of the narrator or speaker
grade level: described. in a text. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. Standard: 7 5th 6th 7th 8th Analyze
how
visual
and
multimedia
Compare
and
contrast
the
experience
Compare
and
contrast
a
written
story,
Analyze the extent to which a filmed or
How this standard builds by elements contribute to the meaning,
of reading a story, drama, or poem to
drama, or poem to its audio, filmed,
live production of a story or drama stays
grade level: tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic
listening to or viewing an audio, video,
staged, or multimedia version,
faithful to or departs from the text or
novel, multimedia presentation of
fiction, folktale, myth, poem). or live version of the text, including
contrasting what they “see” and “hear”
when reading the text to what they
perceive when they listen or watch. analyzing the effects of techniques
unique to each medium (e.g., lighting,
sound, color, or camera focus and
angles in a film). script, evaluating the choices made by
the director or actors. 37 CCSS for Informational Text:
Standard: 1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support
conclusions drawn from the text 5th How this standard builds by Quote accurately from a text when
explaining what the text says explicitly
grade level: and when drawing inferences from the
text 6th 7th 8th Cite textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the
text. Cite several pieces of textual evidence
to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text. Cite the textual evidence that most
strongly supports an analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. Standard: 2 5th 6th 7th 8th Determine
two
or
more
main
ideas
of
a
Determine
a
central
idea
of
a
text
and
Determine
two
or
more
central
ideas
in
Determine a central idea of a text and
How this standard builds by text and explain how they are supported
how it is conveyed through particular
a text and analyze their development
analyze its development over the
grade level: by key details; summarize the text. details; provide a summary of the text
over the course of the text; provide an
course of the text, including its
distinct from personal opinions or
objective summary of the text. relationship to supporting ideas; provide
judgments. an objective summary of the text. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Standard: 3 5th 6th 7th Explain
the
relationships
or
interactions
Analyze
in
detail
how
a
key
individual,
Analyze the interactions between
How this standard builds by between two or more individuals,
event, or idea is introduced, illustrated,
individuals, events, and ideas in a text
grade level: events, ideas, or concepts in a
and elaborated in a text (e.g., through
(e.g., how ideas influence individuals or
historical, scientific, or technical text
examples or anecdotes). events, or how individuals influence
based on specific information in the
ideas or events). text. Standard: 4 6th 7th 8th Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and
technical meanings. Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and
technical meanings; analyze the impact
of a specific word choice on meaning
and tone. Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and
technical meanings; analyze the impact
of specific word choices on meaning
and tone, including analogies or
allusions to other texts. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to
each other and the whole. 5th How this standard builds by Compare and contrast the overall
structure (e.g., chronology, comparison,
grade level: cause/effect, problem/solution) of
Analyze how a text makes connections
among and distinctions between
individuals, ideas, or events (e.g.,
through comparisons, analogies, or
categories). Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word
choices shape meaning or tone. 5th How this standard builds by Determine the meaning of general
academic and domain-specific words
grade level: and phrases in a text relevant to a
grade 5 topic or subject area. Standard: 5 8th 6th 7th 8th Analyze how a particular sentence,
paragraph, chapter, or section fits into
the overall structure of a text and
Analyze the structure an author uses to
organize a text, including how the major
sections contribute to the whole and to
Analyze in detail the structure of a
specific paragraph in a text, including
the role of particular sentences in
38 events, ideas, concepts, or information
in two or more texts. contributes to the development of the
ideas. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. Standard: 6 5th 6th Analyze
multiple
accounts
of
the
same
Determine an authorʼs point of view or
How this standard builds by event or topic, noting important
purpose in a text and explain how it is
grade level: similarities and differences in the point
conveyed in the text. of view they represent. Standard: 8 developing and refining a key concept. 7th 8th Determine an authorʼs point of view or
purpose in a text and analyze how the
author distinguishes his or her position
from that of others. Determine an authorʼs point of view or
purpose in a text and analyze how the
author acknowledges and responds to
conflicting evidence or viewpoints. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the
evidence. 5th How this standard builds by Explain how an author uses reasons
and evidence to support particular
grade level: points in a text, identifying which
reasons and evidence support which
point(s). the development of the ideas. 6th 7th 8th Trace and evaluate the argument and
specific claims in a text, distinguishing
claims that are supported by reasons
and evidence from claims that are not. Trace and evaluate the argument and
specific claims in a text, assessing
whether the reasoning is sound and the
evidence is relevant and sufficient to
support the claims. Delineate and evaluate the argument
and specific claims in a text, assessing
whether the reasoning is sound and the
evidence is relevant and sufficient;
recognize when irrelevant evidence is
introduced. 39 Works Cited
Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2001). Guiding readers and writers: Teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2006). Teaching for comprehending and fluency: Thinking, talking and writing about reading, K-­‐8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Clip art from:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/kpmdoodles?ref=shop_sugg Copyright © 2012 Kasey Kiehl All rights
reserved by author. Permission to copy
for single classroom use only. Electronic
distribution limited to single classroom
use only. Not for public display. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sto
re/Kasey-­‐Kiehl 40 41