Reading and Listening Logs:
A Grading Nightmare Turned Around
Emily Wong, M.A.
International Programs
U.C. Irvine Extension
About me
• 5 years at UC Irvine Extension International
Programs
• I’ve taught a range of RV and SL levels
• I’ve never considered myself a skilled reader
but I’ve recently discovered the desire to think
more critically
• I spend hours on end grading because I want to
be “fair”…
Typical Reading Logs
Typical directions
• Go to (websites) and find an article that you’re
interested in that falls within a certain length
• Find 10 vocabulary words and write down the
definitions. Make sentences with those
vocabulary words.
• Summarize the article
• Reflect on the article
Typical Listening Logs
Typical directions
• Choose…for two hours a week
– News or radio program
– A TV program or a movie
• Find 10 vocabulary words and write down the
definitions. Make sentences with those
vocabulary words.
• Summarize the clip
• Reflect on the clip
Obvious issues for (some) students
• What should they choose? An easy one obviously!
• Level of their choice doesn’t match their own
language level
• Do the same one as their friends (easy to copy)
• The chosen vocabulary words are all at the
beginning of the article
Headache for teachers like me
• They chose something that was too easy or too
hard
• When I read the summary, I’m not even sure if
it’s accurate, so I have to read the article or listen
to the audio clip
• I have to check the vocabulary sentences (should
I correct them too???)
• The reflection isn’t that meaningful
• How do I give points?!
My solution: I CHOOSE!
• I know the level
• I know the content
• I know whether the vocab/definitions
appear on the article
• I use a rubric
MOST IMPORTANT: I make it a teaching
opportunity!
If you have time…
• Consider modeling how to do a log at the
beginning of the term, ESPECIALLY the
summary part
– Read an article together as a class
– Teach them about answering WH questions
– Show them what weaving all the answers to
the WH questions looks like
Reading Logs
New adjustments
• Recognize that you have a chance to
intentionally teach students about different
mediums: news, opinion, blogs, magazines,
informative, letters
• Choose a different medium for each log, so you
can teach how the language and purpose
differs
Reading Logs
New adjustments
• Answer a warm-up question before they read to
activate schema
• Don’t have students make sentences out of the
new vocabulary
• Write a summary
• Ask specific reflection questions instead of
“What do you think?”
Reading Logs
New adjustments
• Rubric
– Assign points to each aspect or section
Reading Logs
My Sample
(2nd page)
Listening Logs
New adjustments
• Recognize that you have a chance to
intentionally teach students about different
mediums: news, opinion, interviews, lectures
OR…
• Choose a different medium for each log, so you
can teach how the language and purpose
differs
Listening Logs
New adjustments
• Choose specific listening clips that are related
to the lessons in your textbook
• Take out the vocabulary section
– Be realistic
• How often will they actually catch the words…and know
the spelling…and be able to find it in the dictionary?
• How often do they memorize the words they wrote on
their log?
Listening Logs
New adjustments
• Depending on the difficulty of the listening clip,
help the student by putting time markers next
to specific questions.
• Add reflection questions for students to rate the
audio clip
Listening Logs
New adjustments
• Depending on the difficulty of the listening clip,
help the student by putting time markers next
to specific questions.
• Add reflection questions for students to rate the
audio clip
Listening Logs
New adjustments
• Rubric
Listening Logs
My Sample
(3rd page)
On due date
• Review summary of the article/clip
• Consider having students talk in small groups
about their answers to certain questions
• Big class discussion is possible since everyone
used the same article/clip
Reading Resources
Level
Int.
Adv.
Sites
Learningenglish.voanews.com
Voanews.com
Newsinlevels.com
Breakingnewsenglish.com
Nytimes.com
Cnn.com
Waitbutwhy.com*
Markmanson.net*
Listening Resources
Level
Int/Adv
Sites
Npr.com
Storycorps.org
Thisibelieve.org
TED.com
When your students are ready…
• When they find a little more joy in reading or
listening for the enjoyment of learning
• When they learn to take logs more seriously
• When they care more about thinking critically
Let them freely choose!
But until then…
Since you spent so much time
prepping the log, reuse it!
egwong@uci.edu
Teachwithemily.wordpress.com
Tatl.posthaven.com
Thank you for coming!