Slice of Life is a weekly event hosted by Two Writing Teachers.
A couple of weeks ago I posted about making reading visible.
Then I read a couple of blog posts about classroom libraries here (by Katie @ The Logonauts) and here (Michael @ The Thinker Builder).
This made me think about what we have in our classroom libraries. Are there book gaps? Are there books missing that we need? Will every reader find books to read in the classroom library all year long? How will we know?
This thinking made me think about reading surveys. The last time I used a reading survey was back in my masters program so probably 13-15 years ago! Through recent professional reading, I've found some more "updated" surveys. I've even heard that teachers are using technology, such as google surveys, to administer reading surveys.
But what I want to know, what are you asking on the surveys? What questions are most helpful to you? How do you find out about your reader's interests? What does a reading survey look like in 1st grade? In 4th grade?
If you have any answers to these questions, please leave a response in the comments section. Have an example and don't mind sharing? Leave a link or an email. Can't wait to share the learning!
I always ask for a bit of reading history, a list of books they have read and loved, and a list of books they would love to read. It's just a thumbnail sketch of each kid and how they view themselves as readers. It also allows me to gauge a bit of their writing.
ReplyDeleteI was just going to answer that Tara (above) did a workshop with Bonnie last year and they created their reading histories artistically. You may not want to do a big project like that, but it looked fabulous, & perhaps you can take parts of it. Discovering their history would be helpful.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite questions on my 4th grade survey was "What do you think or how do you feel when it is time for reading?" Most students are honest on this one. The surveys are so valuable I think for any grade. Good luck!
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