Setting personal reading goals | Building Your Library | 3-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-12

Student Objective

Students will be able to:
1. set personal reading goals
2. reflect and share insights and interest in various texts
3. visually track progress toward a set goal

Instructions

This instructional idea can span various lengths of time. Students will be setting and tracking individual reading goals, so this can be set up as a year-long activity, or take place over a shorter amount of time in a reading “sprint”. Please adapt based on unique classroom needs!

Step 1: Setting a reading goal

Instruct students to individually set a goal of reading a certain number of texts (e.g., online articles, young adult literature, short stories, etc.) over a period of time (e.g., a month, semester, or school year). Inform students they will be tracking their progress and enjoyment of each text. Introduce students to the reading log EdTech the class will utlize to track their progress. We recommend either of the following options:

Biblionasium: Teachers can create a class for their students to join. Students can then use the website as a place to log the texts they read as well as make suggestions to their classmates.

Step 2: Tracking student progress

In the reading log, students write an entry for each text that includes a citation for the text and their review of it, which includes what they liked and did not like about the text. By reviewing the texts after they read them, students can look back and see which texts they enjoyed, which may increase their motivation to meet their reading goal!

Teachers can instruct students to use the following resources to find texts to read to meet their goals:

Step 3: Sharing and reflecting

Teachers can review the students’ reading logs and have mini-conferences with them about their reading progress and reviews. Teachers can also set aside class time for students to share their favorite texts with their classmates.