Good Readers...

Although I don't have a particular quote to discuss from Routman's Reading Essentials, I am quite intrigued by her thoughts regarding reading records. While many students are required to keep reading records, my guess is that this practice is not modeled for them by their teachers.

Routman, a strong believer in demonstration, keeps a personal reading record that she shares with the students that she is working with. First, I think it is powerful for children to see that adults keep reading records too. It's what readers do. Second, I too have come to believe in the power of demonstration and that if we preach to our students the importance of reading records, then we should practice what we preach.

One of the most interesting points that Routman shares is about when she first began keeping a reading record; she noted the book title, the number of pages read, and the number of minutes she read. She admitted to abandoning this format however, because it seemed too tedious and inauthentic. Routman thought about what she wanted to do as a reader and she began her current practice of writing down the title, the author, and the genre.

If we want to teach reading in an authentic way and if our goal is for our students to read for pleasure, then why are we telling them how to keep track? Shouldn't they too be allowed to decide what works best for them? Routman suggests instilling a sense of, "This record is primarily for you, not for me." If this is the case, then why are we dictating the format they use? Routman advises us to always ask ourselves: "What kinds of messages am I sending with the work I am structuring?"

In an effort to give value and meaning to reading records, I think teachers should use them personally and I think students should be allowed the freedom to decide the structure of their reading records. Having said that however, how do we as teachers ensure that our students are getting the reading practice that they need outside of school? Can fourth graders be trusted to use the honor system? If we no longer require our students to write down the number of minutes they are reading daily, can we then trust that they are reading for a sufficient amount of time at home?

On the other hand however, even if students do write down the number of minutes that they are reading at home, they can still lie about the number of minutes. So what's the point in asking? In the end, I believe our goal is to instill motivation in our students. My hope is that the falsification of reading records will not occur because my students have come to understand that good readers read daily for many purposes, including for enjoyment.