Description: This lesson will provide
students with a basic method for organizing a notebook to be used as a
Reader’s-Writer’s Log. This notebook will be used for student responses to
books read during and outside of class.
Objectives: This lesson is designed
for any middle grades language arts classroom. The learner will respond to
various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes (Competency
Goal 5) after organizing and maintaining a log.
Goals: The student will
understand the organization of the Reader’s-Writer’s Log and its purpose.
Materials needed: Blank notebook
(multi-sectioned 5-part spiral bound notebook, or loose-leaf 3-ring binder with
sections) for use as log; copy of Reader’s-Writer’s Log Instructions to be
mounted inside front cover of notebook; Reading List (Appendix M from Linda Rief’s Seeking Diversity) to be mounted inside back
cover of notebook, and transparencies of both; glue sticks or stapler.
Time needed: 15 minutes
Procedure:
Show the students a prepared
Reader’s-Writer’s Log and have them prepare theirs in the same way. Have
students mount log instructions inside front cover of notebook; mount Reading
List inside back cover of notebook. Have students designate sections of
notebook as follows: Response Journal; Vocabulary; Spelling List; Class Notes
and label each section accordingly.
Go over log instructions with
students and explain them, and ask if there are any questions. Tell students,
“These logs are for you. They’re a place to collect first-draft thoughts,
observations about what you’ve read, quotations, anything that’s meaningful to
you as you read. This is what will be in the first section of your notebook –
the Response Journal.
“In the vocabulary section, I’ll
want you to find at least three words per week, which are new or unknown, from
your reading, writing, listening, etc. You’ll need to write them here along
with the date found, context in which the word was found, and the dictionary
definition phrased in your own words.
“The Spelling List section will be a
list of words you have trouble with consistently. The last section, Class
Notes, will be for you to write any notes about lessons we have in class.”
Have students look again at the log
instructions inside the front of their notebooks. “Remember, I’ll expect you to
reflect on and respond to reading and writing with three to five pages of
writing per week, and you’ll get feedback from me and from others, too. This
notebook will help you determine who you are as a reader.”
Books: You choose your own books. You are to have a book in your possession at all times. If you don’t like the book, abandon it and choose another.
Log entries: I expect a minimum of five
entries per week. All entries should include the following information:
Date:
Title
of Book
Time
read for
From
page ___ to page ___
Your
written response in the log does not have to be in response to the book you are
reading. What you write in this log should be what you want to preserve/remember
as a reader and writer. Written entries are your thoughts, reactions, interpretations, questions, to what you are reading, what
you are writing, and what you are observing in the world around you. Your
comments also may be in response to the author’s process as a writer, and your
process as a reader, writer and learner.
If you are stuck, think about the
following:
Quote or point out: Quote a part of the book,
your own writing, or something you heard or read, that you think is an example
of good writing. What did you like about the quotation? What makes you feel
this is good writing? Why do you want to save it?
Experiences or memories: How does this book make
you think or feel? Does the book remind you of anything? What comes to mind?
What kinds of ideas does this book give you for writing?
Reactions: Do you love/hate/can’t
stop reading this book? What makes you feel that way? What reactions do you
have to your own writing, the writing of your peers, the
world around you?
Questions: What confuses you? What
don’t you understand? Why did the author do something a particular way? What
would you have done if you were the writer? What questions do you have about
your own writing? About observations of the world around you?
Evaluation: How does this book compare
to others you have read? What makes it an effective or ineffective piece of
writing? How is your writing going?
You
will be sharing your logs with me, peers of your choice, and sometimes parents.
Copyright
1992 Linda Rief