Setting Goals and Keeping Track

I am committed to insuring that my third-graders will read A LOT of books this year.  We spent the first couple of weeks practicing the behaviors of reading workshop that would support productive reading time.  Daily, we talk about literacy habits that help us get "in the zone" (from Nancie Atwell's book In the Reading Zone).

I went around and around in my mind about how to keep track of what students read this year.  I wanted a way to document and celebrate our wide reading, without falling into some of the traps that I read about recently in an insightful post on Donalyn Miller's blog.  I eventually came up with the idea of using Google Forms to record the books that students read this year.

The day I launched the form, it was a discouraging mess!  Students were clamoring and arguing to get to the computer, asking questions like "Is Green Eggs and Ham fiction or nonfiction?" and standing in line to record their books instead of actually reading.  I almost gave it up as a crazy idea, but after giving myself a little pep talk about my vision, I decided to give it a chance.  With a little more guidance and practice, students are using the form independently in the way that I originally imagined.

A copy of the form is linked below with student names removed.  It is very simple... students select their names from a drop down menu, record their book, indicate whether it is fiction or nonfiction, and give it a rating.

From an academic standpoint, students practice using capital letters in names and book titles, and they have an authentic forum to explore the difference between fiction and nonfiction.  I can always modify the form for a more precise recording of genre later on.

From a motivation standpoint, students feel very accomplished and mature using technology to record their books.  The process allows them to mark their achievement without a cumbersome summary or other "product."  They are developing intrinsic motivation and agency by finishing books and taking a minute to pat themselves on the back.

Finally, the data gives me an important record documenting the reading lives of each student that will help me conference with students and parents.  (And I don't have to lift a finger to collect it... :)

Although I have not attached a number of books to this reading challenge, one student remarked that he thought we could read 1000 books this year (as if that were the highest number in all of math!).  Now we have a community reading goal that I am sure we can accomplish.  Using the form, I can easily update our running total of books daily.

Check out the form at the link below.  Happy reading!
I Finished a Book! Form