In a previous post about my top Outside Reading nudges, I said I was going to try and use a reading progress chart. I am beta testing it right now, and I am excited about the results that I am getting!
You see two things in the photo at the top of the post. One, the public sign up sheet where students declare a commitment to read a certain title for their outside reading assignment. Two, the Outside Reading Progress Chart — it’s the one that looks like the bar graph.
On day one of posting the progress chart, students were already saying the kinds of thing I was hoping to hear:
- “I’m only on page 25”
- “How many pages have you read?”
- “Whoa, some people have already read 200 pages!”
- “Our class is behind, we need to catch up.”
- “If they read that much, their book has to be good! Let’s see which one they picked.”
Just through making the chart, posting it prominently, and talking about it for 60 seconds in class, I grabbed the attention of my students. They were intrigued enough by the chart to talk to one another about their reading. This is exactly what I was hoping for!
Here’s what’s in the chart:
- Students’ numbers
- Students’ names
- 20 boxes
Each box represents 10 pages read. So I will monitor up to the first 200 pages they read, which is the minimum amount of pages required for the reading assignment. And if you’re wondering where I get the number 200, in my class we follow Kelly Gallagher’s guidelines for outside reading, which he outlines in his book Readicide.
Download the Outside Reading Progress Chart for your class ==> CLICK HERE!
At least three out of five days a week, I begin class with 10 minutes of silent reading. During one of those days, I walk the room and monitor each student’s page number and update the chart.
This may be my nudgiest nudge yet!
What are your thoughts? Would something like this get your students talking about what they are reading? Let us know in the comment section below.