Read-to-Self Accountability and Reader's Response Notebooks

Last year was my first year using Daily 5 and boy, did I learn a lot. I think that my biggest struggle was making sure that my kids were understanding what they were reading, and not just look at the word and pictures the whole time. Especially in third grade when comprehension is such a HUGE part. So, this year I was doing some research and looking for different ways to ensure my students are accountable for the reading during read-to-self. This is especially important because I am starting CAFE next year and while some students are doing Read-to-Self, I will be doing guided reading groups and doing assessments.

I have decided to give my students a Reader's Response Notebook to help them stay accountable during Read-to-Self. 2nd Grade Shenanigan did a post about reader response and think clouds. I really like what she did here because she had different prompts with comprehension questions that focus on different skills such as author's purpose, visualize, making a connection, and summarize. I also liked how she also included a rubric so the students know what they are expected to do! Also, Amanda Nickerson's Cultivating Strategic Readers has amazing questions that are called "Chat and Go" questions. I used them last year with my reading intervention students. This year, I'm going to have my students respond to them in their Reader's Response Notebooks.

Reader's Response Notebooks:

The rubric so students know their expectations of the Reader's Response Notebooks:

Here are the think clouds for readers response:

My goal is to give the students a comprehension question that is connected to the skill that they are learning that week. Another lesson that I learned from last year is that I did not have enough emphasis in reading comprehension. We practiced a lot in reading fluency. But, not enough of reading comprehension and strategic thinking.

I'm hoping that by using a Reader's Response Notebook, think clouds, and chat and go questions; my students will benefit in understanding what they are reading more. It also keeps them more accountable for what they are reading during Read-to-Self while I am meeting with other students for conferences.