Book Logs
When used thoughtfully, book logs can provide a window into the reading life of a kid. A book log can help make invisible qualities visible: a kids’ level of engagement, volume (amount) of reading, as well as the types of books the reader enjoys. Recording the time can reveal stamina (reading for extended periods of time), as well as home/school reading habits.
Book logs might only be used at pivotal points in the year, to get to know kids and help them build a reading life for themselves. Beyond that, book logs become a tool that some might find helpful, and others might not.
This book log provides space for young children to tally up the books they've read, giving them a sense of how much reading they've done. At the end of the week, kids are able to see a physical record of the work they've done, and can be proud of all they accomplished.
This book log includes space for kids to record the date, title, amount of time, number of pages and other information to help them keep track of their reading, and to set attainable goals for themselves. Seeing their reading work recorded on the page can be a helpful tool for building a strong reading life, where kids have a sense of what types of books they enjoy reading, as well as a clear sense of how long they can reasonably focus on reading in one stretch, and how many pages they can expect to read in a sitting.
Use this template for any kind of book list—Favorite Books, Book Recommendations, Mentor Texts for Writing, and Favorite Read-Alouds…
A visual display of books the reader plans to read. Readers can color in the spines as they finish each book, or keep a separate book log or finished books list.
Readers can see a tangible record of the books they’ve finished.
Reading great books often leads to great ideas for writing. Here’s a bookshelf to help readers envision the books they might write.
Totally Blank Shelf
This template is blank to allow you or students to draw your own book spines (helpful in case the books in the other templates are too small for your readers and writers to fit their titles).