The goal of thoughtful log entries is for students to share thoughtful responses as they reflect upon their reading by using comprehension strategies and text evidence to support their ideas and make their thinking visible. I adapted this idea from the work of Linda Dorn in Teaching for Deep Comprehension: A Reading Workshop Approach ©2005, and I have combined the idea to align with Common Core Standards (RL) Reading Literature and (RI) Reading Informational Text for grades 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Originally, these responses to make thinking visible were supposed to be recorded in composition notebooks. The questions were glued on a page and students would write their answers under it. While this is still an option, in 2017, we can also integrate technology to make it even more accessible for all students. Using tools like SeeSaw, Book Creator, Explain Everything, or ShadowPuppetEDU, students can record their thinking with their voice, pictures, and videos. When we give students the opportunity to explain their thinking orally, students who struggle with writing can still make their thinking visible to others in a way they couldn't otherwise. Making thoughtful log entries digital will allow you to assess your students' thinking by taking the writing out of the response.
I wrote a blog post called Close Reading: Character Traits & Text Evidence Brave Irene. It is a lesson designed around the first thoughtful log entry. It has an example of an answer that was done using Book Creator.
You can use it as a formative or interim assessment with this kid-friendly rubric.
You can find this rubric along with 30 CCSS aligned comprehension questions on Teacher Sherpa. Enjoy!
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