Are your students REALLY reading every day? What about reading books in a timely manner? Are your students reading a variety of genres? What about reading books at their “Just Right” level? Do you know how many books your students have read so far this year? Did we just stress you out a little right there? These are the questions every teacher asks themselves about Independent Reading. As teachers, it’s our biggest worry!
What if we told you that you don’t have to ask yourself these questions? We can confidently say that we KNOW our students are ACTUALLY reading! Status of the Class is the accountability piece that helps you answer all these questions!
Status of the Class helps you track the number of books your students are reading and it allows you to encourage your students to read more, to try a new genre and to grow as readers.
It is also a tool that allows you to spot those fake readers or those students who never read at home. Students can’t hide behind a book and passively turn the pages and pretend to read. They learn very quickly that they have to be an ACTIVE READER in your class!
Let’s take a closer look at Status of the Class.
What is Status of the Class?
Status of the Class is a simple tracking method of writing down the page number a student is on in the book they are reading.
Why Use Status of the Class?
Status of the Class is a quick and easy way to hold students accountable for their reading and to check whether they are on track to reach their goal (the number of books read each month) without making it a chore.
Want to provide a little extra motivation for students to reach their reading goal? We made a FREEBIE that is a perfect fit for Status of the Class! Students set a goal, such as 40 books, and reach milestone goals along the way until they read READING STATUS!
Where Does Status of the Class Happen?
In the classroom
How Do You Use Status of the Class?
Set reading goals (the number of books read each month) and track goals by taking Status on a piece of paper or if you want a simple and effective form, check out our Status of the Class Forms. These forms were created after trying multiple methods. They have by far been the easiest way to track all of our students’ reading progress.
When Do You Take the Status of the Class?
You can complete Status of the Class multiple ways: We have used all of the following ways depending on the group of students we’ve had over the years.
Independently-The students write down the book title and page they are on. We keep a Status of the Class clipboard in the back of the room and have one student responsible for passing the Status out to all students, 3 times a week. The students work together and hold each other accountable.
During Reading Conferences- If you do reading conferences, the easiest way to take Status is when you meet with the student. The teacher has a copy of the Status and records the book title and page number. This allows the teacher to talk to the student one-on-one about whether they are on track to meet their goal. You build a reading relationship with your students.
Whole Group- A great way to get your class talking and involved is by doing a whole group Status of the Class. The way you do this is by having the students gather as a group. Then you call on students and take their Status. They simply say the title of the book and the page number they are on. Not only do you take their Status, but you can also let them share something they want to about their book. This the best way to build a reading community. The students have a copy of the Status and so does the teacher.
Simple Steps to Implement Status of the Class TODAY:
Next time your students are reading, grab a piece of paper and pop around the room and ask students the title of the book they are reading and the page they are on.
***We would focus on students who you notice may not always use their reading time wisely when you first start taking Status. Eventually taking the Status of all students over time as you build this into your reading routine ***
Then a few days later, take the Status of these students again. Are they still reading the same book? If so, how many pages have they read in the last few days? Observe and chat with these students about their progress.
Want to learn more about Independent Reading? We have an Independent Reading blog post just for you!
2 Comments
I love using Status of the Class. It helps to hold the students accountable for really reading during their independent reading time. Students get to rotate it as one of their jobs each week and when they are in charge of the clipboard they take it so seriously. The kids are harder on each other than I am.
This resource seems great! It’s my first time reading about it and I’m thinking of ways to implement it with the students I teach. I have saved this page for future reference! Thanks for all the great information!