Description: Learning Logs push journaling to a new level. The strategy is simple to implement but must be used on a regular basis to be effective. As with response journals and double-entry journals, students can keep an ongoing record of learning as it happens in a notebook or loose-leaf binder. They write in their own language, not necessarily for others to read but for themselves. This feature makes learning logs more personal than the other journal types. Entries in learning logs influence learning by revealing problems and concerns.
Many teachers use learning logs as a component of the portfolio. Given that reading is a skill we expect to improve with practice, learning logs assist in documenting that growth. While there are various formal and informal methods for assessing reading performance, the portfolio provides both student and teacher with a tangible record of what the student has read over the course of the year. It also allows readers to revisit their goals and, by adding new evidence of their progress, monitoring their progress toward those goals. Finally, portfolios always provide the teacher with a powerful means of evaluating student work since the portfolio invites both student and teacher reflection on what has been read, how it was read, and how attitude and ability as readers have changed during their instruction time.
Step-by-Step
- Journaling, no matter the form or length used, should be done DAILY.
- Teachers should model journaling.
- Have students reflect on their reading using prompts similar to the following
- I wonder….
- I began thinking of….
- I suppose….
- I don’t see….
- I like the idea of….
- I know the feeling of….
- I noticed….
- I was surprised….
- I thought….
- If I had been….
- Why did….
- Maybe….
- What if….?
- This book was…. (explain using examples from the text)
- Have students reflect on their learning using prompts similar to the following:
- I found _______________ difficult to overcome while reading this.
- I used the following strategies throughout the reading for the following reasons and in the following ways…
- __________________ was confusing so I…
- I didn’t read the whole text because…
- The _________________ did not turn out the way I expected because. . .
- A strategy I used today was ________________.
- It did/did not help because. . . .
- I picked this book because…
- A good word to describe this book or my experience reading it would be…
- Share examples or exemplars of effective log entries.
- Have students use learning logs at different times for different purposes. Use them
- before reading to activate prior knowledge and interest, to develop necessary questions and establish purpose for reading, or to paraphrase previous readings connected to new assignments.
- during reading and discussing to allow students to interact with the text. This interaction allows for clarification of thoughts as students are reading or discussing.
- after a discussion to promote the understanding of new ideas and to process information to higher levels of thinking by reflecting upon, responding to, or rephrasing the discussion into their own words.
- after reading to identify and analyze strategies used to make meaning of the text, to make connections between the text and other sources, and to paraphrase ideas and understandings.