5 Must-Have Pages to Incorporate into an Interactive Reader’s Notebook

Why Interactive Reader’s Notebooks?

Allow me to explain why you should implement an interactive reader’s notebook in your elementary or homeschool classroom.

An ode:

Oh, interactive reader’s notebooks. How I adore thee. How I worship your authenticity. Your timeliness. Your affinity for organization. Your penchant for making my students feel quite mature and sophisticated with your lovely tabs and pockets. But most importantly, your unequivocal delight for all things reading, writing, and books recorded in slightly crooked nine-year-old handwriting.

I suppose that was a bit dramatic. But in all seriousness, interactive reader’s notebooks might be the most important tool in my ELA instruction because it provides my students a tangible location for adopting behaviors that real readers do. Authentic tasks such as keeping lists, setting goals, and jotting questions or thoughts about the things they read.

Interactive reader’s notebooks can take the shape of whatever fits your needs; be it a composition notebook, a 3-ring binder, or even a digital document. I tend to prefer a binder because three-hole punching allows me to work out my daily frustrations but you do what works best for your classroom.

One of my most powerful teaching strategies is having reading notebook conferences with my students. This involves me, the student, the binder, and a quiet location somewhere in the room. I prefer to plop down on the floor because it takes on a more casual, less stuffy I’m-assessing-what-you’ve-done kind of vibe. We take a look at the book lists, discuss any patterns we see in genres, difficulty level, etc., chat about the student’s progress toward his/her goals, and set some new ones. It’s a quick, personal, meaningful way to build our classroom reading culture and our relationship as real readers.

Check these babies out:

#1: Book List

Even though I ditched a traditional reading log, I still have my students keep an ongoing list of books they read. Is there anything more empowering as a reader than looking back at ALL of the books you’ve read over time?

Well, maybe there is something but this is pretty high up there too.

This is a practice I adopted as a teenager and continue to do, although my book list of today is mainly in the form of a Good Reads account and/or note on my phone.

It only takes a moment to jot down the title of the book, the genre code, the date completed (or an estimate), and a one-word comment (easy, hard, exciting, awesome, etc.) They can also jot down their own ideas for one-word book descriptions to refer back to later on.

#2: Books I Plan to Read (or TBR List)

Real readers make reading plans. And the easiest way to make a reading plan is to list all the books we can’t wait to read. My own personal TBR list is 10 miles long and students get a great big kick of out of seeing just how many books my grown-up self still hasn’t read.

This is a list to pull out before book shopping our classroom library, visiting the media center, or attending the book fair. It’s a great list to photocopy and send home before winter break (books make the best gifts after all!) and to put on our desks while our classmates are book talking new titles. Along with the title and author, students can jot down where they can find a copy of the book (i.e. media center, my friend’s house, public library) so it’s front of mind when they visit that place.

#3: Genre Graph

Tracking the genres we read makes looking for patterns super obvious. It also gives students a visual tool to see how widely they read. Sometimes during a reading conference I’ll provide a student with a gentle nudge to branch out and try a new genre. On the opposite hand, looking at the genre graph makes it easy to pair up readers with similar tastes so they can share and discuss books.

I usually have students complete two genre graphs; one for the first half of the year (August-December) and one for the latter half (January-June). It’s neat to compare both graphs at the end of the year to see if their reading tastes have changed or if they remained the same.

#4: Reading Goals and Ideas for Reading Goals

Setting reading goals not only allows students to take ownership of their learning growth and of their reading lives, but also gives them something to celebrate and show pride in once they’ve been achieved. We have numerous whole class, small group, and 1-1 discussions about not only achieving our learning goals, but also our hopes and dreams as readers and writers.

If goal setting is your jam, be sure to check out this post on setting reading goals at the beginning of a new school year OR the beginning of a new calendar year–it’s got some real good stuff that you may want to add to your interactive reader’s notebook!

Oh gah! I’d be remiss if I forgot this next one!

#5: The Reading Pledge

This little ditty holds a special spot in the very front of our interactive reader’s notebook behind a heavy-duty plastic sheet protector. It’s that important.

We read it, internalize it—some even memorize it—and then frequently revisit these special words during the school year.

When first introducing it, I make my students stand on their desks (risky perhaps, but I’ve never had a tumble) and raise their right hands by their shoulders, palm out, scouts-honor-style.

We discuss the joys that reading brings to our lives and that having a book in our hands is a privilege and an honor.

These thoughts of reading joy, honor, and privilege are carried forth throughout the school year, and— if I’m really lucky—throughout their lifetime. ♥

Do you use an interactive reader’s notebook or binder?

If so, I’d love to know what your must- have pages are!

yours in reading,
rawley