Measuring Reading for Pleasure

Measuring reading for pleasure can be tricky, one way I've been able to keep on top of it for Year 7s & 8s is by holding a year-long reading challenge.

Our school was recently divided up into 4 Houses: Morris, Turing, Rollason & Rutherford. The House system creates an atmosphere of friendly competition and accomplishment. I decided to launch a House Reading Challenge in Oct 2015.

As part of the House Reading Challenge, I made review sheets that ask the students to provide basic information about their books and to provide a short review.

 

As students hand the review sheets in, I add them to their House totals. I do not add them if I get reviews that only say things like "It was good." I inform them that I need something to tell me that they've read the book.

 

This doesn't mean they haven't read it, so getting them to provide more information benefits everyone.

 

Luckily, Year 7s and 8s come in for regular library lessons so I can use that time to get them to fill out their review cards. The challenge is open to all year groups but these are the years that participate the most.

 

 

 

The totals are then added to a giant display board in the Library that tells the students which team is currently in the lead.

 

Every single review (currently over 1,300)  is also catalogued on a database telling me the student's name, their year, the title and author of the book and when they completed the review.

 

This way, I can take a look at the database and see what the students are reading and then use it to recommend different, perhaps more challenging books to them.

 

As the example below shows, the student started out with the graphic novel El Deafo, which they loved, then they tried The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which they hated. I was able to find something more accessible with Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, they'd only seen the film version. They did not stick with The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe but I accepted their review because her feedback was great. I then hooked her on The Hunger Games, which, again, they'd only seen the film version.  

 

 

It's not a perfect system but it's one way to monitor student reading habits. Of course, having general conversations at the circulation desk and during break and lunch is also a great way to gauge what students are reading, this is just a formal way to keep track.

 

I'd be very interested in hearing about other ways librarians & teachers try to measure reading for pleasure!