Procrastinating for a Bit

Grading papers is not my favorite task. I love every part of the school day and the planning for lessons, but procrastinate terribly when it comes to correcting. Not sure why, but once I get started I am fine. I sat down at the sunny end of the couch this afternoon with several Reader’s Notebooks and for the most part was delighted with their entries/letters. Some students continue to write primarily a retelling of their recent reading, but most reveal a solid understanding. Isn’t this an objective for utilizing reader’s response? As much as I enjoy chatting with my students about their reading, we need another means of communication. This is also a major component of our NYS ELA assessments. A goal for many of our readers is to think beyond the text to make deeper meaning. While it may seem like a slow process, extensive modeling and guided practice are transferring more frequently to independent reading. A couple weeks ago my heart was warmed when one of my students was so relaxed during a benchmark assessment that she previewed the text, made predictions, stopped along the way to “think out loud” and was very reflective during the follow-up discussion. WOW ~ what more could I have hoped for! I better stop procrastinating and get back to the notebooks. Would love to hear from others on the use of Reader’s Notebooks. Do you vary the assignments? How do you assess them? Rubrics?