Cycle Two/Year One Reading Journals

• English Language Arts
  Secondary Cycle 2
  Ms. Boone
  
  
  Reading Journals:
  Reads and Responds to Written Texts Competency
  
  
  Starting this term, students will be expected to maintain a Reading Journal that will reflect their interaction with texts they read independently. It is expected that all students will read each week outside of class English books of their own choosing. They may borrow books from school or the public library.
  
  In the journal, students should try to make connections between what they read and their own lives. It is important as well that students not simply summarize the texts but comment on likes/dislikes, writer’s techniques, etc.
  
  The Reading Journal will not be evaluated for writing skills: grammar and spelling don’t count BUT errors cannot get in the way of understanding. Neatness will count.
  
  Each journal entry must have: the date, number of pages read, the title of the text and the author’s name. Journals will be handed in each Day 8 of the cycle. Each student must have a notebook for their journal entries; it is very important that they be able to see their entries in order spread over time at the end of the year.
  
  ***Each journal entry must be 150 words minimum.***
  
  
  Students must demonstrate their developing expertise as a reader by:
  
  
• Identifying and explaining significant ideas in the text
• Making connections to other texts
• Making connections to own experiences
• Making connections to world or media
• Examining writer’s techniques (i.e. point of view, characterization, plot, setting, symbolism, foreshadowing, humor, horror, etc.)
• Discussing own strategies for reading and making sense of a text