Printable Reading Log
Have you ever encountered a situation wherein someone would ask you whether you have read a particular book and that you answered yes, but when you were asked to recall what it was all about and when you have read it? It sucks to be in that situation especially when that book was even one of what used to be your favorites.
With all the books that you have read in your entire existence, it is still very possible for you to forget everything that you have read. That is why, should you want to preserve all of your reading activities, as well as the thoughts that ran in your head as you read them, having and keeping a reading log can definitely help you with that. You may also see reading log for kids examples.
Reading logs is likened to that of a diary or a journal only that instead of sharing your daily experiences, you are to write and describe every single book or even articles that you have read. You can even include writing your personal observation and musings on your reading log especially if you will be able to read some captivating and mind-boggling quotes and passages from the book that you reading. You may also see activity log examples.
Usually, reading logs are given in school as an assignment, but you can definitely keep one for personal purposes especially if you are a very forgetful person but you would also like to have something to help you remember the books or any printed materials that you have read. You may also like printable workout log examples.
Whether you are asked to keep a reading log as an assignment in school or that you just simply want to keep one for yourself, you may use the examples that we have uploaded here in this article. These examples can definitely be of help especially if you are just starting out to keep a reading log. You may also see blood pressure log examples.
Book Reading Log Template
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Reading Log Template for Kid
University Reading Log Template
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Weekly Reading Log Template
Daily Reading Log Template
Individual Reading Log Template
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2nd Grade Reading Log Template Example
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5th Grade Weekly Reading Log Example
What Is a Reading Log?
Reading log, as previously mentioned, is likened to that of a diary or a journal where you can record all of the books, articles, and the like that you have read.
It is also like a note that reminds you of details about what you have read, when you have read it, and how many pages you have read.
If you are looking for something that can help you summarize what you have read, then this is the perfect tool or method to keep track of every single printed material that you have read. Unless you would not be keen on maintaining a reading log, maintaining one can definitely help you in expanding the enjoyment that you have experienced as you read something, like a book. If you have enjoyed a particular book, you will be able to enjoy it more once you will record it into a reading log.
If you are a wide reader and that you want to keep track of your reading, a reading log can really help you in tracking. You might have a lot of thoughts going on inside your head after finishing a book and you can freely write or note it down on your reading log. You can share your connection and understanding in terms of the text, language, plot, theme, and most especially the characters of the book you were reading since this is the most interesting element of the story aside from the plot. Being able to record down your literary experience will certainly give a real sense of achievement.
You can also make use of your reading log for future purposes such as your references in your studies or even when someone would ask your opinion about a certain book that you have already read but you just can’t seem to remember the exact details about it.
So in the event that you would have your “Eureka!” moments while reading, do not let it go and forget because your reading log can definitely help you in keeping those moments.
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13 Ways to Keep a Reading Log for School
1. Review your reading assignment.
Before even getting started with reading, you have to make sure that you have clearly understood your teacher or professor’s assignment. Do not just get on to reading without even knowing what you are ought to do.
You instructor might have specific instructions and even expectations that you have to follow.
Read your reading assignment comprehensively and should you have any questions, make sure that you would ask your teacher beforehand.
These are the following items that most reading logs are required to contain:
- The title and author of the book
- The dates when you read a particular page
- The duration you spend on reading within a day
- The key theme/s of the book
- The major and minor or round and flat characters
- The plot developments
- The questions you had in mind as you read through
2. Create a reading log with appropriate categories.
In order to have an effective reading log, you have to make sure that you are using one that contains the appropriate categories.
Whatever medium or surface you are going to use as a reading log, be it your notebook or on your laptop, you have to make sure that you are to use a reading that has the exact categories you need. Do not waste time filling out a reading log that can serve you no purpose in the end. Along with the categories are blank spaces where you will be able to input the details of the book that you have read.
The categories may depend as to what your teacher had instructed you. However, if you were given a free hand to choose, you may choose among the pre-made examples and templates that we have uploaded here in this article. Or if you really want to create your own, you can still make use of these reading log examples to give you some inspiration and guide as you are to create your own.
3. Keep your reading log in a safe place.
As mentioned above, you can have any medium or surface where you can place your reading log, but if you are just going to place it anywhere and that you would still have to turn it to your professor for grading, then you may have to choose another place where you can conveniently keep your reading log.
Do not place it somewhere near any liquids. If you have kept it through electronic means, then you have to keep a backup every time you update it so that whenever one of your copy gets deleted, you would still have an updated one that can save you from nightmares aka the professor who gave you that reading assignment.
4. Always read your assigned specific reading texts.
Since it’s an assigned reading log, your teacher might have specific reading assignments. If you have effectively accomplished the first one, which is to make sure that you have reviewed and understood your reading assignment, then this would not be any much of a problem.
There are some teachers who are not too complicated and would just give a very general reading assignment such as reading five novels for the entire semester. However, there are also some teachers who are too specific such as having to read at least five Edgar Allan Poe poems within a certain week within the semester.
Make sure that you will read your assigned text because if you will read the book from cover to cover and that you have missed the exact assigned text that your instructor had told you to read, then your effort in reading the book from cover to cover is just pointless.
Books, poems, academic reading, and other materials (even movies or TV shows) can all be included in your journal, depending on the parameters of your assignment.
Never put off entering a reading assignment until later! You might lose track of your work and forget important details.
5. Take note of the full bibliographic citation information.
Your reading assignment may require you to include bibliographic citation so that if ever you are to create an essay or reflection paper out of what you have read, you will be able to cite your sources properly and correctly.
This means that you should be able to take note of the following:
- The title of the book
- The author of the book
- The publication date of the book
- The publisher and the place where it is located
- Other identifying information of the other people involved in the publication
6. Read slowly.
If you keep on procrastinating and putting your reading assignments off, then expect that you would not be able to have an in-depth understanding and comprehension regarding the books that you have read.
If you are not really much of a book lover, you can just start reading slowly especially if there you are given an ample amount of time to read. Do not rush with your reading assignments because you would not be able to understand what you have written. It is in rushing your reading assignments that you will not be able to easily fill up your reading logs because how can you fill out the categories found in your reading logs when you obviously have not paid attention to it when you crammed all of your reading assignment?
You may be cramming so that you can make it on time for the deadline, but reading your reading assignment slowly but surely will enable you to save time in the long run, plus you will also have time for your other subjects. Try reading at least one chapter a day and you’ll find that it is more convenient to read things slowly rather than cram a whole book in one night just to make it before the deadline.
As you read slowly, make sure that you would find time to squeeze in writing few notes particular on the pages that made you question a lot. These questions can also help you with filling out your reading log.
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7. Write down the important details of the book.
Speaking of having to squeeze in some time to write few notes as you read, the other thing that you have to write down is the important details of the book.
You reading assignment might include you to write down on your reading log the important details of the book you will have to read such as the following:
- Elements of the plot
- Names of the key or major and minor characters
- The place or setting of the story
- The key argument or the main conflict of the story
It will not be difficult for you to identify these details since these are purely factual or that you no longer have to do an extra effort, interpretation or analysis of the story just to fill out these details.
8. Take note of the important quotes or passages.
There are some reading assignments that would require you to include the important quotes and passages you can find in the book you are reading.
Books would never run short of quotations and passages that can possibly strike as significant to people or quotation and passages that would stir up the mind of the readers and makes it worthy of extensive analysis.
As you read, do take note of the quotations and passages that had caught you interested or that you find intriguing, confusing, and even mysterious. You can make use of these as you would be writing any analytical papers based on the book that you were assigned to read. Do not also forget to take note of the page number where you found the passage and especially the character you said the passage.
9. Take note and write down your questions.
As you read, it will be possible that you will be questioning what you have read especially if you are having an in-depth reading. There will be some scenes in the book you are reading that are mind-boggling. There is also a possibility that you will be able to forget the questions that would just pop in your head as you read.
You might think that it is just all right to forget those questions but no, you should make sure that you will be able to take note of such questions because these can be helpful when you would already be filling up your reading log as well as when writing any analytical papers regarding to the book that you have read.
When you would start reading, always ensure that you have a notebook or pad and a pen beside you so when your heads would suddenly be popping, you will be able to catch and take note of it as you go.
Take note and write down whatever kind of questions that would pop in your head. Even if it those are abstract questions or content-based questions, do take note of it as you can use it for your reading log and other papers that you are to write after accomplishing your reading assignment.
10. Also take note of your personal observations.
You might be able to draw out connections between the things you have read in the book and your personal life. When you encounter such, you have to note of it.
You might think that reading log are all formal and all but this is where you are mistaken because even if you are only to fill out a reading log because of your assignment, it is completely all right to include your personal observations.
It is not impossible that you can read something relatable from the book you are reading because the things that are written are largely inspired by real life and real lives, written by real people. It involves real thoughts, feelings, and activities that make it possible for you to relate to it.
11. Make analytical claims with the use of your personal observations.
If you think that it will be too informal if you would include your observations on your reading log then this is where you are mistaken because you can actually make use of your personal observation in order for you to create analytical claims.
There are some professors that would be requiring you to make analytical claims after reading your assigned text. This is when you could actually make use of your personal observation as a tool that can help you with the rest of your other formal assignments like papers or essays.
Remember that it has been mentioned prior that you also have to take note of the relevant quotations and passages. You can make use of your personal observations in identifying what makes those quotations and passage relevant to the story.
12. Write like writing a journal entry.
If you think that reading logs that involves a lot of listing bullet points and noting quotations and passages, then you are, again, wrong because you can actually incorporate journal writing.
It is way better to write some parts of your reading logs in full sentences and paragraphs because this enables you to express more and it does not limit you to a few bullet points.
It is ideal that you would sustain a single theme all throughout an entry so that you will be able to create an in-depth discussion about it. Plus, this also enables you to build connections as well as determine relationships between passages. And if you would like to have some kind of a debate against what you have read from the book, then you can do so by including your arguments on your reading log.
13. Focus on your personal development.
Do not just focus on the fact that you have just been given an assignment wherein you would have to read at least five books for the entire semester and the fact that you would also have to write a reading log out of it.
Instead, look at your reading assignment as an opportunity where you will be able to grow and develop yourself. The act of writing a reading log can be used not only as a way for you to keep track of what you have accomplished reading, but you can also make use of this when you would want to track how much you have improved over time.
As you go on writing a reading log, you will be able to gradually construct richer and more relevant question, substantial comments and observation, as well as the ability to look beyond the meanings of every text that you will be able to read. Who would have thought that writing logs can actually become an activity that will help in the growth of your mental health?
And as you go on writing and keeping your reading log, you will get more and more sophisticated with each entry you write.
Week-long Home Reading Log Template Example
peckelementary.org
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Why Reading Is Important
As you go through your reading assignments and with your reading logs, you might come to a point where you will be able to ask to yourself what makes reading so important that with all the academic books you have to read, some of your professors would still give you a reading assignment.
Reading is one way of making discoveries of new things and concepts. Reading helps in developing and widening vocabularies. In fact, if you are an aspiring writer, you have to become a wide reader first. Having the ability to read is actually a crucial and vital skill needed for a person in order to be able to function well as an individual and as someone that is part of a group or organization. Reading does not limit the potentials of the mind of an individual because it would actually improve or enhance it.
Once an individual already knows how to read, he or she will be able to educate himself or herself to any field that they might have an interest with. Plus, he or she will also gain self-confidence that will help him or her to have high opinions of their very own selves as well as of their skills and capabilities.
Other than that, here are other important reasons why reading plays an important role in our lives and that you are not merely filling up your reading logs for nothing:
- Reading requires and forces you to use your brain that, in turn, enables you to easily reason things out as well easily understand the things that are even unfamiliar to you. You can even apply this skill to your day-to-day living.
- As you grow older, the lesser chance there is for you to read something when it is one of the things that you should be constantly doing. As you keep on reading as you grow older, you will be able to keep a good memory since reading stretches your memory muscles that can help you in remembering more things than a non-reading adult would.
- Reading with comprehension means learning, which means that the more you read, the more you will be able to learn and educate yourself. And as a result, you will feel more confident about yourself and this is very much helpful in building a solid self-esteem.
- As mentioned, reading also facilitates learning, and when as you keep on reading, you will also be able to gain a wide vocabulary. Having a wide vocabulary will make you become an efficient communicator. You will be good at creating relevant conversations, and if you are a writer, you will be able to interpret your wild and carefree imagination fluidly and effectively into words and eventually into reality.
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If you keep on reading, you continue learning. And if you keep a reading log while reading, what you have learned will remain for the rest of your life.
Have you found the reading log examples we have here in this article useful for you? You may also see Reading Log for Kids Examples – PDF, Word should you want more reading log examples that can help you with your reading assignment or even if you are reading for leisure.
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