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School plannersGrades K–8

Reading log

A daily reading record for kids in grades K to 8, the kind a teacher asks you to sign each night. Each line has the date, the book, pages, minutes and initials, and the top of the page has a goal and a monthly total.

By Paul Gunder. Free to print for home, classroom and office use; see how our printables are made.

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Reading Log1 page · US Letter

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Reading LogNameMonthMy goal: minutes a dayTotal minutes this monthDateBook titlePagesMinutesInitialsPrintablePal.com · free printable plannersReading Log
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What prints

At the top is the heading Reading Log with lines for the student's name and the month. A row under it has two fill-in lines: My goal: minutes a day and Total minutes this month. Both are blank, so a teacher's goal or your own goes there.

The table has five columns: Date, Book title, Pages, Minutes and Initials. The title column is the widest. Initials is where a parent or guardian signs, which is what many classrooms require.

The settings

  • Heading. Up to 40 characters. A name like "Maya's October reading" works well.
  • Log. Choose "Reading".
  • Reading log type. Choose "Daily minutes (for school)" for this page. The other choice, "Books I have read", is the book log.
  • Rows. From 10 to 31, and the page opens at 26.

Using it day to day

Reading logs fall apart when they are filled in all at once on the last night of the month. A better routine is to keep the sheet next to the book basket or on the fridge, and fill in one line right after reading. The child writes the date, title, pages and minutes. The adult checks and initials.

If your child reads the same book several days, repeat the title on each line, because the teacher wants to see each day. Count pages read that day, not the page number you stopped on. Minutes can be rounded to the nearest five.

Reading aloud together counts in many classes, but check the rule your teacher gives. Reading Rockets, linked above, has ideas for reading at home, including read-aloud routines and ways to talk about a book. The Department of Education site has guidance for families on supporting learning at home.

Worked example: a week in October

A third grader has a goal of 20 minutes a day. In the goal line, the teacher's number is written: 20. On Monday, October 7 the log shows a chapter book, 12 pages, 25 minutes, initialed by a parent. Tuesday: same book, 9 pages, 20 minutes. Wednesday: a library picture book, 32 pages, 15 minutes, which is short but still logged. Thursday there is soccer practice, so the line stays blank. On Friday the child reads aloud to a younger sibling for 20 minutes, 14 pages.

At the end of the month the minutes are added: 25 + 20 + 15 + 20 = 80 for that week, and the running total goes in the box at the top. Every line is honest, including the blank one.

For parents and teachers

Keep the tone light. A log is a record of reading, not a grade. If your child resists the paperwork, let them choose the pen or color and decide where it lives. For readers who prefer a list of finished titles, the book log gives each book a line and five stars.

Use the book log for finished titles, the homework planner for the rest of the school week, and the habit tracker to turn "read before bed" into a monthly count.

Sources

  1. Reading Rockets: Reading at Home readingrockets.org
  2. U.S. Department of Education ed.gov