Reading survey reflection

What Kind of Reader are You? 

This is the question I posed to my year 4, 5 & 6 learners. But before launching into the survey we discussed what makes a good reader. A few responses I got were

Someone who: 

• can sit for a long time
• wants to learn
• is interested in a topic ie football
• is forced to read  
• knows all the words (this one surprised me the most)

During this discussion I noticed many children did not participate, thus realising that many kids didn't know what a good reader profile was. 

These were a few of the responces about what makes a good reader from the survey: 

• understanding the story\text
• having strategies
• use your imagination
• tries to read new words
• loves adventure 
• reads everyday 
• good at spelling/knows the meanings of lots of words 
• can answer questions about the book 
• read 20 pages every day 
• focused on the story 

From the survey it was pleasing to see that no learner in my class didn't like reading and none of them put themselves down as not being a good reader. 

I was also pleased to see they all had a favourite time to read (none picked never). I think this reflected how important they know reading is. More than 70% of learners see the importance of reading outside of school hours. 

I found the library stats quite low. However we are lucky to have a well stocked school library which learners visit at least once a week and have access to during lunch times. So I wasn't too concerned about this. However it would be nice to see this go up, especially during the summer holidays. 

Overall the survey was a good reflection for the learners on their view about reading. After looking at the data together a few children noticed they were the minority and wanted to do something about it, for example:

• get a library card
• read for enjoyment
• read in their own time
• read during the school holidays
• find a genre that they like

This was a great survey to introduce at the start of the year to see the attitude towards reading and any concerns about reading. I look forward to doing the survey with the same children later in the year to see if there is a shift in mentality.