S.M.A.R.T. Reading Goals in Middle School, Part One

I've been working with a group of seventh and eighth grade co-teachers in ELA and reading teachers on student goal setting for reading. We started with having students write in journals about personal experiences with goal setting: either a goal they met or a goal they didn't succeed in meeting. There was such an array of goals from improving in parcours to becoming a chef to quitting nail biting. We created an anchor chart about what helps us meet our goals. We connected that conversation to goal setting in reading, teaching students categories they could use to select reading goals from the CAFE menu. (I'm such a fan of the Daily Cafe web site!!)

After students selected a goal area for themselves, we taught a lesson about growth mindset and referred back to our anchor chart on what helps us meet our goals.We used clips from Eduardo Briceno's TED talk and this brief video from the University of California to introduce the idea of mindset, but I haven't found a video that I love for growth mindset yet. (Someone needs to make one!)

The next step was to teach a mini-lesson on writing SMART goals. I introduced the idea with this Edutopia video clip to a teacher for her own knowledge. I was a bit surprised when she suggested showing it to the students, but it ended up being a short way to introduce what each letter in the acronymn stands for. Since it shows a fifth grade class, I made sure to emphasize to the seventh and eighth grade students before showing the video that we see SMART goal setting in college and in the working world. More on what happened to come!

Setting reading goals

Last summer I was preparing to work with a small group of teachers to discuss and plan for guided and independent reading in their classrooms in the fall. I found Franki Sibberson’s Bringing Reading to Life DVD and the video resources on the Daily Café web site (which I have access to as a member ) invaluable resources.

As a common thread in these best practice videos, I saw teachers working with students to set reading goals. It made perfect sense that we should help students set reading goals for themselves and monitor their own progress as readers. So why we don’t do it more often?

Recently, Solana has taken an interest in some of the parenting books I’ve taken out from our local library or older books that I have on the bookshelves. She especially liked Kid Cooperation. (Not my absolute favorite, but I think she responded to the definitiveness of the tone.) After reading a section on using step-by-step charts for bedtime routines, she asked me to make a chart on her wall of her own routine for us to refer to at bedtime. She started giving me tips on how I could get her to clean her room and go to bed on time. (And most cringeworthy, easily recognized when our commands to her were not the ideal ones recommended in the book!)

I’ve noticed how different it is when Solana is in on setting the rules with me rather than me racking my brains trying to think of ways to motivate her or losing my patience. The same thing happens to us as teachers. So I’m hoping to learn more about goal setting with students and practice what I preach in the classroom as well as at home.