Part 3: Why Year 6 Students Should Use a Reading Journal ?

Jumping into High School English might sound a little scary. But don’t fear! There are many habits you can adopt that will make your transition from Year 6 to Year 7 much easier. Keeping a reading journal is at the top of that list!

In this article, we’re going to explain what a reading journal is, why you should keep one, and how to use one. So, let’s get cracking!

Need a reading journal to get started?

Download our reading journal and develop an understanding of your texts and get ahead of your peers!

In this article, we’re going to answer these questions

• What is a reading journal?
• Why keep a reading journal in Year 6?
• How do we use a reading journal?
• What are some recommended texts to read and keep a journal about?

What is a reading journal? ?

In the past, you would have kept a reading log where your parents signed a sheet to show that you read a particular book.

Well, a reading journal is quite similar to these reading logs.

Except, there is more thinking involved!

Reading journals are a way to make notes and record what you’ve learned about your book, as you read.

Reading Journals usually include information such as: 

• Title and author
• notes about the characters or subjects
• Overview of the plot
• Discussion of major themes
• Evaluation / Thoughts about the text

We recommend that you handwrite your reading journals because:

1. it is easier to keep all your thoughts in one place
2. Handwriting your notes will help you remember things more effectively than typing them up, or just copying and pasting them into your notes.

When you handwrite your notes, you can also make them as pretty or simple as you want them to be!

Why keep a reading journal in Year 6? ?

Reading is very important.

You should aim to read for at least 10-30 minutes a day… Whether it is before bedtime or on the bus ride to school.

In High School, you need to analyse texts, not just read and discuss them.

Textual analysis is all about comprehension, unpacking a text and looking at how the authors or composers of the text represent things and convey abstract meaning (things like emotions, etc.).

(Textual analysis is a skill High School students develop and is not something many Year 6 students are aware of. But if you want to learn more about Textual Analysis, we discuss How to Analyse Texts in Year 7 and 8 in detail in our Beginners Guide to Year 7 & 8 English.)

Why are reading journals are so useful?

Reading journals help you:

• Take notes about the text
• Solidify your understand of your text
• Clarify details about the characters, plots, themes etc.
• Develop thoughts and perspectives about the text
• Prepare you to write about the text

How do I use a reading journal? ?

Using a reading journal is pretty simple!

Remember, you do not need to finish a whole reading journal in one sitting just as you don’t need to read a whole novel in one sitting.

Spread it out across a couple of days or even weeks. Take your time to really explore different aspects of the book.

Using a reading journal: A step-by-step guide

Okay, so let’s look at how to do this.

Step 1: Choose a text ?

Novels and non-fiction texts are generally quite long… the can range between 200-400 pages!

This means that they usually take a few days to read.

So, it is important that you choose a text that is not only challenging, but also something you will enjoy!

To do this, ask yourself:

• What are you interested in?
• What genres do you want to read?
• Is there an author you want to check out?
• Has anyone recommended any good books to you?
• Do you want to try something new?

Read the contents and reviews to see what the book is about!

Make sure that the text is not too easy to read and not too difficult.

Reading should be a learning experience, but you also don’t want to give up halfway because it is too difficult.

If you are still unsure about what to read, we have a list of recommended texts below!

Step 2: Title and author ?‍? ?‍?

The first addition to your reading journal is super simple!

Just write down the title and author of your text.

Here is an example:

Step 3: Why did you choose the novel

Did someone recommend it to you? Did the plot sound interesting? Do you like the characters? Maybe, you’ve seen the movie version of the novel and want to read it.

Just write down the reasons why you chose this novel.

For example,

Step 4: Character description ?

Now, it is time to carefully look at the characters in your text!

To do this, you need to:

• Find 2 important characters
• Describe them
• Provide 2 examples to support your description

Note: Examples are moments in the text that demonstrate a certain idea. They can be dialogue, specific scenes, symbolic objects or even character developments.

It is important that you always identify the techniques in these examples. The techniques is what you are analysing in a text.

For example,

Finding examples and identifying techniques is a good habit to get into early.

It will help you easily identify evidence when you analyse texts in High School.

Step 5: Plot overview ?‍♂️

Summarise what the story is about!

This is useful when you want to quickly remind yourself of what happens in the text…

Especially when your teacher asks you to write an essay about a text that you read 3 months ago!

To do this, you need to think about the 3-Act structure. That is:

• Act 1, Orientation: Introduces characters, world and the problem
• Act 2, Complication: Problem gets worse. The protagonist goes through a series of challenges to overcome this problem.
• Act 3, Resolution: The problem reaches its climax. The situation seems to get really bad… But the protagonist pulls through and fixes the problem! Everything is back to normal.

So, to write a plot overview, you need to find important events for each Act.

Remember, you don’t need to write everything that happens in your text… just the important events!

For example,

Step 6: Evocative examples ?

Remember, to write a strong essay in High School English, you need good examples that prove your argument!

So, let’s get some practice and look for good examples for our reading journal.

Remember, you can pick examples from anywhere in the text! They can come from Chapter 1, or the very last page of the text!

As long as your examples trigger strong thoughts and emotions and force you to think,  they are good!

Once you’ve chosen an example, you can write down your thoughts about it.

For example,

Step 7: Discuss themes

Firstly, what are themes?

A theme is similar to the story’s moral message. But they are a bit different!

Think of the theme as the main idea of the text, summarised into one or a few words.

For example, trust, wisdom and truth are all themes in Little Red Riding Hood.

When looking for a theme, you need to carefully examine the plot, characters and even the examples! You will see that the theme is interwoven throughout the whole text.

Ask yourself these questions to help identify the themes of your text:

• What is the text about?
• Is there hidden meaning in the text?
• What is the main message or moral of the story?

Now that you know how to identify the themes in a text, it is time to discuss them!

This means that you need to provide examples that strongly convey your theme.

To do this, you need to carefully look at your text, break it down and look for techniques or quotations that relate to your themes.

Sometimes, they might be more abstract.

This means it may be harder to find them! But these examples are often the strongest examples you can find.

For example,

Step 8: Evaluate the text  ✔️

Now, let’s write about your thoughts on the text!

Take this time to reflect and critically think about the novel.

Here are some things you can think about:

• Did you enjoy the text?
• Was it engaging? Why?
• How could it be improved?
• Who were your favourite characters? Why?
• Would you recommend this novel to others? Why or why not?

For example,

Recommended novels

Download our Reading journal and learn the skills to smash High School English?

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