You asked if I have my students reading the same book at home that I do during reading workshop. That is a great question!
When I first started my reading workshop, I really wanted to make sure that students who were reading chapter books were taking home the book they started at school and using that same book for their nightly reading. I felt like it was important for third graders not to have two different chapter books going at the same time, so I instituted a "take-home" book bag for students to easily transport their chapter books to and from school.
However, I began having the same problem you mentioned. Students would forget their book at home and then not have it at school to continue reading during IDR time. I was frustrated with this common occurrence. At this point, I do not require that students read the same book at school and at home. If students ask to take their chapter book home to continue reading for their nightly reading minutes, I have no problem with that. However, I do not require that students are taking home their chapter books every night. What I have found is that my most responsible students are usually the ones who choose to take home their books, and they rarely forget to return them to school the next day.
There are some exceptions to the rule, however. If students are reading a chapter book in a book club or a reading partnership, they will need to bring home their chapter book if they have not read the necessary pages that need to be completed in order to be prepared for a book discussion. If they do not have their book at school on the day their book club or partnership is scheduled to meet, they receive debits since a forgotten book on that day is comparable to a missing assignment. You can read my classroom economy post for more information about debits: http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2010/01/class-economy.html
Julie,
You asked if I have my students reading the same book at home that I do during reading workshop. That is a great question!
When I first started my reading workshop, I really wanted to make sure that students who were reading chapter books were taking home the book they started at school and using that same book for their nightly reading. I felt like it was important for third graders not to have two different chapter books going at the same time, so I instituted a "take-home" book bag for students to easily transport their chapter books to and from school.
However, I began having the same problem you mentioned. Students would forget their book at home and then not have it at school to continue reading during IDR time. I was frustrated with this common occurrence. At this point, I do not require that students read the same book at school and at home. If students ask to take their chapter book home to continue reading for their nightly reading minutes, I have no problem with that. However, I do not require that students are taking home their chapter books every night. What I have found is that my most responsible students are usually the ones who choose to take home their books, and they rarely forget to return them to school the next day.
There are some exceptions to the rule, however. If students are reading a chapter book in a book club or a reading partnership, they will need to bring home their chapter book if they have not read the necessary pages that need to be completed in order to be prepared for a book discussion. If they do not have their book at school on the day their book club or partnership is scheduled to meet, they receive debits since a forgotten book on that day is comparable to a missing assignment. You can read my classroom economy post for more information about debits: http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2010/01/class-economy.html
I hope this answers your question!
-Beth