The WCS Summer Reading Initiative:

Update, February 2006

 

As in the past, the goals for the WCS Summer Reading Initiative include, but are not limited to:

 

  1. To promote reading as one of the many pleasurable activities we, as lifelong learners, engage in during our “time off.” 
  2. To provide the much-needed extension to the instruction in reading completed during the school year.
  3. To provide students with the mental exercise needed to practice strategies and skills learned during the year and to improve their reading fluency. 
  4. To promote the value of reading through the partnership of schools and the community (public libraries and families).

 

Since March, 2003 we have advocated a summer reading program that supports the four goals listed above.  The following characteristics are to be implemented by all Williamson County Schools:

 

  • Some form of a summer reading initiative which meets the goals above is mandatory.
  • Student choice should be incorporated somewhere into the summer reading initiative.
  • A letter or notice (in a newsletter, flyer, etc.) about the school’s summer reading initiative should be prepared and sent to families with an understanding that the program at this school may differ from another school’s program based on the needs and situations of the school’s population (i.e. at some schools, many students work all summer and the program may not be as time-intensive as at other sites)
  • Materials and suggestions for materials should be provided for parents and students in a timely fashion (by the end of March).

 

The design and delivery of a summer reading initiatives and programs can be defined by:

 

  • the school or
  • the cluster or
  • the grade level division (elementary, middle, high).  This is most important at the high school level where families look for consistency

 

Your School’s Reading List:

 

  • In past years, each school submitted a summer reading list for students of approved titles and other reading materials (newspapers, magazines, websites, etc.).  You might like to review and edit/expand this list. We strongly suggest that you use some process to ensure that each book you suggest is READ by a teacher on your staff.  Be sure it is not only on an appropriate reading level, but is developmentally-appropriate for your students.  
  • As in the past, provide Lexile levels or grade clusters for your choice books so that students can make wise choices based on their independent reading levels:  early elementary, intermediate, middle, and high since reading levels vary so much and students can experiment and stretch with some difficult books that may align to their interests.
  • If you have access to a good reading list for parents of new fiction/non-fiction titles, make it available to your community.  The public libraries can help with this list or you might like to involve one or more of your parents to generate this list.  Doing this promotes one of the goals stated above:  lifelong learning.
  • At the elementary and middle levels, think about an alternative organization of the titles around common and frequent summer activities or genre.  For example:  books about camp adventures, travel books, job-skill books, fiction about the summer activities of other students, hobbies, and other categories may be offered. By doing this, we support the “making reading real” and relevant for our students.  At the high school level, linking classics and modern works or linking literature to film is recommended.

 

 

Possible Choices for Activities linked to the Elementary, Middle, and High School’s Summer Reading Initiative:

 

  • Provide a set of Essential Questions and Follow-up Questions for students to consider before reading.  These questions should be “why and how” questions (rather than “what” questions) and should evoke higher-level comprehension skills.  Providing a copy of the question to parents can help them in reviewing a book with their child. 
  • During the summer day when the library is opened at the school, host a “Book Circle” where students and parents can come and discuss what they’ve read. Parent only, student only, or intergenerational circles can be formed.  We can offer some Book Circle guidelines and structure.  We may be able to tap into existing book clubs or circles offered by the public library, in the future.
  • Plan with, announce, and circulate the story hours for the public libraries and try to encourage public librarians to set up circles for young readers after these events.  Included in these discussions could be strategies for having older students read and/or lead the storytelling hours.  Teachers at the high school level may suggest that their students consider volunteering at their public library to become “readers” to younger students; a good experience for both!
  • Provide parents/families with suggestions for helping students with reading this summer.  These suggestions should provide mental exercise and promote fluency.  Simple strategies and games can be shared so that the follow-up to a good book becomes a fun time with family.  Go to Lexile.com for initial suggestions or contact your reading specialist at the elementary level or the Curriculum office. 
  • Project-based activities should be offered but not required.  Include ways for students to be “recognized” for completing the projects.  A “Reading Hall of Fame Display” at a school is one way for students to showcase their work.  Host a “Come as your favorite character…” day at the beginning of school and provide students a venue for describing their outfit and their character.  At the middle and high school level, students can display their project and get extra credit in a subject related to the content of the reading/project.
  • During the first month of school, school librarians can pose a “Trivia Question” each morning (posted outside the library) on a reading selection.  The questions can be based on commonly read books on the elementary/middle school lists.  At the high school, questions could come from one or more of the selected books.  Students, based on their reading, can even propose these questions.
  • Ask teachers to “adopt their favorite book” from the summer reading list.  Their name would be included on the reading list along with a discussion group date and location (either during the summer or during first semester) so that they can host a book discussion group.
  • Ask students to post their reading experiences on a website, in gaggle, or in a power point presentation that can be shared.
  • Institute a flyer, sent out by the school library, which includes book reviews on summer reading---done by students.
  • Continue the Book Circles during the school year by asking parents to moderate or facilitate.  In this way, summer groups become an extension, rather than a new activity.

 

High School Suggestion for the Summer Reading Initiative:

 

There has been a lot of discussion and input regarding the inequities between the summer reading assignments across high schools (from very rigorous and defined to non-specific).  If possible, the Curriculum Department suggests that high schools work together to define common core guidelines for summer reading with variations at the site level, if desired.