Summer Reading Starts Now

Recently, a colleague emailed our New Jersey ELA supervisor group asking for ideas and input about her school district's summer reading program.  I do not have much to contribute to these conversations as my district does not have a summer reading program, a fact that astonishes some people.

Truthfully, I've never bought into mandating a summer reading program.  When I was a high school senior, I was assigned A Light in August by William Faulkner.  I will shamefully admit not only did I not read it during the summer of 1991 (sorry, Ms. Carboy), but I still haven't read it (adding it to my TBR list right now)!  As an English educator, I do not think summer reading assignments yield the results well-meaning English teachers desire.

Beach reading with my girl!

In traditional English classrooms, we assign students books to read all year.  Is it fair for us to also dictate what students spend their summers reading?  Real readers look forward to the summer days when they indulge themselves in beach reads - romances, mysteries, thrillers, and whatever else their book-loving hearts desire. While sprawled on beach blankets or cuddled up on porch swings, readers savor long, warm days with a good book in their hands.  I have spoken with countless teachers who eagerly anticipate these cherished hours of reading.  So why shouldn't we want the same for our students?


Summer reading programs are full of good intentions.  We want our students to read great books and to maintain their reading stamina.  We want to help them pick books we think they will like.  Teachers debate and discuss titles to add to lists and the work students will do in September to prove they read (eek!).  However, summer reading assignments are also born out of fear.  We worry, "If we don't assign them a book, they won't read."  And you know what?  We are right...kind of.

Most kids won't read in the summer when they are not already in the habit of reading.  They will go to campgrounds, beaches, lakes, and parks without a book in their bag to accompany them, if they do not see the joy and purpose of reading.  So assigning non-readers a book (even a book they choose from a list of 100) will not miraculously inspire them to read all summer.

Summer reading starts now.

One of my Beach Vacation TBR Piles

If we want students to be excited about a summer of books, we need to fill their autumns, winters and springs with great books too.  We need to let them read books they love in our classrooms every day.  We need to talk with them about books they might enjoy.  We need to ask them to make recommendations to their classmates.  We need to share the books we abandoned and explain why.  We need to show them how to go to their town library to find books they want to read. We need to help students curate an ever growing "To Read" book lists just like real readers do.

Our high school students spend the first ten minutes of nearly every English class reading a book they chose.  At the end of the school year, we survey them to assess how this curriculum component helps build their reading lives and improves their reading abilities.  We also ask them if they plan to continue to read this summer -- no reading assignment, no one book initiative, no lists.  Over 85% of our students said they will read during the summer.  Of course, 100% would be better, but we will get there someday!

So start your students' summer reading now by letting them read widely and broadly in your classrooms, exploring to discover what they books love and which authors they enjoy.  If they have books they love in their backpacks now, they won't forget to add them to their travel bags this summer.

What Are You Reading?: Reading Conferences with High School Students

For many years teacher-student conferences have been an important component of writing instruction at the high school level.  Many teachers require writing conferences while students write essays or research papers.  They include these productive conversations into their class periods as well as before school, after school, during lunch and prep periods and even online.  Students receive individual feedback that improves their writing.

So why, then, do most secondary educators neglect reading conferences?  When I taught high school, I never thought to include them either.  Most secondary level teachers do not see themselves as teachers of reading the way they see themselves as writing teachers.  However, this mindset is slowly starting to change.  As we move from teachers of literature to teachers of literacy, we need to find time to talk with students about their reading.

Several years ago I read Penny Kittle's book, Book Love.  Anyone who knows me or my ELA department knows how transformative this professional text has been to our school community.  Independent reading plays an important role in our work with students, though it has taken us some time to see where and how to add reading conferences into the mix as well.  In Book Love, Penny dedicates an entire chapter to reading conferences, which has been so helpful to understanding the purpose and the architecture of a reading conference.

The Reading Conference
Penny outlines a few types of conferences - reading life, reading strategy and reading for complexity. At this point in our professional growth, most of our conferences are "reading life" conferences.  This means teachers individually meet with students to talk about who they are as readers and to help them set reading goals.  Questions teachers may ask are:

• What are you currently reading?
• What is your favorite book or author and why?
• What is the last book you abandoned and why?
• Where do you like to read most?
• How long can you read in one sitting?
• From where do you get book recommendations?

The answers to these questions help teachers make book suggestions as well as offer guidance on students' reading behaviors.  If a student says she can only read for five minutes at a time, there are many follow-up questions the teacher asks to understand why this is so.  The possibilities range from the student picks books that don't intrigue her to her reading spot is too distracting to she may need glasses!

Finding the Time
I know what you're thinking.  "This all sounds great, Heather, but when does one find the time?"  Let me say first, then, I understanding the constraints secondary educators have.  If you still teach in a school where a bell rings every 42 to 45 minutes, you cram lots of learning into a class period that is already too short.  Those of us with periods of an hour or longer do have an easier time of it.  No matter the period length, though, it is about prioritizing reading conferences in your plans because reading conferences make you a better teacher for your readers and help your students have richer reading lives.   Some scheduling options are:

1. Meet with one student each class period for three to five minutes while other students engage in an opening activity.  By month's end, you will have met with every student at least once.  You could do this each month, or do it three times a year.  
2. Dedicate several full class periods to reading conferences.  As other students work on a research project or a group learning experience, you meet with students for conferences, usually speaking with five to six students in one period. 
3. Use all those shortened days or days before breaks, hosting conferences more sporadically throughout the year.  
4. Schedule reading conferences during a prep time or lunch time just as you might a writing conference.  
5. Try a combination of one or two options! 

I do not have one "right way" to find time to schedule reading conferences.  With a little trial and error and a solid commitment to the practice, you will find something that works for you.

I promise you, it will be time well spent.  You will know your students better.  You will design more meaningful reading lessons because you will understand their needs better.  You will engage in productive, meaningful conversations with them about reading and books that inspire them to read more than they thought they could.  And, if all goes as we hope, you will help them nurture reading life that will extend way beyond their time in your classroom.  




          

Reading: It's Not Just for English Teachers

When I was teaching high school English, one of the many things I loved about independent reading is that my students saw me as a reader.  I read with them nearly every day during independent reading time.  My students wanted to know the books I chose and why I chose them.  They sought recommendations from me and borrowed the books I kept in my classroom library.  Like any reader, though, I have my preferred genres and authors.  I increased the scope of my reading every year, but I was never going to dive into books on science or economics or military history.  Those are topics that couldn't hold my interest.  And yet, I had many students who were passionate about those topics.  When helping those students choose books, I often suggested they ask their science or history teachers for book recommendations.  Students returned to my class surprised to learn that their biology teacher or computer science teacher was also an avid reader.  Hmmm...should they be so shocked by this fact?

The English teachers in our school always share what we are reading with students.  We add signature lines to our emails that list the book titles we are currently reading.  We post our "Read" and "To Be Read" lists on the whiteboards in our rooms.  We book talk with kids regularly., so our students definitely know we are readers.

Equally important, though, all teachers should be readers and should share their reading lives with students.  Those math-minded students might better see the value of reading if they knew their favorite math teacher was reading The Signal and The Noise by Nate Silver.  Students fascinated by DNA might find reading inspiration from their science teacher who is reading The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee.  The star soccer player might be intrigued to pick up Forward by Abby Wambach if it was recommended by the physical education teacher.  And any student might love to know that a teacher is also a huge fan of the Alex Cross series written by James Patterson.  Guilty pleasure reads are fun to share too!

No matter what content area, speciality or grade you teach, you should have an active reading life, and you should share it with your students.  Students, then, will see the tremendous range of books available to them as well as the role that reading plays in everyone's life.  I guarantee you that the books you tell your students about will start showing up in their hands.  It is such a satisfying feeling when you see a student in study hall or after school or in English class reading a book that you said you loved.  You might even open up a whole new world to them that they never would have found otherwise.

Happy Reading!