Hello everyone,
We are at a 7-8 middle school and coordinate summer reading book clubs that meet in the fall once students are back to school. Teachers choose young adult books they are interested in reading and we have about 40-50 different offerings for students in a range of genres and difficulty levels. Students then use a Google form to sign up for the book they would like to join. We use a form limiter to cap the groups at 25 and then use one of our Advisory periods in early September to hold the meetings. Teachers get creative with activities/discussions/etc.
definitely can’t say that all students read but the accountability of discussion helps. Typically the meeting is well received by both teachers and students. Many asking to meet again.
Downsides : it’s a lot of work figuring out locations, making sure all students have a room to go to. We always have a chunk of “nonreaders” who never signed up, or students new to the district. We have a few teachers designated to these groups to do a general “reading” activity - sometimes an article about importance of reading, a short story they read together, etc.
On Friday, February 23, 2024, Loretta Sullivan via CASL-L <
casl-l@mylist.net> wrote:
Hello everyone,
I wanted to ask what other districts do for summer reading for students in grades 5-8 (middle levels)? Do you ask for a reading log? What incentives do you offer? Is there required reading or is it voluntary? If you can share what you have, that would be great.
Our public library also has incentives for summer reading and we advertise these to our students before they leave us in June.
Any thoughts or ideas that have worked is appreciated. We are trying to get more kiddos reading over the summer as our participation last year needs much improvement. We would like to do something that is manageable for teachers to assess in the fall when students return (we are a school of approx. 850 students).
We offer a "reading celebration" in the fall for those students that participated in reading over the summer.
Respectfully,
Loretta Sullivan
Library Media Specialist
Bennet Academy
Manchester, CT
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