Teenagers Choices Summer Reading Program That Works

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Teenagers Choices Summer Reading Program
That Works!

• Melissa Brown, Andrea Clarke
  Wendy Edelman
• Atlee High School
• Mechanicsville, Virginia

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Ill just read SparkNotes. Theyll never know.
This book is so boring!

• This sucks!

This assignment makes me hate reading.
Book? What book?
Do we have to do this?
Why do we have to read this book?
Cant we just read for fun?
Summer should be our time!
Not another dull classic I cant even
understand!
I just didnt do it.
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those were just the comments from the
teachers
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That Was Then

Each grade level had one or two titles they had
to read. We had tried every form of assessment
possible reader response journals, creative
output, essays, task sheets, ad nauseum.
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• Each Night, Gatsby killed a Mockingbird and a
  Mouse (or Man) that were sent Down River. They
  all had a Scarlet Letter which was Weirdo in
  itself. Throw in the Hound, a Pearl and we sure
  had A Night to Remember.
• Sound familiar?

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So What Was Wrong With That?

• Teachers hated it.
• Parents hated it.
• Kidshated it.
• Grades were terrible.
• To teach or not to teach the book?
• Reinforced the notion that reading is a chore.
• Books needed to be taught for the kids to really
  understand the story.
• The books didnt inspire additional reading.
• We started the school year on a negative note.

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Red Tape and Resistance

• Process for approving books is daunting
• Teachers were unhappy but unhappy with change
• Not everyones doin it
• And yet, we struck out and braved the wilds

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Overall Goal of the Overhaul-

• draw students back to the love of reading the
  written word
• develop good reading practices
• inspire a love of reading and give students
  common ground for learning

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Our Original Plan -

• Form a committee to take back summer reading
• Provide a list of 7-10 contemporary titles
• Design assessment to reflect what real readers
  do when reading for pleasure
• Market the books
• Forge community relations to foster reading
• Fund-raise to provide more books and teacher
  training

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Where to Begin

• 1 working librarian
• 1 certified librarian
• 1 librarian-in-training
• 3 English Purists
• 1 administrator
• The Committee

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• Lists and lists and lists
• Booklists from other schools with demographics
  similar to ours
• ALA pamphlet 100 All-Star Choices for Teens
• YALSAs The Best of the Best Books for Young
  Adults and Outstanding Books for the College
  Bound and Lifelong Learners
• Teen Genreflecting A Guide to Reading Interests
  by Diana Tixier Herald
• NCTE Reading Lists
• Kathleen Odeans workshop Whats New In Young
  Adult Literature (Grades 6-12) 2006

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• We read until we couldnt see or teach or
  function in society
• So we asked others to help read and thus Things
  Fall Apart.
• This book is too long.
• I dont have time.
• There are bad words in it?!
• Read?
• These genres dont interest me.
• Do we really need that many titles?
• Cant we just keep Downriver on the list?

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Genre Explorations

• Nonfiction whittling
• Boy books, girl books, multi-cultural, mystery,
  romance, sports, sci-fi, fantasy, OH MY!
• Down and dirty book-talking ensued. We slugged
  it out over salads. And when it was really bad,
  we switched to fried food.

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And We Read

• and Read
• and Read
• the children suffered and the men wept for their
  suppers. We went nowhere without a book.

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Bringing the Books to the Masses

• Barnes and Noble Partnership
• PTSA
• Website
• Morning Announcements
• Talked it up in class

• Handouts
• Changes in the program
• Overview of the assessment
• List of books for all grades with brief
  descriptions and awards for each

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Barnes and Noble Night

• Touching the Books.
• Flipping through pages.
• Talking to teachers, parents and salespeople
  about . BOOKS!
• Interacting with others.
• The mere fact that it was in a bookstore really
  reinforced our program goals making real
  readers!

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September and Assessment

• What were we thinking?
• organizing 1400 students into small book groups
• providing supervision
• modeling the process
• holding kids accountable
• looked better on paper than in action.

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What We Learned from Year One

• Assessing whether or not kids read a book is
  difficult without a formal assignment.
• Monitoring students in book groups to be sure
  everyone is on task is difficult.

• Convincing teachers to buy-in was nearly
  impossible.
• Not every book was a good choice.
• Allowing students to write their own questions
  for discussion might have lacked common sense.

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but it basically worked!
There was something for everyone.
Book groups allowed for different opinions,
insight and broader interpretations.
All of the books looked interesting.
Yes! I understood the book so much better
talking about it in a group instead of a paper or
test format.
I like this way because we had much more
choice.
the list included all types of books so
everyone could find something they liked.
I liked that we could pick books from modern
authors. The old list was so dreary and it had
nothing to do with us today.
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This is NOW

• The books were much better and more varied in
  selection. I actually plan to read a few more
  from the list in my free time.
• ---student

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The Teachers Said

• Most of the students seemed to enjoy the
  discussions.
• The reaction from the community was astounding
  not one complaint!
• Lit circles were worthwhile and exciting for the
  kids.
• Students got to read what they wanted and had an
  intelligent conversation with both peers and
  teachers.
• The new system was far superior to the old system
  and that all of those involved in the development
  of the plan should be commended for a successful
  revamp of the program!
• Students who did not read seemed repentant rather
  than boastful.

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Our New To-Do List for 07-08

• Complete summer reading assessments within two
  weeks of school beginning.
• Refine assessments.
• Weed lists and be sure that all levels are
  covered.
• Add new titles and accept student suggestions.
• Work on teacher buy-in of the process.
• Reduce logistical nightmare by holding all book
  groups during one period and essentially shutting
  down school to show how important reading is.
• Start today!

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Year Two- 2007-2008

• Edited lists to 7 titles per grade level and
  weeded and replaced titles
• Promoted through Barnes and Noble again- Turn out
  was lower during Year Two
• Redesigned Assessment
• Redesigned Book Discussion Group formats
• Added Raiders READ Wednesdays
• One of our own becomes a LMS!

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Literacy Leads the Lessons!

• Block by block discussions werent working
  because some books were not as widely read as
  others
• We petitioned our principal to find time for
  reading in the school schedule so that we could
  hold book discussion groups during for three
  consecutive Wednesdays. While the 9th graders
  were talking about summer reading books, the rest
  of the school would be

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READING!
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Raiders READ

• R-Raiders
• E-Engaged
• A-And
• D-Developing Comprehension Skills
• Who Everyone in the building!
• When 845 AM
• (after attendance, etc.)
• for 30 minutes

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WHY? (Were Preaching to the Choir!)

• Promote importance of reading (summer or
  otherwise)
• Facilitate discussion about books
• Develop and reinforce literacy, questioning and
  discussion skills
• Develop a community of readers
• Encourage reading for pleasure even after summer
  has ended
• Encourage dialogue between teachers and students
  via books
• Promote a discussion model for teachers in other
  content areas

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What do they read?

• Whatever they like newspapers, magazines,
  novels and even textbooksbut they should NOT be
  doing homework. Encourage reading for pleasure
  versus reading to get homework done.
• We met with resistance immediately! Control is
  hard to relinquish.

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What teachers wanted to know

• What if a kid picks reading material with
  questionable content?
• They can read anything?
• Can I assign articles for my subject matter?
• I have art books that we never get to. Ill have
  them read from those.
• We had a great speaker on Net Safety who left us
  with several boxes of books. The kids should
  read those!
• Do I have to do this?
• I dont teach reading! I teach math.
• I dont have time for this in my curriculum!

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Summer Reading Re-Assessments

• Based on survey results, many kids felt s as if
  students who didnt read could pick up enough
  from group discussion to do well on the essay.
  In order to equalize a bit we
• Gave a 20 question quiz for each book prior to
  discussions
• Asked teachers to do at least one activity with
  summer reading prior to that quiz
• After book group discussions, gave two versions
  of the essay question and weighted the essays as
  a double quiz grade

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Sample Schematic for Group Discussions

• 9th Grade Schematic
• First Wednesday
• Big Mouth 85 kids with 9 groups in the
  auditorium (Wendy, Suzanne, Cat, Andrea)
• Only You 36 kids with 3 groups in room 204
  (George and Joey)
• Vampire 40 kids with 4 groups in faculty dining
  room (Dee Dee and Erik L.)
• Softly 42 kids with 4 groups in library (Lara,
  Candice and Anne Marie)
• Slam 35 kids with 3 groups in room 504 (Alicia
  and Vince)
• Amulet 36 kids with 3 groups in room 203 (Julie
  and Rebekah)
• Street- 69 kids with 7 groups in the Commons
  (Fred, Casey and Roscoe)

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Magic Slips of Colored Paper

• Tickets or a bookmark? Too hard!
• Yelling to put them in groups? Ineffective.
• Writing passes for each kid? No.
• Passing out slips of colored paper as students
  walked into the room and organizing by color? Yes!

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Who Got Drafted?

• History teachers led discussions.
• English teachers led discussions.
• One science teacher led a discussion.
• Librarians led discussions.
• Special Ed teachers led discussions.
• Even the principal led discussions!
• We asked available teachers to monitor if they
  werent hosting groups. Responses varied.

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The format of the quizzes 5 True/False 14
Multiple Choice 1 Short Answer
The Golden Compass Quiz 1. This novel takes
place in our world, only many years ago. 6. Who
is Lee Scoresby? a. an aeronaut b.
a forensic scientist c. a hired fighter
d. psychologist 20. The Golden Compass is a
fantasy dealing largely with the nature of good
and evil. Many of the characters Pullman creates
go against normal stereotypes found in other
literature. Discuss how his novel deals with the
archetypal battle between good and evil through
at least two groups of opposing characters.
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Sample Essay Question

• Life of Pi
• Directions Using your discussions and your
  reading of the book, cite specific examples from
  the story to support your points as you create an
  essay.
• The novels three-part structure takes radical
  turns in the transitions. Discuss the events
  leading to and out of these transitions and the
  effect each has on the reader.
• OR
• By the end of the story, Pi offers the
  interviewers a choice as to which story to
  believe. What version of the story did the
  interviewers choose and what would you choose?
  Why did they choose theirs, and why do you choose
  yours?

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How Did We Do?

• Summer Reading Survey Posted to Blackboard
  2007-2008
• Grade Gender
• 1. Which book did you read? Choose one.
• 2. How much of the book did you actually read?
•     a. all     b. some     c. none
• 3. Who influenced your decision to read this
  book?
•    a. parent    b. older sibling c. friend
     d. teacher
• Do you have any book titles you would recommend
  for the summer reading list?
• Answer the following questions using the scale
• 3 yes 2 somewhat 1 not really
• 4. The summer reading quiz was a good assessment
  of my book.
• 5. The discussion group was a worthwhile
  activity.
• 6. My discussion group was productive.
• 7. The quiz and the discussion prepared me for
  the essay.
•  

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They Noticed!

• County Level support was overwhelming, asking all
  schools to model their summer reading lists after
  Atlees Summer Reading list by providing choice,
  variety, contemporary titles and descriptions
• The principal was so impressed by Raiders READ
  that he made it a school-wide goal in an effort
  to support a raise in test scores and literacy
• 80 of teachers are reading with their kids
• Parents thank us!
• Kids thank us for thinking out of the classic
  and giving time to something they value
  reading!
• Circulation numbers are up!

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Survey Results from 2007-2008

• Results are not in at the time of this posting.
  Well have them at the presentation.

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To-Do List for 2008-2009

• Teacher Buy-In Always more progress to be made
• Down with the Committee- Grade level teachers
  will decide on titleseventually involving other
  curriculums, but right now, just English teachers
• Weed lists rotating off at least two or three
  books per level
• Continue to promote Raiders READ
• Rethink number of nights at Barnes and Noble

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If you have questions or suggestions

• Melissa Brown -Library Media Specialist at Pole
  Green Elementary School
• Mechanicsville, VA 23116
• mbrown_at_hcps.us
• Andrea Clarke- Library Media Specialist at Atlee
  High School
• Mechanicsville, VA 23116 aclarke_at_hcps.us
• Wendy Edelman English Department Chairperson at
  Atlee High School
• Mechanicsville, VA 23116
• wedelman_at_hcps.us

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Ways to Go Global!

• Select inexpensive editions of paperback books
• Donations accepted!
• Involve the PTA or other parent organization
• Partner with the local library
• Find a business partner
• Apply for a grant
• Try LM_Net to gather more ideas