Listen. Connect. Empower.

We began our year by connecting with our summer reading and our Public Library.  Our second class of the year took the reading categories that our Public Library created and required students to interact with one another and have discussions about them. We began class by playing Human Bingo .  I created a bingo board with the reading categories and supplemented with several fun categories like "I read in my pajamas" and "I read something that wasn't a book."  Students had to find someone in the class that read or had the related experience and write their name on their board.  The goal was to fill as many boxes as possible and to accrue as many "bingos" as possible. When time was up I took inventory on how many "bingos" were achieved and how many boxes were filled.  I also wanted to know which boxes were hard to fill.  The most common responses were: History Science Fiction Science/Math Reading something that wasn't a ...

I decided to start our year picking up where we left off - connecting with the Public Library.  At the end of the school year our Public Library kicked off a Literacy Afternoon .  They shared with our students how they could take part in the summer reading program.  I began our first class of the year with a demonstration of MY summer reading.  It served two purposes: Share my reading life  Excite students about the new books that are on order for our library  I began by taking a poll to see how many students visited a library over the summer.  Roughly 40% of students reported they visited a library.  Ouch.  That's it?  I asked how many students participated in Summer Reading.  If a hand went up in the class (and there were classes where there were NONE), I could count them on one hand.  Gulp.  However.... I had glimmers of hope when students DID raise their hands and excitedly share with me how they earned the pins ...

This year's Summer Reading took on a new, refreshing feel this year.  Reading Specialist Allison Kieffner and I were given the freedom to develop our own Summer Reading program and we abandoned reading levels, book logs, and reading minutes.  Instead, we partnered with the Public Library and gave our students permission to read far and wide. We planned and launched the program at an assembly at the end of the school year which was hosted by the Student Council.  One third grader shared with us some writing that was important to her and the story behind it.  Next, members of the Public Library staff came to explain what Summer Reading looked like.   They shared with us how to "sign up" for Summer Reading. They shared with us the lanyard that students would receive and explained how they could earn pins by reading across genres. Staff also shared the different types of "items" they could check out of the library.  (I personally have my eyes o...