The time for Summer Reading is upon us! In our high school, the summer reading program is completely run by the English department and the Library has nothing to do with it. In fact, they even sell their own books rather than have us check them out. This got me thinking about summer reading programs in general. It seems when you look online, talk to a teen or go to Barnes and Noble, that the required reading lists do not take into account teen’s interests or allow for much “reading for pleasure”. For instance, look at this list from CollegeBoard. Not many jump off the page to me!
In the library of my dreams, summer reading programs would be a time where teens could explore their own interests outside of school and be able to enjoy reading again. How many of the adults that you know are reading Tolstoy for pleasure on the beach? Not me. Instead, I’m reading things that interest me and that I enjoy. Why shouldn’t teens have that right as well? They spend all year in school reading things are assigned. I’d much rather see a summer reading program that required a certain number of books but didn’t require a set list. Here are some suggestions of great places to find books that would be more interesting to students. You could even make it more collaborative by creating your own summer reading blog like this!
Parkway High School Summer Reading List
2 comments:
Sorry for the Ms. Stenzel name. I already have an account with Blogger that I've used with kids and so it had the more professional title. I am on a first name basis with you guys!
Carolyn
I agree with you. Summer is a time to sit outside (or in the AC) and relax while reading a great book (or 20). I don't think it does much to help students' reading for fun when you push a horrible book at them that they have no interest in reading. I think students should try books outside their typical interests from time to time, but there should be some choice. I remember being forced to read David Copperfield for 12th grade English - took me all summer to get through it, just 10 min a day which is all I could handle. B&N has some great book choices, and I looked at some of the lists on the Henrico County School's library site and they have some wonderful choices. The public libraries also have some great reading programs in the summer.
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