Each year as the school year opens, we begin as a community of readers. A few years ago, we borrowed an idea from Beverly High School to implement Literature Circles. Throughout the school year, teachers and students recommend books to our librarian, who then selects a variety of books for summer reading for students and faculty.
In September, we gather for two consecutive days in Literature Circles, grouped not by grade or arts major, but by the books we read. Last year, we piloted Literature Circles co-lead by a teacher and a student, and it was so successful that the number of students who volunteered doubled this year.
All Literature Circles involve talking about books- where we as readers connected to plot, character, events, etc. Each faculty member leads the group a little differently, but it is amazing to walk around the school, look into any room, and see everyone doing the same thing at the same time: discussing, analyzing, and connecting to literature.
Math faculty Tess Mandell – “Keesha’s House”
Math faculty Cassie Wallace- “The Hunger Games”
Music faculty Greg Holt- “American Born Chinese”
Some books are graphic novels; others, non-fiction; others, long poems. The important part is that we are building community and excitement (among students AND among teachers!) as we talk about books, sometimes wearing down the tough shell that some students have about reading. We want all our students and faculty to feel the freedom of reading for pleasure and sharing that joy with others.
Music faculty Allyssa Jones- “The Help”
I am interested to hear how other schools think about literacy and/or building community, perhaps through a different kind of whole-school initiative. What summer reading books have been successful at your school?
Hi,
Hope to see you at the CES Fall Forum!
I thought you might be interested in this article I wrote – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-stager/the-help-teachers-guide_b_972576.html
Best,
Gary
Gary, thank you for sharing this great article with me and those who follow my blog!
And yes, you will certainly see me and a team from BAA at Fall Forum! Looking forward to it.
I love this! I want to come in Sept. to these! What a cool idea.
My HS class last year read the Hunger Games. It was pretty interesting to hear all their thinking about the book. BAA rocks.
ktb
Thanks so much for your comments. I loved Hunger Games too, and so do our students… So much so that the second volume seems to be permanently checked out of the library! Come visit soon!
Linda, a somewhat generic endorsement of what you and the BAA are doing from Dr. Peter Benson ex of the Search Institute:
http://www.search-institute.org/sparks
The TED Talk is wonderful and SO in line with your actions and passion, but a hint is found at the bottom of the page. What is the number one spark that lights the fire within us as children? Creative Arts, of course!
Stephen Dill
AllNewPublicEducation.com
Thanks for sharing this!