A recent USA Today news story opened with the quote "Can a $50 stack of paperback books do as much for a child's academic fortunes as a $3,000 stint in summer school?"
I don't know about a $50 stack of books, but what about one book (@$7.99) and four weeks working closely with preservice English teachers?
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We are two weeks in to a four week free summer reading program for rising 9th and 10th grade students in our town. I got the idea when I came to Alabama in 2005 after reading about the success of programs in the Baltimore area.
The summer is critical for all students, but especially poor students and students of color. Consider the following statistics from www.summerlearning.org/:
--All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. Research shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of summer vacation (Cooper, 1996).
--Low-income children and youth experience greater summer learning losses than their higher income peers. On average, middle-income students experience slight gains in reading performance over the summer months. Low-income students experience an average summer learning loss in reading achievement of over two months (Cooper, 1996).
--Summer learning loss contributes to the achievement gap in reading performance between lower and higher income children and youth. Research demonstrates that while student achievement for both middle- and lower-income students improves at similar rates during the school year, low-income students experience cumulative summer learning losses over the elementary school grades (Alexander & Entwisle, 1996).
--Large numbers of students who qualify for federally subsidized meals do not have the same level of access to nutritious meals during the summer as they do during the school year. Only one in five (21.1 per 100) of the 15.3 million children who receive free or reduced-price school lunches on a typical day during the regular school year participate in federal nutrition programs during the summer (Food Research and Action Center, 2002).
--Studies show that out-of-school time is a dangerous time for unsupervised children and teens. They are more likely to use alcohol, drugs, and tobacco; engage in criminal and other high-risk behaviors; receive poor grades; and drop out of school than those who have the opportunity to benefit from constructive activities supervised by responsible adults (Carnegie Council, 1994).
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I am working closely with a local high school's English department who identified the required summer reading novels--in this case YA novels (historical fiction for ninth graders and realistic fiction for tenth graders)--and then students enrolled in my YA literature class "teach" the novels over the month of June. **I added a common title (Keesha's House) to bring the two grades together.
It is amazing to watch. The fifteen students in my class range from juniors with little to no education courses under their belts to master's students getting ready to graduate with their second English education degree. They collaborate, teach, reflect, collaborate, teach, reflect--a looping process that occurs every day of the week. Many of them had not had much experience with YA novels until now (except for the Harry Potter fans). To see them see the power of YA lit and the limitless instructional possibilities gives me hope for the future.
It is also amazing to see the students transform. I'll be honest, many are there because their parents are forcing them to (or because if they don't attend, they'll be stuck babysitting younger siblings all summer). Hey, we'll take them! By the end of the second day, they are hooked!
Today was the fourth day that we had them for reading and on the way in off the bus one young 9th grade male asked me if I had another book like Keesha's House. I asked whether he meant the topic or the format. He said the format because he can't "read when the words go all across and down the page."
So, during a break, I went to my office and got a copy of Sold for him. On the way out to leave, he asked if I had any more that were like the stories in Keesha's House!! I have also been doing raffles each day, and the one day I forgot, boy, did they let me know (which is a GREAT sign that they are enjoying the reading).
As soon as I can, I will post some pictures and video clips from our time together. I will also be posting excerpts of the students' (mine and the high schoolers) work.
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Free summer reading programs-ones that are more than remediation--are hard to find for students. With increased budget cuts, I fear that there will be nothing for many students in the summer other than "summer school" which more and more is being reduced to little more than worksheets and babysitting.
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