Individualized Lists: How Summer Reading Works at Long-View
Long-View teachers value the progress in reading that can occur during summer months, and with that they spend significant time doing something that rarely happens at other schools: crafting individualized reading lists for each child. Rather than give everyone at a grade level the same list of required reading, our teachers work to build individualized lists for each reader. Today the first step of this process began when blank lists for every child were posted on the windows across the school. Every day for the next two weeks, all teachers will work to build out the lists, which will then be taken home by the kids on the last day of school.
Reading is an important part of the culture of Long-View. Not only are we interested in the fact that books open up the world to us, but we also know that reading volume is directly tied to a reader’s growth. From Campfire, to Literacy Block, to casual conversations at lunch, we take the time to notice interesting topics we want to investigate through reading and share book recommendations — teachers and learners alike. And we often remind ourselves that at Long-View we strive to be “ambitious readers,” holding a daily goal of two hours of reading.
During the summer months, while our kids are not at school, we hope this culture of reading continues. Toward that end, the Long-View team sets up summer reading differently. Because our culture of reading relies on a foundation of choice, interest, and encouragement (rather than requirement), the same holds true for summer reading. Thus, today in Literacy Block, each learner posted a blank “summer reading recommendation list” on the windows, and excitedly waited for recommendations from teachers and peers. The floor-to-ceiling windows around two classrooms were covered with 75 sheets of paper, plus a few more for teachers who were eager for thoughtful recommendations for their own summer reading. The goal is that these lists become an individualized reading list for each learner, with recommended texts falling in the “within-reach” level for independent reading. In addition, we aim for a “balanced reading diet,” and work to be sure the recommendations span many genres, with at least half of the books on the list being non-fiction. Over the course of the next week, teachers will use what they know about the learners in terms of interests as well as appropriate reading level, and will add more and more recommendations to each learner’s chart.
The learners also make suggestions for their peers, and often these suggestions are made via a post-it note on the list taped to the window; the post-it note suggestion then can be double-checked by a teacher before it officially lands on the final list. The kids also record suggestions for themselves, which often arise through the excitement of favorite books of peers, or because they have books they planned to read this year that are still in their book bins, and have yet to have time to tackle them.
In addition to book lists, the learners also spend time planning out their summer reading goals, conferring with their teachers, and committing to the plan by writing it out on their own recommendation list.
All kids take home a thoughtfully curated summer reading list, but most important is the fact that this two-week process invites commitment (or re-commitment) to a “readerly life,” and reinforces an important assumption we make: Learning is more powerful when done in community. The individual, of course, works toward a goal, but the community provides crucial support.
