The Case against Summer Reading Programs

Reading is a favorite pastime of mine. I love the way the story plays out like a movie in my head when I am reading a fabulous fiction book. I adore learning new ideas/perspectives/concepts and often pick up nonfiction works from all fields. A good biography is like an invitation to an intimate parlor session with a dinner guest who tells fabulous stories. A great autobiography is like going out to coffee with a good friend. An intriguing mystery will have me analyzing plots and characters with total strangers to try and figure out the ending. A thriller will keep me up for days and cause me to leave the light on when I sleep (if I can even close my eyes). A wonderful science fiction/fantasy novel will have me scouring the skies for evidence of other life, and pouring over hair dye to see how I would look as the alien with blue hair. A good book is truly a gift…

Yet I hate summer reading assignments – at least how they are so often constructed. “Qualified” grownups are picking books for students with little input from the age group set to read the book. Many times a book is picked for its “purpose,” its “lesson,” or for imparting some type of “value.” In isolation a student reads the book without guidance, background, explanation, or other help aid. Generally a journal assignment is given with many students feeling as though they are writing for no specific audience in mind – just the grade. Occasionally an additional book is assigned – or a choice is given –with some type of extra assignment. Again no guidance, background, relevance is given to the student, and the activity is completed in isolation from the student’s peers.

In a world in which 75% of my students walk into my classroom and tell me that they hate to read, how is the grade-driven, individual practice of summer reading supposed to foster a change of opinion?

I want my students to realize that reading is one of the most wonderful, exciting, sometimes challenging, yet inspiring activities available to us as human beings. The chance to glimpse inside the world created by another human – even for a brief time – is a magically amazing opportunity that no other species on earth can recreate. However the way most summer reading programs are now constructed, the activity becomes a joyless task generally completed a few nights before school starts. If this program remains the same assessment based activity it has become, I say do away with it completely.

Summertime for students is a magical time. Reading is a magical activity. Isn’t there a better way to combine the two than the programs in place now?

Textbook Perfect Lessons = no fun, no learning...

Learning is a fun engaging process. Classrooms should be places where magic happens as students and teachers explore a topic. Instead, all too often school becomes a dreary place for students to get through on the road to becoming adults.

Recently my students began Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible.” I love teaching this play because it has all the markings of an interesting TV show – sex, scandal, feuding characters, death, and hysteria. In short, it is not “boring” and typically my students have fun arguing about the characters once they understand the complex cast dynamics.

If this was a lesson plan submitted for college courses on teaching, the students would have been “properly prepared” to begin reading the play in class:

• We started this play after learning about the Puritans and reading some of their works so that the students have some background into the culture of the play’s setting before reading.

• I gave the students a “blog” assignment to express their opinions on the play’s themes: greed, guilt, morals, and American values.

• I used a PowerPoint discussion to guide our conversation about the background of the playwright, 1950s history, play itself, and basic characters.

• I posted the PowerPoint online so that the students would not have to worrying about needlessly copying down “facts” from the presentation.

• I kept the discussion “alive” by actively questioning students during the presentation.

• The students began reading the play on their own, and I connected the information they were reading to the background during the class discussions.

• I posted a summary online for Act 1 to assist with the storyline, and created an interactive Quizlet for the characters that the students could contribute to.

• Once the presentation was finished, students began working in groups to create a timeline of Act 1 – who enters the room, leaves the room, what they say and why this info is important.

It was a beautiful lesson plan, set up with all of the bells and whistles to reinforce learning. Unfortunately, while creating this “masterpiece” of learning, I forgot to consider the needs of my current students. I assumed that they would be able to take notes on the reading information without being taught how to pick out important details. I neglected to get them excited about the passion of the play, and to assess their level of understanding as we started reading.

The reality was that I forgot my own principles in creating this lesson. After looking at the start of these very colorful timelines, meeting with students afterschool, and stopping random students in the hallway to ask about their opinions on the reading, I discovered that many of the students were confused about the basic cast of characters, let alone what was happening in the play. Already the students had mentally “checked out” from being engaged, simply because I had not “checked in” on their progress as a class.

That night I went home and created a series of guided notes exercises to help students begin to learn how to understand what they read. In class I explained why we were changing our activities, and told them that I was not upset about the fact that they did not “get” the play right away. (Several students had told me they had been worried about asking questions because they did not want to look “dumb.”) I asked for their help in our classroom. I told them I needed them to ask questions and let me know where they were confused in the play, even if they thought we had already gone over those points in an earlier discussion. I told them that I loved this play, and wanted them to have some fun with it.

After my talk, we began reviewing the Act 1 guided notes in class this week, stopping to read the juiciest passages in Act 1 and connect them to the storyline. Already I am noticing a difference as students begin asking questions, understanding the cast of characters, and voicing opinions on the action. I began to add the “fun” back to the learning, by introducing laughter back into the process. The actions of some of the characters in the play are ridiculous when analyzed, so why shouldn’t we laugh?

I am looking forward to this week as we focus on reading the play in class. Several students have been asking to read for various characters – including some students who rarely will volunteer in class. What a difference understanding a text makes to student interest!

I thank my students for reminding me of my classroom principles, and engaging me back into the process of learning together.