The Book U Get
In total, 465 books were given in course materials or won during the 8 weeks. The books are now in the home libraries of 47 students and range from pre-school to adult DRA level. Students had fun, made friends, competed, built confidence, learned skills to discuss emotionally-laden topics, and were prepared for Day 1 of English Language Arts when they returned to school in the fall.
In the PHS Club, there were TWO first-place winners, each who read 17 books (in 8 weeks), and a second-place winner who read 15 books.
John Witherspoon Middle School Club
The Mortification of Fovea Munson
SKYPE with Mary Winn Heider
WARNING: TBUGs bite and can cause excessive reading and frequent trips to the Princeton Public Library!
The Stars Beneath Our Feet
Lego and building block competition
The New Kid
SKYPE with Jerry Craft
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel
Summer reading assignment preparation
Plus: Ghost Boys by Jewel Parker Rhodes and
All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds.
Princeton High School Club
American Born Chinese
Gene Luen Yang
Born a Crime
Trevor Noah
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie
Scythe
Neal Shusterman
Plus:
An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and An Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn;
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie;
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover;
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi;
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson;
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin; and
There, There by Tommy Orange.
Our reading program was hosted by the Princeton Public Library. The program ran for 8 weeks over the summer and was designed to:
Combat the “summer slide” and limit/prevent achievement loss;
Provide an opportunity for connectedness (each other, public library, school, and teachers);
Foster a love of reading by helping each student find the genre or author that inspires reading;
Create healthy competition so participants get an opportunity to win at something;
Provide academic rigor and challenge in a supportive and encouraging way;
Create home libraries for the entire family to access;
Build internal advocate network for students (through instructors);
Provide a curriculum that will address the types of issues our students face so they can learn productive ways to respond;
Help prepare students for the first day English Language Arts assignment; and
Acknowledge and affirm that all souls are created equal.
Students met for dinner and a discussion of the week’s reading assignment. There were no papers or tests, which allowed teachers to focus on facilitating meaningful discussions and students to relax and enjoy the books and discussions without the pressure of a pending assignment.