Summer Reading Lists: Why? (high school, economy, teaching, student)

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Tulani,
You seem to be confusing your personal family with the goal of the schools. Many parents do not read to their kids, do not provide books and would not encourage reading over the summer unless it was required. To me, that's the bottom line. For the kids that enjoy reading, or are good readers, the summer reading lists might be a bit of a pain, but it's not an overwhelming angst ridden chore. It's simply reading books they may not have chosen. For reluctant readers or kids that don't like to read, the summer reading is more challenging but all the more needed.

I'll admit that for my youngest son, who is a slower reader but took the most challenging classes (and had the most summer reading), it did have more of an impact. Instead of reading fiction now he chooses tech articles.

My kids will all tell you that they didn't particularly love the required reading or work, but that they understood the reason behind it and it did not severely impact their summer.

Libraries generally partner with school districts to provide the summer reading books. The one I work at does. We have dozens of copies of all the books and the schools loan us their copies as well and this year we added 6 e-readers to our collection to loan out.

It seems the schools are the ones who are confused about priorities. Their time with our children is during the school year. Not summer vacation. Maybe the problem would be fixed with having year around school to combat retention issues.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by lkb0714

Lol.

The very same people that ***** and moan about the decline of the American education system are bitching and moaning about summer reading.

Studies show that most kids will lose 3-4 months of progress during the summer and summer work can help them keep their ground. And FYI, we haven't particularly lost ground, the rest of the world is catching up. Many of those top programs go for longer hours and a longer year.

The irony is palpable.

The thing that is ironic is that 30 years ago our schools were much more highly ranked than they are now. Back then the vast majority of schools were not requiring summer reading. Now that we require summer reading the international standing of our schools has fallen. I haven't done a study to see if there is any connection, but it does stand to reason that perhaps summer reading is not helping our students.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

The thing that is ironic is that 30 years ago our schools were much more highly ranked than they are now. Back then the vast majority of schools were not requiring summer reading. Now that we require summer reading the international standing of our schools has fallen. I haven't done a study to see if there is any connection, but it does stand to reason that perhaps summer reading is not helping our students.

I agree. I don't think the key to helping our public schools is handing out reading lists to kids during the summer. I'll risk it and say I don't think reading lists have anything to do with the success or failure of a school.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

The thing that is ironic is that 30 years ago our schools were much more highly ranked than they are now. Back then the vast majority of schools were not requiring summer reading. Now that we require summer reading the international standing of our schools has fallen. I haven't done a study to see if there is any connection, but it does stand to reason that perhaps summer reading is not helping our students.

I went to school in the 60's-70's and had a reading list every year in elementary and high school...every summer.

And I am thankful for it. I would not have normally picked up those "classics".

And when Half Price books put out their "40 greatest classics you should have read" I was able to tick off 36 out of the 40 and am currently aiming to get those other 4 read.

The Half Price Blog - The Official Blog of Half Price Books - 40 Classic Books You Should Have Read in*School

IMHO our standard is falling because kids are not reading at their level. Textbooks are not used like they used to be; instead there's more handouts, hands on activities and talking rather than reading assignments.

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

It seems the schools are the ones who are confused about priorities. Their time with our children is during the school year. Not summer vacation. Maybe the problem would be fixed with having year around school to combat retention issues.

The school's time with your children is until they graduate from high school or drop out when they turn 17.

I think we will eventually get around to some form of year round school. It would provide better utilization of facilities instead of having then sit empty for almost three months, and help to start the process of improving our education system.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

Over on Parenting, the topic of summer readings lists came up. From an educator's point of view, what is the purpose of required reading lists? Do you think that it inhibits a love of reading when kids are made to read 20 or 30 books over the summer rather than choosing their own?

I was given suggested reading lists for the summer, mainly in Junior High and HS. They weren't required, fortunately. I never read a thing on those lists. I never had a clue what was going on in literature anyway. We weren't taught how to read literature and make sense out of it, so it would have been pointless to do summer reading, anyway.

[Charles Wallace]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

Over on Parenting, the topic of summer readings lists came up. From an educator's point of view, what is the purpose of required reading lists? Do you think that it inhibits a love of reading when kids are made to read 20 or 30 books over the summer rather than choosing their own?

Honestly, this is a false dichotomy, especially given the following considerations:

1. Unless you're talking elementary school (in which a "book" is Henry and Mudge or some five-page Bob Book), "20 or 30 books" is quite unusual. For example, as an AP teacher, I am assigning two books total.

2. You assume that students DON'T "choose their own." Usually, teachers have lists from which students choose -- as, for example, I did. Teachers' lists are usually made up of books that try to hit the sweet spot between "books you need a class to understand" and "fun crap I'd read on my own." However, the point is that yes, students do "choose their own."

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

I went to school in the 60's-70's and had a reading list every year in elementary and high school...every summer.

And I am thankful for it. I would not have normally picked up those "classics".

And when Half Price books put out their "40 greatest classics you should have read" I was able to tick off 36 out of the 40 and am currently aiming to get those other 4 read.

The Half Price Blog - The Official Blog of Half Price Books - 40 Classic Books You Should Have Read in*School

IMHO our standard is falling because kids are not reading at their level. Textbooks are not used like they used to be; instead there's more handouts, hands on activities and talking rather than reading assignments.

I agree with you completely. I was in school at about the same time and wish I would have had required reading lists. Sometimes you need a little encouragement to do things you otherwise would not have done. There are many books I have never got around to reading that I wish I would have been encouraged to read.

You are exactly right about students' reading levels. I have heard high school students say they hate to read. It is not unusual for high school students to ask to read material aloud in class because the students say they don't remember it if they read silently.

Your comment about textbooks is also right on the mark. Many teachers do not expect students to read textbooks. As you mentioned, teachers depend on handouts, hands on activities, creating posters, and study guides. It is not uncommon for teachers to allow students to use a 3x5 or 4x6 index card of notes during tests. Some students don't get it that the tests come directly from the study guide and they could write all the info on their index card.

[Charles Wallace]

The other thing I'd like to add WRT reading lists for AP or honors classes (not elementary, middle school, or other classes) is this:

Taking AP and honors is voluntary, not required. It is understood -- or should be, by most people -- that the amount of content a student will need in order to succeed at the AP/Honors level is greater than that student would need otherwise. Object to summer reading? Cool -- then don't take AP. No big loss.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

The thing that is ironic is that 30 years ago our schools were much more highly ranked than they are now. Back then the vast majority of schools were not requiring summer reading. Now that we require summer reading the international standing of our schools has fallen. I haven't done a study to see if there is any connection, but it does stand to reason that perhaps summer reading is not helping our students.

30 years ago (1982) people were talking about how bad the public schools were; how we were falling behind other countries, etc. Heck, they were talking like that in 1962! (I am old enough to remember.)

Correlation does not equal causation.