Summer Reading Part III

For the past two Tuesdays, I shared our summer reading plan from last year, the research phase and the implementation. Here are the top ten things that I learned to make it better for next year.

1. Teacher-buy-in matters. The good thing about our plan is that all the teachers were on board.

2. Although access to books wasn't on kids minds based on our survey results, actually putting books into kids' hands reduced the obstacles for them.

3. Our library is too small to hold all three grade levels at the same time.  It would now make sense to host the discussions in our ELA classrooms and just fill up rooms with approximately 15-20 students.

4. Mixing grade levels and\or readers of book titles made for a rich conversation.

3. It refinforced my belief that peers sell books to each other.  Shark tanking the books was the most powerful part of the process for kids.  Many left with new titles to check out.

2.  Really think about a makeup plan. What is the best way to run makeups?  Should we have a sign-up or drop-int.

1. Use all tools- CANVAS, TWITTER, REMIND, FACEBOOK & CONNECT-ORANGE to push the discussions through out the summer. We are working now to refine the list and work out our promos for next year.