Slice of Life #25: Summer
Professional Book Study Ideas—Suggestions, Please?
With summer vacation approaching,
I have been thinking about books that
I might suggest for our
summer book studies this year, and I am certainly open to suggestions—so bring
them on in the “comments” section (below).
Our summer book studies have been very successful; in my district with 6 schools, we generally have about 80 teachers who choose to participate! I think that is amazing and is one of many ways that our wonderful staff demonstrates their professionalism. We get together at people's homes, in cafes, or our public library and talk, collaborate, and watch videos to support our reading. This has been a great time to get to know colleagues that we almost never see and to deepen our professional relationships as co-workers.
Our summer book studies have been very successful; in my district with 6 schools, we generally have about 80 teachers who choose to participate! I think that is amazing and is one of many ways that our wonderful staff demonstrates their professionalism. We get together at people's homes, in cafes, or our public library and talk, collaborate, and watch videos to support our reading. This has been a great time to get to know colleagues that we almost never see and to deepen our professional relationships as co-workers.
I usually offer a different
study group for each of these levels: K-2,
3-5, and 6-12. I might be willing to
combine K-5 if the “right” book comes along—which really looks like a great
possibility this year... or I could go with two of the titles on the K-5 list and give teachers a choice about which group to attend... There are a lot of configurations for study groups!
Here are some ideas. What do you think, dear reader?
Grades 6-12 (ELA):
- BOOK LOVE: DEVELOPING DEPTH, STAMINA, AND PASSION IN ADOLESCENT READERS by Penny Kittle
- NOTICE AND NOTE: STRATEGIES FOR CLOSE READING by Kyleen Beers and Harvey Daniels
Grades K-5:
- I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN, VISUAL LITERACY K-8 (2nd Ed.) by Steve Moline
- PRACTICAL FLUENCY by Max and Gayle Brand
- OPENING MINDS: USING LANGUAGE TO CHANGE LIVES by Peter Johnston
- GENRE CONNECTIONS: LESSONS TO LAUNCH LITERARY AND NONFICTION TEXTS by Tanny McGregor
- DAY BY DAY: REFINING WRITERS WORKSHOP THROUGH 180 DAYS OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE by Ruth Ayers and Stacey Shubitz
- GUIDING READERS: MAKING THE MOST OF THE 18-MINUTE GUIDED READING LESSON by Lori Jamison Rog
Grades K-2:
- MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR CORE READING PROGRAM: RESEARCH-BASED ESSENTIALS by Peter Dewitz and Jonni Wolskee
Grades 3-5:
- WHAT READERS REALLY DO TEACHING THE PROCESS OF MEANING MAKING by Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton
Please comment to share your thinking about these or other texts. If you have read any of these, I'd enjoy hearing your "review" and insights. Of course, I am open to suggestions. We have had a lot of book studies over the summers, across grade levels, and school years; so if something seems to be missing, it may just be that it's already been studied. You never know, so please suggest all you like!
Thank you for adding to my wishlist! I will say I love Peter Johnston, so you can't go wrong there! I do not have any to add though!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thought on this. I really like this book and think it will generate interesting conversations.
DeleteBook Love and Penny's book about writing - Write Beside Them are just amazing, especially read one after the other, as I did last summer. This is a great list...but I'd add Shades of Meaning for the middle grades, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tara. I do have Penny's WRITE BESIDE THEM and will definitely check into SHADES OF MEANING.
DeleteI want to join your book study groups! Maybe I can offer the idea to our teachers, too. Have you read Donalyn Miller's THE BOOK WHISPERER? She also has a new one coming out soon, READING IN THE WILD. For middle and high school, any of Kelly Gallagher's books are excellent. I like READICIDE and READING REASONS.
ReplyDeleteYes, some have studied THE BOOK WHISPERER. I wanted to do Donalyn' s new book, but I think its release date isn't until August. We have studied and LOVED Kelly Gallagher's DEEPER READING. He is one of my "intellectual crushes." :)
DeleteYou have some great suggestions, but you may want to check into The Comprehension Experience-Engaging Readers Through Effective Inquiry and Discussion by W. Dorsey Hammond and Denise Nessel. It could be a K-5 study. There is a lot to discuss in this text, it makes you think about what you are doing.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely check it out! Thanks for the idea. :)
DeleteOpening Minds works well as a k-8 study. I'm leading a K-8 study right now on Pathways to the Common Core. We've also had success with Conferring: The Keystone of the Reading Workshop by Patrick Allen.
ReplyDeleteYes, I thought about L. Calkins's PATHWAYS TO THE CC... I do enjoy all of Patrick Allen' s work. That is worthy of consideration, too!
DeletePenny Kittle's book is in my bag to be read soon. Kelly Gallagher's Write Like This is wonderful for 6-12. Mechanically Inclined is also wonderful. I look forward reading your future selections!
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestions. Kelly Gallagher is one of my all- time favorites. What do you think about Jeff Anderson 's newest book, 10 THINGS ... ?
DeleteDEFINITELY Book Love, as you know from my posts last week! :-) I'm excited that my writing about it helped you consider using it!!!
ReplyDeleteOpening Minds is also excellent (I've been relishing it in small bites throughout the year), and Notice & Note is on my to-read list!
It sounds like we would make great reading buddies! Thank you for your valuable feedback. :)
ReplyDeleteReading for Meaning 2nd Edition by Debbie Miller! Along with all the others!
ReplyDeleteAmy, I did consider that... but most of the staff has read the first edition, and I wondered if it would be worthwhile to re-read, even with updated material. Tough decision! Thanks for the idea.
DeleteBook Love is AMAZING!!! Love, love, love it! There's a facebook group where Penny Kittle discussed this book, chapter by chapter with teachers. You can still join. I found that so helpful! Also, Notice & Note. You couldn't pick better books for 6-12! "we generally have about 80 teachers who choose to participate" WOW! That's terrific. I'm wondering how you manage this? My district is HUGE, but I'd love to start something like this for our middle school teachers. Any guidance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteMichelle, in the past I have put out a survey on Survey Monkey to determine interest and best times/days to meet (and to organize results without running the risk of losing responses on email). When we get a count, we order books. So far, the district has been able to fund these studies, usually costing between $800 and $1,000--but you get a LOT of vested PD for a LOT of people with that money! I do ask (on the survey) if teachers are willing to purchase their own books, if necessary. Most say, "Yes," but they have not had to--yet.
DeleteI also ask if anyone is willing to host at their home; amazingly, people do--even when some of the groups might have 30-40 in them! Addresses, phone numbers, and directions are included on printed and emailed schedules.
The books arrive before we head home for the summer. I deliver them to each teacher's mailbox (if s/he signed up to participate), along with a printed schedule of meetings. I also email a schedule of meetings; this way, whether you are digitally-inclined (or not), you have easy access to the information.
We generally meet three times in the summer, so the reading is divided into a corresponding number of sections. I try to allow for a couple of weeks to pass (after school is out) for teachers to finish up their work at school and to have a bit of a rest. Then we start meeting. It seems like it works best if the group meets on alternating weeks on the same day of the week. When we were accommodating summer school teachers, I would do one morning, one afternoon, and one evening meeting.
So, generally, a group might meet on alternating Tuesdays at 10 AM. Then they had it in their heads! Most seemed to like that. No matter what, attendance has been very good--usually at least 80% of the people show up. I think that's great, especially with vacations, etc., also taking place.
Things I do to help--
If they provide me with cell phone numbers, I send out texts 24-48 hours ahead to remind participants of the time, place, and assignment to be read. If not, I call their land lines. I also send emails. :) It takes a little time, but I think that seriously helps attendance because it reminds them, and they know I care. I never judge if someone can't come; I just let them know that they will be missed and that we hope to see them next time.
I also type minutes from our meetings and email those within 48 hours to all participants. Again, I think this shows that I care and that I know they do, as well. Many times, wonderful resources are mentioned in a meeting, so I can send those and/or attachments, as well. Then everyone has them and doesn't have to wonder about them later on. I think they appreciate that, too.
Some participants or I often try to provide a small treat for coming. We don't have a budget for this, but it is a little incentive and makes everyone feel welcome--even if we are just in a meeting room at our public library.
Sometimes, I offer a make-up session in August (a couple of weeks before school starts) so that if anyone missed a session or would like more conversation, they are accommodated.
The teachers are allowed to keep the books in their possession for as long as they are employed with us. If they decide they don't want to keep them (but most do), they can enter them into our centrally located professional library. Then they become available to people who couldn't participate, as well. It's a win-win.
School-year book studies work differently. Let me know if you want to hear about those!
P.S. I also plan discussion questions/topics, have my own notes of what I found interesting or wondered about and why, etc. This helps propel discussion. I also like doing activities that get EVERYONE talking. One of my favorite sources for this is a book called SIT AND GET WON'T GROW DENDRITES: 20 PROFESSIONAL LEARNING STRATEGIES THAT ENGAGE THE ADULT BRAIN. Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Sit-Get-Wont-Grow-Dendrites/dp/0761931546
DeleteYou can innovate ideas for a long time with this resource. More ideas that are available for free online can be found on the website instructionalcoach.org in the PARTNERSHIP FIELD GUIDE
at this link: http://instructionalcoach.org/resources/partnership-learning
I hope this helps!
Wow! Thanks so much. I appreciate the time you took to explain this to me. I may be in touch with more questions. This sounds excellent!
DeleteYou are very welcome. Feel free to keep in touch. Obviously, I love to "talk shop." :)
ReplyDeleteI will keep in touch. Me too! :)
Delete