Teachers and scholars at the Vassal Lane Upper School celebrated summer reading as a community on Friday, September 7th.
Last spring, every faculty member at Vassal Lane selected one book to
read during the summer, and the staff created a Faculty Book List to
share with incoming scholars. Each scholar was required to read one book
from the Vassal Lane Faculty Book List and to return back to school in
September ready to discuss the book in a small book group.
On the first Friday of the school year, teachers and scholars met and
discussed their books in more than forty small book groups. Book groups
met outside on the field behind the school on a beautiful, sunny
afternoon.
Lisa Gordon, a sixth grade math teacher, shared her experience: “My
book group was great! It was nice to have a small group to talk about
the book with, and it was also a nice chance for me to see what kinds of
things students like to read since I am always just seeing them in the
math room.”
One
Vassal Lane scholar noted that students made their book selections both
based on interest in the book and on their connections with particular
teachers. Book groups had a mix of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade
scholars, giving everyone a chance to get to know each other a little
better outside of their regular classroom schedules and groupings.
The most popular books on the Faculty Book List were The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Every Day by David Leviathan, and Wonder by R.J. Palatio. In addition, a large number of scholars enjoyed two of the nonfiction titles on the Faculty Book List: A Black Hole is NOT a Hole by Carolyn DeCristofano and Race: A History Beyond Black and White by Marc Aronson.
Faculty members and scholars are looking forward to the next
opportunity to share books together as Vassal Lane continues to
strengthen and celebrate its growing community of readers.