Sixth Annual Summer Reading Celebration

Sixth Annual Summer Reading Celebration
Posted on 09/20/2018
Teachers and students at the Vassal Lane Upper School celebrated summer reading as a community for the sixth year in a row on Thursday September 13th.

Summer ReadingLast spring, the VLUS ELA teachers created a Summer Book List to share with incoming students. Teachers and students selected books to read from the list and then received copies of the books they selected before they left for summer vacation. Teachers and students were asked to read their books during the summer and to return in September ready to discuss their books in small book groups. During the second week of school, teachers and students met and discussed their books in thirty-five small book groups all around the school.

Christine Beltran, the SEI Science teacher at VLUS, shared her experience during the school wide book groups: “I really enjoy sincerely talking to kids about a book I'm excited about and really liked, and one that I see that they really liked as well. It is always great to talk to kids I usually don’t get a chance to interact with and help build relationships by talking about a book openly and honestly.” Kolleen Burbank, the VLUS Math Interventionist, who enjoys the chance to talk with students across grade levels and programs at the school shared, “Students were really respectful of each other. For example, when students were saying what they didn't understand, others let them finish and then helped to explain.”

Many Vassal Lane students enjoyed exchanging ideas about what books to read next with other members of their book groups at the end of their discussions. Book groups had a mix of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, giving everyone a chance to get to know one another a little better outside of their regular classroom schedules and groupings.

Two popular books on the Vassal Lane Summer Book List were Refugee by Alan Gratz and All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.

Faculty members and students are looking forward to continuing what has become a beloved fall tradition at the Vassal Lane Upper School. The Vassal Lane Summer Reading Program provides a valuable opportunity to strengthen and celebrate the school’s growing community of readers.
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