What's the point of summer reading??

[Megan Teschner]

Only a few weeks left of school! Every student is ready to get out of here for 3 months. Even during the summer, the school administrators love to give us homework. It's our summer vacation.  Do we seriously have to have more homework?! Now I'm not saying that books are bad and we shouldn't be reading over the summer, but why do we have to be forced to?? We should be able to choose what we do with our time over our summer break.

 

Of course, we get stuck with that stupid summer reading list. Every once in a while they'll put a few good books on the list that kids enjoy, but not always. So we students get stuck choosing a book we don't want to read anyway. If you are anything like me, there are a few steps you use to choosing a book.

Step 1: Have you read one of these books before?

Step 2: Is there a book you've actually wanted to read, but never had time to?

Step 3: If  step 1 & 2 don't work, which book is the shortest?

Step 4: If step 1,2 & 3 don't work, which book did your friends choose?

 

Once you've decided on the book, you won't actually end up reading it until the week before school starts, the day before school starts, a few days before you're told you'll have a writing assignment, or in a lot of cases you just don't read it and look up the Sparknotes.

 

If most kids don't even read the books or obviously don't want to read the books, why should we be forced to? If we want to read over the summer we will, and we'll choose a book we want to read. 

 

 

Am I the only one that feels this way? Let me know what you think about the summer reading list.

[Alex Costigan]

Summer reading has a good purpose; trying to keep kids minds active over the summer, but it really doesn't serve its purpose when everyone reads their book a couple days before school starts.  Kids definitely get less book-smart over summer, so I think teachers should just accept the fact that regardless of what they have us do over summer, students still need like a month of recap when school starts up again.

[Meghan Byrne]

I agree with Ben. I think summer reading is pretty pointless. No one reads until a few days before schools starts anyways. I mean, I see the point of it... but i feel like they should just give us the list and have us read it at the beginning of the next school year. It makes more sense to me. Or at least let us choose our own book(s) to read.

[Michael McWilliams]

I get why it is important to read over the summer but I do think that it has a poor resection rate manly because it is so limiting.

[Lauren Olson]

i think summer reading sucks. My hatred spurs from the idea that you have to choose something from their list. I understand where the school is coming from. Its those select few students that spark note their books or don't even read it that ruin the experience. Over the summer, I actually read a lot. I just hate reading the books they choose. I just looked over their list and at least the choices aren't horribly depressing.

[Gary Anderson]

The 2011 summer reading information is now posted:  http://www.fhs.d211.org/departments/english/summer_reading/. 

With all due respect to the opinions expressed here, I believe that students should read over the summer, and our school has a responsibility to encourage that.  Still, I think the lists are a bad idea for a variety of reasons.  For a discussion of those reasons, you can take a look at what I said on Keely's blog post "Does school ruin reading?".

You will see that some courses this summer have an open choice of books, although in some cases they have to read more than one.  I would like to see all classes go to that kind of system.  Choice is much more motivating that a restricted list.  Please don't let that get in the way of finding some good books to read over the summer though.  Read some good books.  And read the required one.  Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll be the same.

[megan bryk]

I think that we shouldn't be given homework over the summer, during the school year we are piled with work  and stress so summer is the only time we have to relax and enjoy ourselves.  But if we are going to have to do reading, we should be able to chose our own book.  The point is to get us reading and enjoy reading over the summer so we shouldn't have a list because everyone has different intrests in books.  Personally I think it's summer so leave us alone, but if we have to read let us choose the book so we enjoy it.

[Ben Luke]

I hate the summer reading list. I don't think that the school should give it out anyway. I do what you said, and don't read it til a few days before my teacher says we have to write about it. It should really be a back to school reading, not a summer reading, given when we actually get back to school, not on our vacation.