The students in Mrs. von Schoenermarck’s fifth period and seventh period English classes completed a combined total of 382 books that they read independently from September to June of this school year!
Using Peggy Kittle’s model from Book Love, they embarked on a reading journey that incorporated 10 minutes of in-class reading every Monday and Wednesday and 10 minutes at home on the other nights in an attempt to read an hour per week. The students held “Book Talks” every Friday, introducing two selections for the class to consider, and engaged in one-on-one conferences with their teacher at least once a trimester in order to chat about their reading habits and interests. “Book Buddies”—a kind of in-class book club—was held once a month to discuss setting, characterization, use of titles, opening and closing lines, etc., from whatever book each student was reading at that time.
Fifth period tallied an impressive 188 books while seventh period conquered an amazing 194 titles!
With summer on the way, they hope to continue the trend by packing a novel in their beach bag along with lunch and some sunscreen!