Does anyone else get crazy inspired during the summer months? My brain is always on fire with new ideas when June rolls in and my students roll out. It must be something about having a moment to breathe, reflect, acknowledge the stack of books that have been lingering on my desk for 5 months. (Does anyone else purchase professional development books with 110% intention to read them during the school year and then…they just take up space on your desk, taunting your every move? Anyone??)
But the month of June always gets me fired up to read those books, annotate their margins, and outline some ideas in my Moleskin. So, what’s on my summer reading and brainstorming this list this year? Here are a few books and blogs I’m obsessing over:
Less is More by Kimberly Hill Campbell: Because I have complete freedom over my curriculum (swoon, I know!) I have decided to drop a few novels from the year and replace them with short stories. Using this inspiring book as my main resource, I will use the short stories as a vehicle to teach loads of different reading strategies. My hope is this will help me differentiate reading instruction and provide a wide array of different authors’ voices in my classroom. Stay tuned for how this goes!
180 Days by Kelley Gallagher and Penny Kittle (Can Kelly Gallagher just be my best friend and co-teacher?) Seriously though, anything Kelly Gallagher touches turns into classroom gold. He just has a way…Anyway, enough teacher nerd swooning. This text clearly delineates a reading and writing program. They cover pedagogy, grading, differentiating, as well as some straightforward and solid lessons and activities. This is something that should be taught in all teacher preparation courses. It’s gold and it will stay.
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and H2O for Life: When I presented at SXSW EDU in 2019, I came across the H20 for Life exhibit, saw a novel by one of my favorite YA authors, and knew immediately I had to make room for this text in my curriculum. Many of my students come from a privileged background and so instilling in them a sense of social justice and community responsiveness is a crucial aspect of my mission. This book does precisely that by focused on a true story of one family’s journey to just get water. My students might forget their full water bottles in my classroom 55 times throughout the year, but hopefully after we encounter this book together, they will think twice before neglecting such a resource.
Flying Lessons edited by Ellen Oh (Thanks Marley Dias and Spark Creativity community!) Thank you, Marley Dias, for making me rethink my curriculum through the lens of diversity! When I put the call out to the Creative High School English Facebook group for a book that would be middle grade appropriate and also feature some diverse (i.e. not dead white guys) authors, this one came highly recommended and rightly so. I am so excited to dive into this one with my class. Starting a new book is always a little intimidating but I am looking forward to the discussions we have about race, inequality, experience, and change.
Spark Creativity’s emails get their own special label in my inbox because they are SO good and I don’t want to forget their juicy resources! Going through these emails and making note of all the things I want to try is high on my priority list. She also hosts a podcast that is informative and engaging and her soft spoken voice is a great way to start the morning commute.
Cheers!
And finally, one last summer inspiration: cocktails!
There is nothing like a refreshing and delicious Aperol Spritz after a day digesting the best pedagogical methods to engage kids in texts that will surely change the world, right?
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