Sorry for the delay in replying.
My original TARGET was a request for information on specifics about a
One Book program. I have copied my replies with permission for the
contacts to be listed in case anyone needs to ask for more information.
My committee's ideas are listed at the end. We will have our first
attempt at One Book in the fall of 2006.
Again, my thanks to all.
Ann Jantzen
----------
Our middle school is currently winding up our second "community
read", our novel being STUCK IN NEUTRAL by Terry Trueman (teen with
cerebral palsy...disability/euthanasia themes). Last year we chose THE
CITY OF EMBER (environmental theme) that was a huge success. The
literacy specialist and I head up the project and have a committee made
up primarily of students and a parent or two. Our project is totally
voluntary and do not have any required tie-in to our curriculum. We
solicit suggestions from students and staff and spend the fall and early
winter reading and forming opinions of the suggested books. We meet
periodically to discuss what has been read so far and by the end of
February we choose a book. One of our criteria is that the book be a
comfortable 6th/7th reading level, wide appeal and available in
paperback.
We have received a grant from a local bank for purchase of the books
and purchase them through a local bookstore (owned by a student's
parent). We distribute small groups of books to the two local libraries
and to our district high school. Last year we also sent copies to all
the elem. schools as well but did not do that this year as the book was
more mature and would not be appropriate for k-5 schools. We showed a
student-made commercial for the book as our kick off both years. This
year we were also fortunate to have the author visit. We e-mailed him
that we had chosen his book and he was so excited he offered to come at
very low cost since he was going to be in our area at a conference on
the same week as our kick-off! It was a huge success and a lot of fun
for the kids. We also presented copies to all the board members and
administrators.I design and maintain a community read website
(http://fc.msad47.org/%7Elmcmahon/Communityread.htm ) that keeps track
of what is going in with our community read. Our final activity will be
onthis Friday and we will be done for another year.
We do press releases for the local papers and try to keep it out
in front of the staff and students. The books are housed on a separate
shelf near the entrance to the library. Students may take the books and
do not have to check them out. We ask them to either pass them on to
another person or bring them back and they appear to do both. We also
buy a small number of the sequel to have available to those interested
which we do check out.
Fortunately both books have had sequels so we've been able to maintain
interest. Although the students have liked this year's choice, some of
the staff did not. As a result there hasn't been as much "hype" since
some staff actually would not recommend their students read it. It is
also a more personal and emotional book that generates a different kind
of interest and response. I would like to see more staff and student
participation in the selection process....mostly sixth graders involved
and they tended (at least this year) to be fantasy fans which would not
have been a great choice for a project of this type. I actually
suggested the title since I have had such great response from individual
students that I either recommended it to or booktalked in classes. Each
year each book creates a different experience. I'm keeping my eyes open
for next year's book now! Good luck.
Liz
Liz McMahon
Library Media Specialist
Messalonskee Middle School Library
33 School Bus Drive
Oakland, ME 04963
lmcmahon@msad47.org
----
We tried this last year with Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer. What book
are you using?
We did have a kick-off of sorts. I had every class come in to the
library, which made for an exhausting week, even for a small school
like
mine. I had borrowed a bunch of mountain climbing gear from a local
climbing group. I showed clips from a movie with a similar theme
(Touching the Void), and then talked about Into Thin Air. Then I
showed them the gear, and they were able to see how it worked. Then I
passed out the assignment for the summer. They were to read the book on
their own and write journal entries for each chapter. When they
returned to school in the fall, we had a day of testing and a day of
celebration for the book. Testing included both multiple choice and
essay. For the day of celebration, every class was supposed to focus on
some aspect of the book--science classes talked about climate on
mountaintops, for example; history classes talked about the region
around Mount Everest and the sherpas; English classes talked about the
actual literary qualities of the book; Theology classes talked about the
ethical dilemmas of the book. I had a very mixed response. Some
teachers really enjoyed it, and used it as an opportunity to teach a
subject in a very different way. Other teachers seemed to resent
veering from their schedules. It was a very good trial run! It's very
difficult to pick an appropriate book, but it can be done. Let me know
if you have other specific questions.
Good luck,
Katie Voss
kvoss@stbenedict.com
----------
I work in a 6-8 school library and we recently completed our 2nd annual
One Book, One Community reading program. We used "Flipped" for our
grade 5 -12 students. We purchased about 35 copies for our school
library and checked one out to each Language Arts teacher. We asked
them to either read the first 2 chapters to each of their LA classes, or
time permitting, read the entire book. Many of our teachers choose to
read the whole book as it captured the students' attention.
Hope this info helps !
Diane
dianelu@yahoo.com
-----
Our committee has decided on Uglies by Scott Westerfeld for our
first attempt at One Book in a 7-12 building. We will let teachers have
copies of the book in August. Expect to give all staff members a copy
including central administration, school board members, and even bus
drivers. Committee members may read the book over the summer. We plan
to distribute books to students and begin reading after statewide
testing is completed the end of next Sept. and be pretty well through
the book by fall break the end of Oct. Most of the actual reading will
be covered in English classes with other teachers branching projects off
from the themes in the book during the 5-6 weeks of reading. Our
committee members are compiling a list of possible projects/themes and
including appropriate state standards with it. We have also volunteer
to help with lesson planning if requested.
We have a book fair and parent open house right before fall break.
Copies of the sequel will be for sale at the book fair and the author
and selected book happen to be featured this year in the Scholastic book
fair video so we will use that clip as part of our intro. as well as the
reading of a short story with a similar theme to set up the background
for the book. There is a chance the author might make a visit but not
sure we can secure the extra funding and work around his schedule as
well.
I have ordered many additional titles on topics covered in the book
which will help expand the book for cross-curricular projects. Many
projects will be on display for parent open house. Have also ordered
additional titles by the chosen author and mutliple copies of the
sequels to the book. We hope to get good press coverage for the
event...especially because a grant funded this program.
Also plan to set up a PowerPoint presentation on a continuous loop
to run during Open House. I have contacted the published to ask for
promotional materials also.
Loved hearing some concrete ideas from others. Thanks so much!
Ann Jantzen, Media Specialist
South Central Jr. Sr. H.S.
6675 E. Highway 11 SE
Elizabeth, IN 47117
jantzena@south.shcsc.k12.in.us
"I cannot live without books." -- Thomas Jefferson
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