Currents in Literacy

Hood Project Summer Reading Program

By Linda Hanson with Joan Lamachia

"What did you get?" Sandy of the Hardy School eagerly inquired of her new aquaintance, Dianna, who hails from the Thompson School. The two girls showed each other their picks for the day as they stood waiting to check out their books from the East Arlington branch library (known as the Fox Library), on a typical summer afternoon. Typical, that is, for the thirty students who participated in the pilot Summer Reading Program sponsored by the Hood Children's Literacy Project.

For six weeks during the summer, students from the Thompson and Hardy schools in Arlington, Massachusetts got together once a week at the Fox Library for an hour-long session dedicated to the pursuits of reading and writing. The focus of the program was to give children access to books that would excite and intrigue them, and to allow them the time to read and write in the company of their peers. It sounds like a simple formula: access to good books, time to read, and a community of readers. But this kind of support can be powerful indeed, especially during the summertime when children are no longer in a school environment.

Children came for hour-long blocks of time with other students of the same age. The first ten minutes were dedicated to a group shared reading or book introduction. The next twenty minutes were used for guided or independent reading of books carefully selected to match the reading levels of the participants. Reading time then gave way to writing as children were invited to participate in a twenty minute writer's workshop. During this time, children penned responses to stories read, kept logs of summer activities, wrote vacation memoirs, and created list poems. The final ten minutes of the session were reserved for a trip upstairs to the Fox stacks where students received guidance in book selections for independent reading during the week. To help in this task, librarians at the Fox, summer program staff, and the parents all worked to ensure that every child left with three or four well-chosen books to inspire them until the next week's visit.

A strong component of the summer program was the interaction that took place during these book selection times. Program staff had the opportunity to communicate with parents about their child's reading level and suggest appropriate titles and authors for their children. Helping parents feel more comfortable in the library and more knowledgeable in the book selection process became a goal of the summer program. Due to this joint effort, roughly five hundred books were read and enjoyed over the course of the six weeks by the students.

The eagerness with which all of the children participated in the program was very gratifying to the Summer Reading Program staff, which included Kerryn Plant, Title I teacher at the Hardy School; Joan Lamachia, ESL teacher at the Thompson School; and Linda Hanson, Hood Project Associate. Participants came in shorts, tank tops, and even bathing suits, but once they entered the reading room, thoughts of the beach soon gave way to the adventures of Henry and Mudge, Cam Jansen's latest exploits, or the current predicament of John Midas as his whole world turned to chocolate. The younger students held their own, reading stories about robots, bear families, monster birthday parties, and summer vacations.

The excitement of the students and staff was also shared by the parents, who often arrived with siblings in tow. Many parents took advantage of the Summer Literacy Program's location at the Fox Library to help their other children do a craft, read stories, and find books to check out while they waited. For many, it served as an opportunity to get to know the branch library better. One parent commented that she had previously taken her eldest child to the main library in town, but had noticed that the smaller scale of the Fox Library allowed her son to locate interesting chapter books more easily.

Like this parent, many of us involved in the program rediscovered what a great resource the Fox Library is. After the main library in town added a new children's floor several years ago, some East Arlington library patrons stopped coming to the Fox Library. Our experience this summer proved without a doubt that the Fox Library still has much to offer.

Ultimately, it was the individual accomplishments - measured in unique ways and small moments - that provided the summer program's highlights. Moments like when Mark grabbed staffer Joan Lamachia, gave her a big hug and exclaimed, "I'm so happy I'm reading!" It was in the dedication of families like Atiyah's, who made the trek from Boston several times so that she could participate in the hour-long program. To all of these students, and the others not mentioned by name, we congratulate you on the energy and enthusiasm you brought to the program, as well as on the progress you made.

The program benefited greatly from the assistance of Louise Crosby and Page Lindsey at the Fox Library, who showed us what a critical role knowledgeable librarians can play in matching children to appropriate books on subjects that interest them. In fact, one of the most striking observations that the program staff made over the course of the summer was that meaningfully connecting families to the community library can have a great impact on a child's reading development.

We also want to acknowledge the parents and families who made it possible for their children to participate. We know how challenging it can be to arrange summer schedules to accommodate all of your children's activities. We appreciate the fact that they made the Summer Reading Program part of their summer plans. We look forward to planning more programs like this in the future.

Linda Hanson is a Consulting Teacher of Reading currently working with the Hood Children's Literacy Project at the Thompson School. She is also a parent of a first grade student at the Thompson School.