Students receive summer assignments
as district works to improve test scores
By:Beth Kressel
This summer, Karen Holland, a library assistant and cataloguer at the public library, will buy "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormeir for her eighth-grade son.
Library has assigned books The Manville Public Library has an extraordinary number of copies of its books. In a community of less than 10,500, shouldn’t a copy or two per book be enough? Not if you’re providing required summer reading to the municipal school system. In that case, four or five copies is stretching it and 15 can be a bit stingy. "The children who can’t afford the books can check them out of the library," said Donald Burkhardt, superintendent of schools. And many students do. "The prices of books are outrageous, so many students come to borrow the books here," said Karen Holland, a cataloguer and library assistant. "We are very strict with our one-week checkout limit and we have holds on certain books already." The only exception is "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White, a veritable tome, on the list for a number of the high school courses. Ms. Holland allows two weeks for that book. The high school gave its requirements at the last minute, so the library is "still playing catch-up" with those books, according to Ms. Holland as she stands behind the circulation desk, thumbing through the well-worn books. There are four copies a title of "Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat" by Cynthia Rylant, "Dingoes at Dinnertime" by Mary Pope Osborne and "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormeir the respective required titles in grades two, three and eight. The library has 15 copies each of the fourth-grade, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume and "Hatchet" by Gary Paulson, the fifth-grade required reading. "Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L’Engle is the seventh-grade requirement and the library has five of them. Ms. Holland wonders aloud whether the L’Engle book is even published anymore. After all, she remembers reading it when she went to school. The kindergarten and first-graders don’t have any must-read book, just a list from which they must choose three. The other primary school students have two other titles that they must choose in addition to the requirement. All of these books are housed at the library, though there may not be quite so many copies of each of them. Although this book bonanza might seem overwhelming , the people of Manville take it in stride. "They’ve had summer reading since kindergarten," said Ms. Holland. "My son doesn’t know any different. Rather than playing video games or watching Cartoon Network, the kids should read." And read they will. Especially if they participate in the library’s own summer reading program. It began June 30 and has one section for first- through fourth-graders and another one for students in fifth-grade and above. Five kindergartners wanted to participate but are too young for the program. This might be the last time they’ll be turned away from a reading program at least in Manville. |
At the end of August, when he finishes reading it, she will donate the book to the library knowing that other Manville children will need it in the summers to come.
School may be out, but all Manville public school students will spend a portion of their summer hitting the books.
Summer reading and math assignments are now required for all students through eighth grade, as well as separate reading assignments created by the high school English department for its students.
The assignments are designed to "bridge the learning gap" between the end of the school year and the new term, according to Superintendent Donald Burkhardt, who describes learning as "a yearlong process."
This philosophy is bolstered by research that shows academic regression often occurs for students, particularly in math, when they do not do any academic work over the summer.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Summer Learning Web site, all students lose about 2.6 months of "grade level equivalency in mathematical computation over the summer months."
And while middle-income students might experience "gains" in their reading abilities during the summer, low-income students lose an average of over two months.
"Research does tell us that students experience learning losses over the summer months," said Mike Yaple, a spokesperson for the New Jersey School Boards Association.
Summer assignments are nothing new in Manville. Ten years ago the district was looking to raise its academic standards and noticed that elite private schools such as Kent Place in Summit required its students to do summer work, according to Weston Principal Donald Frank.
Teachers, administrators and parents formed a summer reading committee to implement a similar program in Manville. The group designed reading lists for each grade level including accompanying work such as book reports.
But until now, each teacher could decide how or even if they wanted to grade the summer assignments, less reading was required, and the choice of books was far more limited.
"If you’re going to make kids do something," said Dr. Burkhardt, "then they should be rewarded with a grade."
The new summer reading program was created last summer when a language arts committee rewrote the K-8 curriculum to have a balanced literacy approach, according to Barbara Popp, district curriculum specialist.
Gone are the days of "basal readers," textbooks that have literary selections drawn from a variety of sources. Starting last fall, except for a few first-grade teachers who use textbooks to teach their students to read, the language arts curriculum is built exclusively around full-length books.
And summer reading is designed to bolster the new philosophy of reading for enjoyment and not as a textbook chore. The reading lists encourage students to explore a genre or an author by allowing, not just one book, but any in the series.
For example, all books written by C.S. Lewis, the author most famous for "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," made the cut for sixth-graders.
All students, eighth grade and under, must read three books this summer. The younger children can choose all three from their appropriate list. The higher grades have one required title, and students can choose two other books that are listed for their grade level. Accompanying assignments based on grade level are also given. Third-graders will be doing reading responses, for instance, keeping logs on their views of the books as they read them.
"The purpose of these assignments are for students to get hooked on reading," said Ms. Popp. "They are designed to get students hooked on an author or series."
The high school summer work varies in length based on whether the students are in honors, advanced placement, or regular courses. Tenth-graders must choose from a list of five titles that include "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck and "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck. The 10-grade honors students must read Amy Tan’s "The Joy Luck Club" in addition to the general assignment.
And all 10th-graders must answer questions about their readings, write down questions to the author and assemble a list of 10 "interesting quotes" from the book.
And as they delve into literature, Manville students also will be drilling themselves in math. This is the first year that math assignments will be issued to all students through eighth grade. A schedule will accompany the math worksheets that a parent must sign, confirming that their child has completed a certain amount of pages per week.
"The summer math packet is designed to be manageable and has skills that were taught during the school year so that parents don’t have to teach new materials to their children," said Mr. Frank.
The high school did not issue any math homework for this summer, but it is something that is being "considered" for the years to come, said Dr. Logan.
Some might feel that summer should be a time of regrouping and relaxation without the pressures of academic assignments.
But Mr. Frank doesn’t expect that the combined math and reading work should take more than an hour a day, even given two weeks off entirely.
And as the principal of Alexander Batcho Intermediate School, James Brunn, said, "The students deserve a break, but where in the real world do you get 11 weeks off?"
For now, the students have been responding enthusiastically to the reading assignments. Board of Education President Dorothy Bradley said her sixth-grade son bought seven of the suggested books, although he is required to read only three.
"My own son was upset last night because we went to a Patriot’s game and he wanted to stay home and read," she said.