No Summer Slide Here! – A Reading Invitation

Donalyn Miller, teacher and author of The Book Whisperer, has issued an invitation:

Read one book a day for every day of your summer vacation. 

In the classroom, Ms. Miller has challenged her students to read at least five books over the summer.  She explained the “summer slide” and what her plans were to avoid it.  She then reminded students of their powerful position: they get to decide what they will read.  Students then chose five books they plan to read over summer.  Read The Book Whisperer blog for more information.

Donalyn tries to read at least one book per day of her summer vacation.  And she’s asked us to join her.  I’ve decided to accept her invitation and hope you will too! 

My summer vacation starts Friday, June 4 and runs to Wednesday, August 11.  That’s 67 days, so my challenge would be to average at least 67 books.  Yes, average, so if I read 3 books one day but none the next, no big deal.   And since we all have varying vacation days, the average will be different for each of us.  What I love is the opportunity to practice what I preach.  If I want students to read over summer, I should too.

I made a list of at least 60 books I want to tackle, most of them Young Adult/Middle Grade reads but I threw in some classics, adult books, and some professional reading. 

And, to give myself a jump start, I’ll be joining MotherReader’s Fifth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge.  This starts Friday June 4th at 7am and lasts until 7am Monday, June 7th.  Just pick your 48 hours! 

So, what do you say?  Will you set an example and stop the summer slide and average a book day during your summer vacation?  Join us!  Look for my list by Friday!