Summer Reading: Promoting Fun!

Mirrored & adapted from my MHMS Daring School Library Blog
Keep Reading: Summer Reading for Kids, Librarians, & GAMERS!
I love loaning my adorable kids (my students) over to my local public library for the summer. We're A+ partners and they love my kids, too! Of course not as much as *I* do but pretty close! We just had a representative from our Howard County Savage Branch Library come out to talk to our 6th graders - I set her up in our MHTV Studio & videotaped it (yes, w/a VHS! Our distribution center is still analog) We did the first show LIVE, with a presentation of the HoCo Summer Reading game and 2 booktalks with my 2 amazing media helpers Desiree & Chyna!

And then we put the tape into the distribution center so that the English Teachers could call up & start the video at any time to show their classes!
Every year I promote to our kids the Summer Reading Lists to the kids in several way. What is cool is that the lists are created collaboratively between our district teacher librarians & a young adult librarian from our public library. I did it one year -I think it was 2007 (we all take turns) and it's a wonderful way that we can show a united front of reading to our kids, patrons, customers, parents, and our community! The HoCo library also supports us by making sure to order extra copies for all the books on the list.
Promoting Reading Fun
How do I promote the list? We do NOT print a copy for every kid any longer...we're GREEN in our county. So we promote it on our TV Show with videos & PSA's and on our MHMS Learning Wiki. I also try & come up with a way for the kids to keep in touch with us during the summer with a challenge!
And for this year, we've got a fun idea for kids to show off their summer travels & reading destinations! Or just wacky & creative reading location or position! Think of it as ---READING in the XTREME!
Our "Weirdest Reading Destination" contest & challenge invites you to take a picture reading in an strange, odd, fun, exotic, silly, preposterous, or even WEIRD place or position!
Here's how I pitched it to my kids on our blog: Are you reading on the sand "Downy Ochen, hon?"(for non-Baltimoreans that's on our Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shore of Ocean City MD, & Fenwick, Bethany, Dewey, & or Reohoboth beach DE!) Are you reading in a camping tent? On the top of the Empire State building or Eiffel Tower? Are you reading on a trampoline? While skateboarding? (watch out!) Are you reading on a bench outside MHMS with the yellow Angry Bird plushy friend? Oh no, that's Alex! Or are you reading upside down while eating an apple?! Oops! Nope, that's Maya! YAY! You don't need to travel far to be creative because you can read ANYWhere!"
I urge the kids to send their picture my summer email giving their name, grade, location, & book title! Coolest pics will win an iTunes gift card, be featured on the Daring School Library BLOG, & a get bundle full of Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) paperback books! (Only valid for registered MHMS students incoming 6th, and rising 7th & 8th graders)
Summer Reading Lists Are Below!


You can download our summer reading list PDF's from our MHMS Learning Wiki! Or Click on the PDF's below
2012 Summer Reading ListsSummer Reading for Middle School Peeps & their Parents!
Final MS 2012 Summer Reading.pdf

Summer Reading List for Short Fries (Grades 4-5)
Final 4-5 2012 Summer Reading.PDF

Summer Reading List for Parents & Teachers
Final Adult 2012 Summer Reading.PDF

Summer Reading Smugmug SLIDESHOW!
All Pics are Creative Commons - but please give attribution

Download FREE Bookmarks!

Summer_Reading_Bookmarks12.doc

Visit our A+Partners & Good Friends at the Howard County Library for their Summer Reading Game!

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Join the June 7th #SummerReading Tweetfest!
As blogged about by my mentor Joyce Valenza and the amazing Mr. Schu --- Katherine Schulten, editor of The Learning Network, is hosting an all-day Twitter discussion about summer reading on June 7. What’s on your reading list this summer? Guilty pleasures? Assigned reading? Audiobooks? Perennially popular series about dystopian survival games, a boy wizard, or a wimpy kid? Maybe even The New York Times Whatever you’re planning, and whatever your thoughts on the notion of “summer reading” in general, we invite you to take to Twitter on June 7 and tell the world.What can you say on June 7? Well, Katherine recommends the following topics on her posting, check it out!

Summer Reading for Gamers
Isn't it nice when you have two friends from two different groups and they find each other through you & discover they are kindred spirits? It's like Wonder Twin Powers ACTIVATE! Form a of a Cool New Blog! Well, I had that singular joy when the brilliant librarians and gamers and friends Matthew Winner aka The Busy Librarian & Jennife LaGarde aka Library Girl became fast friends! YAY! Now they've gotten together to create a cool new blog for readers AND gamers! From their first post:
"Level Up Book Club, a home turf for open discussions on the gamification of schools and school-based instruction. Join us by reading the current monthly selection and participating in posts and challenges. Leveling up is a strong possibility. Stats boosting is guaranteed." Join in the fun by getting in on their first Task 1: PHOTO CHALLENGE: “Meet Your Bookclub” Follow them on Twitter! @MatthewWinner @JenniferLaGarde Cheers!

Credits:

"Weirdest Reading Destination" idea inspired (and totally pilfrered!) from the London Public Library! Who kindly put the picture at above on Flickr Creative Commons!
Thank you! Follow them on Twitter @londonlibrary!!!!

Summer Reading Weird!
So, I got the idea of the title of school library posting from the movie: Ghostbusters II- a Classic! Peter Venkman: "Next week on "World of the Psychic". Hairless cats... weird".

I invite you to leave comments:
How do you promote summer reading to your students? How do you create your summer reading lists? Please share your cool & fun summer reading ideas to us! Thank you!