Deerfield High School English Department
Recommended Summer Reading List
2003-2004
A few years ago, the English
Department at DHS initiated a required summer reading program for our students.
Since the inception of this program, we have been studying data related to this
initiative. We requested and received feedback from our PTO, from individual
parents and families, and from students in our classes. Based upon our analysis
of this feedback, we are modifying our expectations for summer reading.
Instead of requiring
summer reading for our students, we will shift toward recommending this
reading. We will guide students’ choices by providing a list of
recommendations. On this list, we will
identify books that we feel are thematically connected to the curricula students
will experience during the school year. In addition, we will share
titles that we believe would be of high interest to students. Of course,
students are also encouraged to read books that are not listed. Freedom of
choice is an element we want to incorporate comprehensively;
additionally, we hope to promote discussion about books. In order to facilitate
the creation of a forum for discussing books, we have created this website that
encourages such dialogue. One can access this website and also find descriptions
of each of the recommended books by clicking on the link.
The English Department at DHS fully supports the two Guiding Principles of our district: 1) We develop and sustain healthy relationships to create caring communities, and 2) We seek new information and use our discoveries to change understanding. We believe that the decision to move to a recommended list is fully aligned with both of these principles. The climate of our classrooms will be enhanced in the fall if students come to school excited and enthusiastic about reading, rather than upset and frustrated by a summer requirement. We appreciate your patience and support, as well as the candid feedback we received from our various constituents throughout the analysis process. As always, we do our best work when we work as partners in the educational process. As a community, let’s continue to inspire our greatest resource, our students. If you have any questions about this program, please contact me at 405-8415.
Susan Nielsen,
English Department Chairperson
Click here to go to the entire recommended List