• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

November 12, 2017 Back to School

A Student-Curated Reading List to Combat Learning Loss

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Haylee Massaro

Haylee Massaro has been an education professional in the field of English Language Arts for 7 years, and she has gained experience teaching in both brick-and-mortar schools and online. She currently works as an educator both for secondary and for higher education. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh as well as an M.S.Ed. from Duquesne University.
  • The Burnout Phenomenon: Getting Comfortable with "No" - June 29, 2018
  • Teachers: Partners in Suicide Prevention - June 9, 2018
  • The Dangers of For-Profit Education - May 20, 2018
  • Support Student Voices: March for Our Lives - March 25, 2018
  • Teacher Preparedness and Prohibitive Costs - March 23, 2018
  • Writing in Action: When Students Step Up - March 4, 2018
  • Is the "Life-Long" Teacher Becoming Extinct? - February 11, 2018
  • Understanding the Proposed Education Budget for 2018 - January 21, 2018
  • Staying Engaged and Motivated Around the Holidays - November 29, 2017
  • Teachers who Practice Self-Care: Selfish or Sustainable? - November 19, 2017

With the holidays just around the corner, most teachers are gearing up for some time off and some much needed rest and relaxation. While these breaks can a wonderful time to re-charge for both teachers and students, sometimes progress made throughout the semester can be lost. For example, in 2015, Oxford Learning put out an article about Summer Learning Loss that detailed the statistics surrounding those losses, surmising that at least one full month of learning across subject areas is lost by our students.

Summer, however, is not the only time that our students are affected by learning loss. Long breaks can have a similar effect. The Telegraph raised this point a few years ago with their article, Don't Romanticize Tedious School Holidays.  The statistics on learning loss over long breaks causes teachers to ponder what can be done to help to combat this issue while still allowing our students some time for rest and relaxation.

Student-curated reading can combat learning loss

As a language arts teacher, I am constantly thinking of ways to get students interested in reading. A lot of times, our curriculum content is finite, which means that there may be little flexibility. However, students can venture outside of the curriculum while still gaining the learning benefits. T.S. Eliot wrote in his essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent" that while traditional pillars of literature should certainly be valued, new work and "different" works may have great value as well. Really, what we get out of a piece of literature depends largely on us as individuals. Eliot urges his readers to create their own collection of pieces that are classic for them.

Taking Eliot's ideas to heart, I recently started asking students to come up with short reading lists in class to delve into over the holidays. While this exercise isn't always successful for all students - as nothing every is - as a whole, I found that it worked well. Student's seemed excited to share and discuss their favorites with myself and with their peers.

I recently started asking students to come up with short reading lists Click To Tweet

The Follow-up

While this isn't a graded activity, it makes for a good icebreaker after a school break. Typically, I ask students to share what they read. Sometimes several students will select similar items, which creates an enriching class discussion.

Popular Items & Choices

Several selections keep popping up year after year and class after class. Below is a list of popular selections for students who are looking for suggestions.

  1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
  2. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
  3. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher (this one has become especially popular since the Netflix series came out)
  4. various selections from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
  5. Turtles All The Way Down by John Green
  6. One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
  7. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard (when the T.V. show came out, these were incredibly popular)
  8. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien (these usually prove to be a bit of a challenge over a winter break, so I've also suggested The Hobbit, which is much shorter and easier to get through in a limited amount of time)
  9. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  10. Eragon by Christopher Paolini

 

If anything, this activity gets  students reading and gets them thinking, so that all is not lost over a lengthy school break!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

ArcheologicalDigging Into Learning: Using Archaeology in the Classroom Default ThumbnailCreating Confident Readers Out of Struggling and Reluctant Readers The Art of Storytelling NCTE and ALAN Conference Highlights
« The Challenges of Mental/Emotional Health for Teachers
5 Strategies to Help Shy Students Succeed in Classroom Discussions »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • My Union Showed Up for Me, and I'll Never Forget It
  • Your Students Deserve a Diverse Classroom Library. Here's How to Set It Up.
  • You Don't Have to Watch the Tyre Nichols Video, But Be Ready to Talk About It
  • "Let's Make This Happen": Following Student Interests to Interest-Based Mentorships

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.