Students and teachers reveal their thoughts about summer reading

Every summer promises the same thing--summer reading. While students are enjoying vacations with family, more time with friends and the ability to get enough sleep for a change, they also have an in-class essay in their near future. A survey was sent out to all classes regarding their opinions on summer reading as well as to English teachers for their perspective. Throughout this article the stances will be explored evenly, including opinions from both those who are in favor of summer reading and those who are not.

Students know how they and their peers feel about the assignment, but do their English teachers?When asked “How do you think students feel about summer reading?” a teacher replied “They LOVE it! Seriously, many students arrive the first week of school with some interesting and challenging books to share.”

Another teacher provided their estimation regarding summer reading’s popularity among students. “I believe @50% enjoy; 30% are indifferent; 20% do not like at all.”

Is this teacher’s estimation accurate to what the results of the poll were? The first question waiting for the 179 students who clicked on the survey was “Do you like summer reading?” to which (of the 168 people responded) 87.5% of students said “No” while 12.5% of students said “Yes”.

Respondents also had the option of writing any additional thoughts they had about the topic. Recurring reasons were given for the dislike such as the difficulty of the in-class essay, stress during the summer and the belief that summer reading is unnecessary.

First, several students surveyed found problems with the essay. One did not like the time constraint and wrote “I can’t write a 5 paragraph essay that is well thought out in 45 minutes” which could relate to why another student replied “I don't like the first grade in English being bad.”

An additional student had this to say about the summer reading essay: “Summer reading is a waste of time and the grade you get on the essay you write based on what your read over the summer barely has an impact on your English grade.”

Expanding off of that quote, this one comes from a student who likes summer reading but not the essay portion of it: “Summer reading is a really good project for me. I think it is very beneficial and a good way to learn. However, teachers should not take that first essay for a summative grade!! We're rusty.”

As for teachers, there appears to be a consensus that “It bridges the gap between school and summer.” Retention looks to be the main concern and purpose of the assignment as one teacher stated “Yes summer reading is important. It helps the students retain a lot of information, not just English, between school years.” Another agreed and compared summer reading to being like exercise.

“Summer is a long time to go without reading...skills will decline, just as our muscles will atrophy when they are not used, our reading skills will weaken and decline. This directly impacts vocabulary and writing.”

While teachers see a benefit, majority of surveyed students do not. Out of 173 responses, 83.8% of respondents selected “No” when given the question “Do you think summer reading has benefited you at all?”

A reason for this belief has been repeated in the responses: stress. Students have said about this subject:

“I just like reading, but I don't see how it benefits us during the summer....it just adds stress to our summer when we should be relaxing and enjoying ourselves before the new school year.”

“I read all the time and really enjoy it, but summer reading makes me feel restricted in my choices. It also makes it less fun because I had to take notes.”

“Summer reading doesn't help people who already read for fun over the summer. It also causes stress, which shouldn't be happening because summer should be our break.”

All three of these students discussed something similar-- students who enjoy reading feel stressed by summer reading. This could be the reason why one teacher said this about students and summer reading: “I think most students don't do it. They are ambivalent about it. They may tell their teachers that they do, but I don't think so.”

A student confirmed this suspicion by adding “I think reading in general is beneficial. However, not everyone sees that so a majority of students are turning to Spark Notes instead.”

So, no, not all students enjoy reading or will do with without a grade being on the line. One student in favor of summer reading said “I think that summer reading encouraged me to read more during the summer even when I was busy with work.” For this reason, one person made the suggestion that “Summer reading should be ENCOURAGED, but not mandatory.”

The final question students answered was “Would you support the elimination of summer reading?” To this, 87.6% of 178 respondents said “Yes” while 12.4% of respondents said “No”.

Ultimately, teachers and the majority of students do not see eye-to-eye on this which was to be expected. But are they ways to improve summer reading? There were a few suggestions proposed by students:

“I like the idea of summer reading, but I think it should be optional. Like extra credit or something.”

“I like the idea that we have to read over the summer but i think the essay part should be eliminated entirely in replacement of a self-select project such as a video, presentation, poster, etc.”

“I believe that short stories after the school year has started to ease back into things is a better option.”

“I don't think summer reading should be eliminated, but maybe adjusted. It's just tough to come back to school after summer and write a timed essay when you've been out of practice for 3 months.”

One teacher had a different perspective. “I am happy with the requirements from the students' standpoint. I think we need to change how we as teachers assess the summer reading.”

One teacher and student agreed on an improvement. The teacher wondered this about summer reading: “Of course, there is always room for improvement. I am interested to hear what students have to say about having choices. Would some students rather be assigned a book? Additionally, would it be helpful to provide a list of books from which to choose?” Relating to this, a student stated this about summer reading in its current state: “Discourages me to read rather than encourages me because I feel forced and the book has to be about a certain topic which limits opportunity.”

Majority of surveyed students are unhappy with summer reading and several had other ideas for the assignment. In the end, it is up to the teachers and students to reach an agreement. Should anything change? Will it? That’s for readers to decide.