I first learned about One School, One Book last school year. I was teaching at a high school and in my first block Spanish class, I was told to read Harry Potter and the Philosophers's Stone for the first 30 minutes of class. I double checked that I wasn't supposed to read in Spanish (as I do not actually speak Spanish, but I get called in to teach it quite often), and they told me about the program. The entire school reads the same book at the same time. There were trivia questions asked during the announcements during block 2, and students were allowed time to answer these questions and submit them to the library with a runner from each class. Maybe it was the idea of a school-wide, collective activity, maybe it was the chance to win free prizes, but the school was more aflutter than the Owlery at Hogwarts. The library was decorated with "Restricted Sections," cobwebs, and broomsticks. Staff photos in the hallways were "wanted posters" a la Sirius Black. There was even a Platform 9 3/4, but of course the day that I finally remembered to bring my phone with me during my hallway walk was the last day of the book and they were taking it down.
In the next few months and into the end of the school year, I encountered a few more schools doing similar reads. One elementary school doing Harry Potter and another reading Charlotte's Web. Both of these schools had the students read the book at home with parents, as opposed to reading it in class. It seemed like such a wonderful way to bond as a family, class, and school. Kindergarteners who were still learning letter-sounds were sounding out words to try and answer the questions themselves. In a few short days, I saw students gain confidence, try things they were uncomfortable with, and open up and talk in class when they usually don't. That's when I decided to look it up and found out that it was an actual program that schools can opt into.
There are a few "One School, One Book" Programs out there, but some noteworthy ones include:
- Read to Them is a "non-profit organization promoting family literacy" whose main goal is to "create a culture of literacy in every home. (readtothem.org/about) They are out of Richmond, VA, but their program has garnered attention across the United States, Canada, and the world. The video below explains the reasoning behind "One School, One Book" and can be found on the "Resources" tab on their website or on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl3CJznL5Z4)
- Penguin Random House has their own version as well, with my favourite feature being "Books Set in Canada." They also have the option of having the author of your chosen book come to the school as well as recommending various Grants to help cover the costs of hosting an author.
Penguin Random House - One Book, One Community. Retrieved on October 3, 2019 from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/program/425/one-book-one-community
The local high school that I originally learned about this program from also has the option of listening to the chapters via their school website. There are MP3s to download or stream, for those students who either don't have time to or are not at the same reading level as the rest of the school. I am currently in a short position teaching high school resource, and I love the inclusivity that this fosters.
https://gwgss.sd33.bc.ca/one-book-one-school
I am really looking forward to asking more questions to Teacher Librarians now that I have some ideas of my own and I hope to see this program in schools again this year. I would love to know how many books per year they do (one per year? one per semester or term?). How do we ensure that all students have access to the book - either paper copies or audiobooks? What are the start-up costs and budgetary concerns in starting this program from the beginning? How can we make this program more inclusive to our students? What differences have you seen in the years since you have started the program?
Hi Natalee - Thank you so much for posting about 'One Book, One School'. I had never heard of this initiative and it sounds great! I love that the time was given to reading aloud to students of all ages. When I watched the video about families all reading the same book to their children at first, I immediately worried about the children whose parents are not able to read to them - would they feel left out? But having a recording available for students to listen to via the school website is an awesome idea. I wonder if it would be challenging to pick a book that would be appropriate for all ages in an elementary school K - 7? Harry Potter is a brilliant choice but what about others? Your questions are really great too - I would be curious about how they fund access to the books for all families.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking online I found a few different elementary schools sharing their experience. Some of the books they chose were charlie and the chocolate factory, charlottes web, the bee tree, the enormous egg, the mouse and the motorcycle, stuart little. These are just a few but there are many amazing books out there that would be great options.
DeleteI can definitely see the challenges of picking an engaging book for such a large age range. The schools in our district moved over to a middle school system last year, so our elementary schools are K-5. Maybe for K - 7 schools you could split it up into K- 3/4 and 4 - 7.
DeleteThanks Kaitlin for sharing the books you found. I remember reading the Mouse and the Motorcycle in elementary school. I love the Tale of Despereaux as well and feel like it would be good for a variety of ages.
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ReplyDeleteNatalee, I have never heard of this movement. I love the idea of having one book in one school. Your high school experience sounds wonderful! I think this would work really well in elementary schools as well. I think the read to them movement might be a little trickier within a few different school. The idea is great but I first thought about how this might be hard for some parents to achieve and they might not like the pressure of this approach. Myles Frank made a great point though by having recordings available for students to listen to would definitely help, however technology isn't always available for some parents.
ReplyDeleteAs for the school getting involved and creating a community of reading around one particular book this actually gave me goosebumps. After reading your blog post I search online for some videos where elementary schools have tried this and its truly magical to see. I can't think of a better way to promote reading culture within a school. This is something I would love to try. Thanks for sharing!
I agree about the pressure on parents. Working parents already have so little time. I like the idea of students reading with their parents and creating those bonds, memories, and routines at home (spreading the love of reading into their world outside of school), but I understand the various difficulties that go along with that. Parents might be working full time, parents might not have the reading capabilities themselves to read aloud with their students. I have been in some primary classrooms that have mornings designated for parents to come in and read with their children/other children in the classroom. Perhaps these two programs could be used simultaneously so the students are seeing adults other than their teacher encouraging reading, even if it is still in the classroom/school environment.
DeleteThis is a very interesting approach to getting an entire school community to come together around the idea of reading one book together at the same time. I wonder about logistics, and what they do with so many copies of the same book at the same school (*ship/trade them to another school for a different set?). The energy you describe, the cohesiveness of the community and the persuasiveness of the program and buy in all sound amazing. What I think this all comes down to, is the importance of role-modelling and the amount of support we get from each other. Good blog post with interesting links, media and labels.
ReplyDeleteThinking about the logistics definitely had me wondering about all of the steps that must've gone into creating this program. It definitely seems like it would be very time consuming to set up. I wonder, too, about what they do with so many copies of the book. I have been told by a few librarians in Chilliwack that they are a very close-knit group. I wonder if they do a book share between schools or perhaps have a rotating library of books for this purpose.
DeleteHi Natalee,
ReplyDeleteI tried to post last week, but something went sideways and so I am trying from a different computer. I love the one book one read initiative. I know there is lots of talk about individual choice and I believe in that too, but this could be part of the journey too. Even doing it like a virtual book club through the LLC could be super cool. So putting it out there that this is this year's book and then whoever wants to participate does with maybe and after school session with parents too and a blog set up to guide the reading process? These are just thoughts that are popping in to my head when faced with the reality that organizing an entire school community would be challenging. I love the energy around this!
The logistics of this program is daunting for sure, but I have seen the results and it is pretty amazing! I totally agree with you that student choice is something that is really important, especially for emergent readers, but I also hope for students to be up for a challenge and to feel safe enough to try something out of their comfort zone. I do agree that I wouldn't want to force a student of family to participate if it is really not something they are interested in, but the blog to provide out of school support is a great idea! I see this as a once a year kind of undertaking, and probably not in my first year as a TL, whenever that happens :)
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