BLAKE COLLABORATORY
Welcome to the 20th annual edition of the Blake/Dale Summer Reading Program. Each summer, our students are given the opportunity to read a variety of great books for both academic connection and pleasure.
For the past 18 summers, all Blake students have read the same all-school book. We've experienced many great stories along with concurrent activities and fundraisers from reading our various all-school books but it's always been a challenge to find one story that is right for all of our grades, both boys and girls and that also can provide some sort of academic connection as well. As a result, our Summer Reading Committee has decided this summer to offer several titles for each grade to read in place of the one all-school book, Although the books may be different, they are all connected thematically.
Blake's current school year theme is empathy. Next year's theme is diversity and all of our various titles provide excellent transition and context between the two. Our books are by and about people from a variety of cultural, economic, geographic etc. backgrounds that may seem "foreign" to many of our students. Our hope is that by reading and discussing these stories, we'll continue to increase empathetic understanding of all sorts of people from all sorts of situations as we look to find the common humanity in all of us.
Students are asked to read a minimum of one additional book from their grade list, for a minimum total of two books.
THE SUMMER READING INCENTIVE:
All students who read a total of 5 books (one book from the grade level Required Reading selections plus four others from their optional grade list) will be inducted into The Blake Summer Reading Hall of Fame in a special ceremony to be held in the Blake LMC. Inductees will receive a beautiful certificate, suitable for framing, at the ceremony. To officially qualify for this incentive, students will also have to make a short video, podcast, slide show, comic strip, infographic, an artifact capturing the heart of the story, or even a short written review etc. about one of the optional grade-list books they’ve read (none from the required reading lists). English teachers will give students more details next September. Students will have until October 1 to turn in their special projects. Feel free to have some fun with this over the summer! Questions from current fifth graders should be directed to Mrs. Cowell (kcowell@email.medfield.net) and questions from current Blake students should be directed to Mr. Haycock (jhaycock@email.medfield.net).
ORDERING THROUGH BLAKE
All students should minimally own a copy of the book they choose to read from their grade -level required lists, which will be used in English classes next September. Thanks to Jim James of Park Street Books, all excess profits from our Blake PTO book sale are used to buy books for the Blake LMC. Every purchase you make greatly enhances reading opportunities for Blake students – thanks for your support! Thanks also to Diana Mileszko from the Blake PTO for organizing the sale.
TRADITIONAL BOOKS VS. IPAD READING:
iPads can greatly enhance learning and presenting, but can also tempt some students to distraction during pleasure reading. Please consider buying traditional books (through our sale, of course!) to give your child a break from the screen, as well as a better chance to lose his or herself in a great book.
​