South Brunswick Reads 2022

As educators and parents, our wish for our children is that they develop into independent readers, those who, according to literacy specialists Kylene Beers and Richard Probst, “read with an open mind, a willingness to change, and delight at discovering those yet-discovered thoughts.” As adults in our community, we strive to develop our knowledge and understanding of ourselves and others through reading widely, critically and thoughtfully. To explore these ideas, we are continuing our 12 year tradition of South Brunswick Reads with the theme:

SB Reads for Change.

Together we will:

• View the act of reading as an opportunity to grow and change (Beers and Probst)

• Read with a curious, open heart and with a critical mind

• Develop empathy and understanding of ourselves and others through diverse reading.

We hope to ask ourselves: What’s in the book? What’s in our heads? What’s in our hearts? Now what would we like to do? At each school level, this might look a little different. In our elementary schools, teachers and librarians will use Amanda Gorman’s book, Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem as well as other titles. Crossroads will continue their One Book tradition by reading The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson, a stirring mystery of past and present, as two kids search for a place in their families, city, and country. Other titles will round out our reading. At the high school, our students can choose titles that spotlight our differences and the changes that make us unique to develop a greater sense of empathy for others.

References:

Beers, Kylene, and Robert E. Probst. “THE INVITATION TO INDEPENDENCE: What Being an Independent Reader Really Means.” Literacy Today (2411-7862), vol. 38, no. 6, May 2021, pp. 14–15. http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/8854c52f#/8854c52f/16.

Gorman, Amanda. Change Sings : A Children’s Anthem. S.L., Viking Children’s Books, 2021.

Johnson, Varian. The Parker Inheritance. New York, Scholastic, Inc., 2019.