Teachers revise summer reading lists

By Bergan O’Connell
Staff Writer

The Mira Costa English Department recently decided to change the summer reading lists for all grades starting in the summer of 2015 in order to sync reading with Common Core curriculum.

According to English Department Chair Jonathan Westerberg, most of the faculty wanted to change the current approach to summer reading, and the majority of teachers voted to revise the lists.

“We want to make the reading selections meaningful to students to hopefully increase their desire to read, and the lists we have selected reflect that,” Westerberg said.

The summer reading program that is under revision cannot be worked on until the department conducts further research on books. The department has only voted to change the lists thus far.

“Our goal is to have a revised program put in place for this summer,” Westerberg said. “We haven’t completely explored all of the possibilities, including how the program could affect students enrolled in Accelerated, Honors and Advanced Placement English courses.”

The rigor of the new reading lists will be equivalent to the previous reading lists, as the English Department will release the new lists by the end of April.

“I think it will be a great switch because it gives students a better range of choices,” English teacher Ann Brown said.