Book cohorts are kept small — capped at seven students. This is to make sure the space is truly inclusive for everyone who enrolls. It is also necessary for building trust and relationships with each other.

We want each student to feel free to express their thoughts, participate in the discussion multiple times, take risks, and work collaboratively—with dignity, respect, curiosity, and joy.

We teach a core set of Classical Texts (e.g., Hamlet) and Modern Classics (e.g. Of Mice and Men). With these books, rest assured that they will be transferable to the reading comprehension and writing portions of the AP®, SAT®, and ACT® exams, as well as to college English literature courses.

We have also created a four-part self-paced mini-series that talks through how students can use their dialogue-based learning experience to prepare for these exams.

All students who join a book cohort can complete this course on their own time as they participate in their cohort.

Dialogue-based learning is oftentimes more challenging than writing. It relies on the students first doing their own close, solo reading of the text so that, when they arrive at session, they can move toward the real-time comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation types of learning (see Bloom’s Taxonomy).

This kind of facilitated, long-form dialogue helps students practice the cognitive and rhetorical exercises that are required for that level of deep reading, critical thinking, and argumentative writing.

It also gives them the chance to listen deeply to new perspectives and ideas, reflect on their own interpretations and observations, be challenged about what they really think and believe, and self-reflect in real time to identify where their own ideas and curiosities are most alive.

Instructors hold weekly cohort-specific Office Hours to support a personalized approach in each student’s intellectual, creative, and academic pursuits

During these meetings, we’ll check in on reading progress, develop strategies for participation, explore themes and topics that have been interesting or challenging, and—if helpful—discuss resources and pathways for academic and career ambitions.

We aim to help students feel more confident in navigating what comes next—in the cohort, in their high school classes, in exam prep, and beyond. 

We will celebrate and recognize the accomplishment of completing this program by awarding a non-accredited Certificate of Completion to students who fully participate! No writing or exams are involved. Please see our Program Policies for more details on all the participation requirements.