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Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that your students were continuing to use the valuable skills they learned in class over the summer? We can actually help to encourage valuable summer reading for kids! I recently came across “Summer reading is so different than reading for school. Here are 3 reasons to encourage it for kids”. It mentions 3 reasons kids should be reading throughout the summer. The reasons are: 1. it prepares students for the upcoming school year, 2. they’ll enjoy reading more-so than they would in class and 3. kids could actually earn free books!
Those are all awesome reasons for students to read over the summer, but here are some ways we as teachers can help them achieve summer reading success:
1. Provide relevant reading lists
Some parents and students might be stuck in an inspirational rut. It’s hard to find good books that will inspire students to actually want to read. You can help to nudge them in the right direction. At the end of the year, prepare reading lists and organize them by categories such as: picture books, chapter books, funny, spooky, etc.
Here are some great lists for you to refer to:
2. Create awareness
Provide parents and students with a brief handout at the end of the year, informing them of the importance of reading over the summer! Here is a freebie of two notes to be sent home that I created (with clipart from Creative Clips Clipart by: Krista Wallden):
3. Research summer reading initiatives
Get students excited about various initiatives that reward summer reading. There are plenty out there! This might require some research on your part, based on your location. However, there are some online initiatives like this one from Scholastic.
Once you’ve got a list of various reading programs, send that list home with students.
4. Have students create tangible summer goals
Before the year is out, have students create reading goals. Here are some examples: