Avoid the Summer Slide

Set up Students for Vacation Reading, Writing, & JOYcabulary

(Without logs, points, rewards or summer school)

The Why

• Children who do not read or write over the summer can lose 17-34% of the previous year’s learning gains

• Upper elementary students typically have greater summer learning loss (SLL) than younger students

• Poverty compounds the loss

• Less reading = less words: The 12 Million Word Divide (30 min/day vs. 15 min/day)

• Literacy is declining: 2/3 of 4th graders read below grade level (when combined with poverty jumps to 80%): less likely to graduate HS. More likely to be unemployed, homeless or incarcerated.

• This video from The Campaign for Grade Level Reading illustrates the issue well:

Good News! Reading Just 4-6 Books Can Prevent Summer Slide

How to reduce summer reading loss:

• Cultivate student identity as readers and writers (throughout the year)

• Teach with joy

• Teach for transfer

• Choice: independent reading and writing projects

Reading

What’s Your Genre?

• Action

• Outdoor/survival

• Mystery/detective

• Thrillers/suspense

• Adventure

• Travel

• Animals

• Fantasy

• Science fiction

• Sports

• Games

• Comics

• Graphic novels

• Poetry

• Science

• Nature

• Family/friends

• History

• Biographies

• Music

• Arts & crafts

• Cooking

• Friendship

• Coming of age

Need an idea for a good read?

• NerdyBook Club

• bookelicious.com

• Amazon recommendations

• Local bookstores

It’s all about access! How will you get books in kids’ hands in the summer?

• Public library

• Sora (Sweet Reads Collection – They even have comics!)

• Epic

• Summer Reading at NY libraries

• Friend exchange

• Yard sales

• Library book sales (usually in June)

• Hoopla

Three Levers of Reading Motivation:

• High interest books

• Suited to reading ability

• Personally chosen

Start with a self-reflection: What are your…

• Interests

• Hobbies

• Passions

• Issues

Ask yourself: What do I want the book to do in my life?

• Fill a gap?

• Build a bridge?

• Act as a mirror?

• Act as a window?

• Become a lens?

Where’s Your Spot?

• Favorite chair

• Your room

• A spot in the backyard

• A tent/fort

• Book picnic

• Pool/beach

Who are your authors? (Both fiction and nonfiction)

Make it Social

• Book Swaps

• Partnerships/ Reading Buddy

• Book clubs (in-person & Zoom)

While Still in School:

• Conduct book buzzes

• Host a book tasting

• “Speed booking” (like speed dating) stations

• Introduce age-appropriate series – get them hooked!

• What should I read next?

• Show book trailers

• Have students curate their own reading list

Vocabulary

• K-2: Design word bookmarks/think marks to notice and note new words they encounter. Teach them to ask grownups for a definition.

• 3-6: Teach them to use dictionary sites like Wordsymth or Collins Dictionary.

• Check out InferCabulary and Word Love.

Writing: Treat the End as a Beginning

• Start new idea lists in a Writer’s Notebook

• Write a reflection on all the things you have learned to do as a writer this year.

• Make a Summer Writing Toolkit

  • Salvageable pencils and crayons

  • Blank booklets

  • A portfolio of mentors

  • Copies of important charts

  • Maybe tuck in a new pencil

• Build an anchor chart of Ways to Write in the Summer

  • Letters & emails

  • Stories

  • blog

  • Cations for photos

  • Lists

  • Plays

  • Neighborhood newsletter

  • Comics/ graphic novel (or a new genre: fantasy)

• Teach some bookmaking techniques. Send them home with blank books and directions for making new copies. I love the ones using coffee stirrers or twigs and rubber bands. Easy!