Summer Reading Challenge

Have you heard of the summer slide?  I wish I was talking about the intriguing piece of equipment on every dream playground but unfortunately, I'm not.  The summer slide is a term used by reading researchers to describe the decline in reading ability for young readers due to a decrease in reading over the summer.  Here is an excerpt of an article explaining the summer slide.

Educators and researchers have long recognized what has come to be known as the “summer slide,” the loss of learning that can take place during the summer months if students do not engage in educational activities. Experts say much of the reading achievement gap seen in 9th grade students nationwide can be traced back to unequal access to summer learning opportunities during the elementary school years. Reversing the summer slide, however, can be as simple as reading more books. In a recent study, Professor Richard Allingtonof the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his colleagues found that “giving kids 12 books to read over the summer was as effective as summer school in raising the students’ reading scores.

"6 Ways To Use Reading to Prevent the Summer Slide - NEA Today." NEA Today. N.p., 19 May 2015. Web. 04 May 2016.

Once educators and parents learn about this issue, most will do anything to avoid it.  I know as a reading specialists working intensely with each and every student for over 60 minutes a day 5 days a week on reading skills, the last thing I want to happen is for my students to take a ride down this slide.

This summer I am sending home all of my students a little packet to help inform their parents and provide families with a way to help avoid such a decrease.  You can grab the pages of the packet below and use them as they are or edit them to your liking.

Here are some photos of the pages for you to review.

I taped a Periscope about this topic for the I Teach TV Network.  You can find it at:

iteachtvnetwork scope replays

Here are my notes from that Periscope for your reference:)

I wish you and your students a wonderful and relaxing summer full of fun, adventure, and great books!

I will be blogging, Periscoping, and Facebook Live taping episodes of "I've Assessed...Now What?" every other Monday all summer!  Stay tuned for more tips and how to's on preparing for meeting ALL your students' literacy needs!

Until the next post... (another one about summer reading... virtual tutoring...)