Encouraging students to read over the summer is a great way to maintain and improve their reading skills. It can also help foster a lifelong love of reading. Summer is the perfect time for students to choose books they enjoy reading without worrying about assignments and grades. Let’s look at some ways to get students to read over the summer.
Communicate with Families
Communicate with families about how they can encourage their children to read over the summer. Give them resources such as summer reading lists, like this one from Common Sense Media, that will help their children be successful. Make sure families are aware of different ways they can access books throughout the summer.
In addition, give them tips on how to include the entire family in reading initiatives. For example, setting aside time for the family to sit down and read together or choosing audiobooks to listen to in the car.
Create a Summer Reading List Together
Work with your students to create a reading list that includes a variety of genres and reading levels. Allow students to choose books that interest them and fit their reading level. You can also create book clubs or reading groups to encourage discussions and share thoughts about the books.
Provide Reading Incentives
Provide incentives for students who read over the summer. This could be a certificate or reward for reading a certain number of books. You could also enter their name into a raffle for a prize. Make it fun and engaging so that students are motivated to read.
Connect Reading to Summer Activities
Encourage students to read books related to summer activities that might do. For example, if a student is going to the beach, suggest books about the ocean or marine life. If a student is interested in sports, suggest books about athletes or sports history.
Provide Online Read Aloud Resources
Everyone loves read alouds. They help build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Check out these free QR Code Read Aloud Cards in both English and Spanish. In addition, have students explore online reading sites like Epic, Storyline Online, and One More Story.
Host a Summer Reading Challenge
Set a reading goal for your students and create a chart to track their progress. You can make it a class-wide challenge or compete in small groups. You could also allow your students to track their reading progress by completing a reading bingo card or filling out a digital form. Make it fun and exciting by adding prizes or rewards for reaching milestones.
Partner with Local Libraries
Encourage students to visit their local public library. Send home information about the library’s summer hours and location. Include directions on how to obtain a library card and, if public transportation is available to the library, include this information as well. In addition, many libraries have summer reading programs that your students can participate in. Send home information about any reading programs or events happening at the library.
By using these strategies, you can help encourage students to read over the summer and maintain their literacy skills while having fun.
2 comments
Diana, thank you for the article!
Since school, I took the following strategy to keep myself motivated to read. I am looking for essay contests, choosing the topic to write and reading books that will be useful during essay writing. For this summer, I chose Studybay essay contest and the “Which Literary Work Do You Think Is Most Culturally Significant, and Why?” topic. I think it is a great opportunity to read the most classical, the most famous, and the most popular books to find the most culturally significant piece for myself.
In my opinion, one of the popular motivations is money. So why not try this way (to find essay contests) to encourage students to read?
Thank you so much for sharing with us!!