TAG ... you’re it! Kids Who Read Succeed... Kids Who Don’t Won’t! Did you know children lose one to three months of reading achievement gained during the school year over the summer months? And that loss is cumulative! By the end of 6th grade children who lose reading skills over the summer will be 2 years behind their classmates. That’s why we are asking you to “Tag In” this summer. As your child’s first and most valuable teacher, you can help to prevent the “summer slide” by continuing simple reading activities over the summer. A summer reading initiative brought to you by
SUMMER FUN
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
JUNE
Visit the library! If your child doesn’t have a library card, summer is a great time to sign up for one.
Plan a backyard camping trip with a friend. List all the things you will need to “survive.”
Remember not all reading takes place between the covers of a book. Try menus, road signs or even sheet music!
Pretend you are going to visit another city or state. Request more information from a tourist bureau.
JULY
Start a round-robin story. Write the beginning, and then ask friends to add to it until it has an awesome ending.
Cut and paste words and pictures from a magazine to make a scrapbook page to remember your cool vacation adventures!
Find a book or article on making paper airplanes. Host a contest to see whose can fly the farthest.
Keep newspapers, magazines and informational material around. They can spark new interests in your young readers.
Swap books with a neighbor or friend.
Work up an appetite. Read a story about food and then recreate the dish. Yummy!
Make your own joke book. Collect funny jokes from your family and friends.
Pretend to be a super hero. Write down all your special powers!
AUGUST
BOREDOM
BUS TERS
TIPS and RESOURCES Summer Reading Feed and Read Sites
This summer United Way’s Feed and Read sites will offer kids a place to gather in neighborhood centers to read and receive a book of their own. Food packages will also be available. For site locations and times visit www.uwbrevard.org.
Brevard Public Libraries
The library system currently has over 1.2 million volumes in the collection, including more than 112,000 video recordings and 61,900 sound recordings. There is something for everyone: • Chill out and read a book • Get your child a library card • Get online at www.mylibraryworld.com
Brevard Public Schools
Brevard Public Schools provides recommendations for engaging students in summer reading. Visit www.brevardschools.org. (See Summer Reading under the Parents and Students tab.)
FLORIDA TODAY
Turn your reading form in FOR ICE CREAM.
Every Question Counts! Part of continual literacy progress is learning how to think as you read. Asking questions supports learning how to think. Examples of some questions you might ask your child before, during, or after they read could be:
• What was it all about? • What do you think will happen next? • What was your favorite part of the story? • What did you learn? • How did the characters change over time? • What was the problem in the story? • What was the solution?
Check out these cool websites www.justreadfamilies.org Florida Department of Education has provided a list of recommended titles for summer reading. Additional activities can also be found at http://bit.ly/readsummer15.
Check out http://www.floridatoday.com/UWreading while school is out! The newspaper (print or online) is a great source for new and interesting reading material.
www.storylineonline.net Screen Actors Guild provides selected audio books read online by celebrities.
Writing Connections
www.scholastic.com/parents Scholastic provides book lists for a wide variety of interests and genres.
www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources After reading a story, have your child write one of their own with a similar theme. Pay attention to the author’s choice of the following and practice a similar method: • the beginning sentence (hook) • the wrap-up (I bet his character didn’t just go to bed) • the transition from one event to the next www.readingrockets.org After reading a book, summarize what you’ve read by writing a poem. Did you know that poems do not have to rhyme? By writing a free-verse poem you capture the key points with descriptive sentences. www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/ After reading a book, have your child draw an illustration of their favorite part. Add a paragraph describing this scene.
www.rif.org Reading is Fundamental website provides online audio books and many other resources. www.readtomeintl.org Read to Me International provides a list of recommended titles for reading aloud. www.storynory.com Storynory has published a free audio story every week since November 2005. www.starfall.com Starfall is a free public service to teach children to read with phonics.
I read. You read . We all READ for ICE CREAM! United Way has something sweet to share! We know you want to chill out this summer, but here’s the scoop: It is really important that you keep reading! That’s why United Way has partnered with Brevard Public Schools! If you read this summer and turn the completed form into your school in August, you will be invited to an ice cream party at your school. All you have to do is read!
Student Name
Parent Signature
School
Student Grade beginning Fall 2015
Teacher
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
For Incoming Grades K-2 Students read at least 10 books.
6.
For Incoming Grades 3-6 Students read at least 8 multi-chapter books.
8.
7.
9. 10.