If your students read at least five books during vacation, that will go a long way to preventing the "summer slide." The obvious question then is, what can be done to get your students to read at least five books this summer? Research shows that choice, access, time, and motivation are key in supporting summer reading. Each of the tips below is connected to that research.
To support your students:
Emphasize the idea that summer reading, especially, should be fun—not drudgery. Encourage students to read a wide variety of books: biographies, adventure stories, poetry, mysteries, science fiction novels, and fantasies. This is a great time to read books and magazines about their favorite sports and games, musical artists, celebrities, and hobbies. It's also an opportunity to venture out and explore the unfamiliar—choosing how-to books, cookbooks, and books about science, nature, art, and other interests.
At the same time that you are encouraging them to read a wide variety of reading materials, make sure students understand that they can choose what they want to read. This is important because most students prefer the books they choose instead of those that are selected for them. And if they have trouble finding the right book, they can talk to a librarian, ask a friend, or visit one of the websites with reviews for young adult books.
Ask students to keep a journal of what they have read. Besides title and author, they can include reviews, favorite or interesting quotes, sketches, things they didn't understand, and even alternative endings.
Suggest that they get together with friends to form a reading club—meeting at a safe place in the community. They can use music, drama, and dance to bring stories to life. Or they can create art projects related to the books being read.
Especially for struggling readers, make sure students are aware that most libraries have audio books to supplement reading. Sometimes the audio books can be downloaded from the library's website.
Suggest to students that they choose a book to read that has been made into a film (for example, the Twilight saga films, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Princess Bride) and write a review of the book and the film by comparing them. They can post their review on a movie log that you have created or record it using VoiceThread.
Of course, the Harry Potter movies and books would also be good candidates for comparison, but so would the books alone. Students may not be aware that the books for the American market differ somewhat in wording from those for the Brits. If they can get a hold of two versions of the same book, they may have fun reading aloud passages with friends and identifying the differences. They can also do the same with some of the Princess Diaries books.
What you can do:
Some local libraries have summer reading programs for teens. You might check with your local library to see if it does, and then provide information about signing up for the program.
Having books and magazines in the house supports reading. In fact, an
article in Science News reported on the importance of having books at home. If possible, hand out a book or a magazine to each student to take home. In addition, sometimes local libraries get donations that they might be willing to give away, or used bookstores or a local bookstore might have some books to contribute. And garage sales are another source of very inexpensive books. Work with a local organization, perhaps the library or a parents' group, to set up a "Midsummer's Book Giveaway" where students can select books to take or bring books to trade.
The Internet is another source of free books.
Project Gutenberg and
The Online Books Page are two of a number of websites that provide online books and short stories by authors such as Jane Austen, Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mark Twain. Be aware, though, that the range of what is offered is wide and not all of it is age appropriate, and so you will want to do some prescreening to select the material.
Do a bit of investigation to find people and places in the community—recreation centers, places of worship, service organizations, senior citizens' groups—that can provide a safe space and volunteers to support students in their reading.
Over the past twenty years, First Book has provided 90 million new books to schools and programs for children in the United States and Canada. Read about
First Book and learn how you can participate.
Set up an account at
GoodReads or
Shelfari, and invite students to join your group as a way of keeping in touch during the summer. As always, though, check your district's policies concerning the use of social networking sites.
Set up a wiki or a blog for students to use as a discussion board about a specific book.
For older students, create a "Text Tuesday," where they can text you and fellow classmates about their reading the previous week.
For older students, create a Twitter-like wiki entitled "Thumbs-up–Thumbs-down," where in no more than 160 characters (not counting the book title and author) students provide a review of a book.
Create a
VoiceThread account (free for educators) for your class using an image or avatar to help identify each student. During the summer, students can record text and audio comments sharing what they are reading and responding to each other and the teacher.
Work with your school library or other teachers to coordinate what you do, so that when school starts again, students can report on what they read over the summer.
Enclose a postcard, stamped and addressed to you, in a letter to students, asking them to write you to tell you about a book or two that they just finished reading.
Send postcards or short notes to your students midsummer reminding them in a friendly way to read.
In her article
"Required Summer Reading? Discussion Boards Keep Things Lively" (in the May/June2006 issue of
In Perspective), teacher Judy Ellsesser Painter writes, "Having the electronic discussion board helps. I am always amazed when I log on first thing in the morning and see that students were awake at 1:30 in the morning, talking about a book they had read!" Read the entire article, in which the author describes how she set things in motion.
In
"Summer Book Club" by Brenda Doyle and Linda Gore (in the September 2008 issue of
In Perspective), learn how one middle school involves students and teachers in summer reading clubs. You can easily adapt their ideas to use with older students. If face-to-face meetings are hard to arrange, you might think about how this format could be accomplished using social networking tools.
The NCTE Inbox is always filled with excellent ideas and resources. For great ideas about summer reading, see the News and Ideas sections of the
May 30, 2012, issue.
For teens who are looking for fiction, these modern-day and updated fairy tales make for entertaining summer reading:
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Beastly by Alex Flinn (HarpterTeen, New York, 2007) |
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If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor (Hyperion Books, New York, 2005) |
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Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking, New York, 2005) |
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The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (HarperCollins, New York, 2000). There are numerous other books in the series. |
More teen fiction suggestions include:
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Flygirl by Sherri Smith (Putnam's, New York, 2008) |
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Pop by Gordon Korman (Balzer & Bray, New York, 2009) |
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How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford (Scholastic, New York, 2009) |
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My Life as a Rhombus by Varian Johnson (Flux, Woodbury, MN, 2007) |
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The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (Henry Holt, New York, 2008) |
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For nonfiction, here are a few engaging and inspiring choices:
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The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt (Riverhead Books, New York, 2002) |
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October Sky by Homer Hickman (Dell, New York, 1998) |
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When I Was a Soldier (a Memoir) by Valerie Zenatti (Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2005) |
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The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis (Norton, New York, 2006) |
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Eagle Blue: A Team, a Tribe, and a High School Basketball Season in Arctic Alaska by Michael D'Orso (Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2006) |
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Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin (Penguin, New York, 2009) |
Peer recommendations can mean a lot to kids.
YALSA publishes a list of the 2012 Teens' Top Ten Nominations to share with your students. You have to provide some brief information about yourself to access the list (unless you are a member), but it's free and easily accessible after that.
And you can find more suggestions in
"Boys Recommend Books to Other Boys" in the March 2006 issue of
In Perspective. In the article, a senior from Delaware County gives his countdown of the top 10 books for young men.
Making the Match: The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time, Grades 4–12, by Teri Lesesne (Stenhouse, Portland, ME, 2003) Read the review in the
May/June 2006 issue of In Perspective.
To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys in Active Literacy by William G. Brozo (International Reading Association, Newark, DE, 2002)
Discovering Their Voices by Marsha M. Sprague and Kara K. Keeling (International Reading Association, Newark, DE, 2007)