The end of the school year will quickly be upon us and research tells us that children who do not read during the summer may lose a month or more of the reading progress they made in school. To ensure that our students stay engaged in summer reading activities, make a Summer Reading Program available through your Student-Run School Bookstore.

Benefits:

• Convenience to teachers – an easy program to implement, very minimal prep work
  
• Easy and low-cost access – to books for parents and students
  
• Valuable instructional experience – not only helps to ensure students read over the summer, but also helps teach them to select the most appropriate books for themselves.

Program Overview:

Determine number of books: Set the number of books that students should read over the course of the summer.

Letter to Teachers: Send a letter to all teachers announcing the program. (download PDF)

Individual or Class trips to the bookstore: Students will be able to purchase books for summer reading from our Student-Run Bookstore. Teachers schedule (download PDF) an appointment with the bookstore advisor. During the visit, the teacher and advisor will assist the students in making smart book selections. In addition to the scheduled class visit, students may visit the Bookstore during its normal operating hours.  Students may also find books at local libraries.

Reading Activities:  Students will also be expected to complete activities (download PDF) for each book and return completed assignments to their teacher at the start of next school year. Schoolwide has a selection of 12 activity templates for each teacher to choose from. Each teacher can choose as many as they would like to build their activity packets.

Letter to Parents: Get parents involved by sending a letter home announcing the summer reading program (download PDF)

Contest:  To further motivate students to read throughout the summer, conduct a contest where you award a prize (i.e. pizza/ice cream party) to the class that completes the most reading activities.