How to Avoid the Summer Slide
Does avoiding summer slide have to mean worksheets?
Is it possible to send summer work home for students that they’ll actually like doing?
I’m glad you asked. Because the answer is yes!
Students have worked hard this year. They are ready for a break. You are, too.
However, you know how important it is to encourage your students to practice their skills over the summer to prevent losing some of what you all worked so hard to achieve this year.
The challenge becomes finding work for your students to do that offers practice and reinforcement, but that they’ll actually enjoy doing.
I’ve got you covered. Read on to learn how.
Two Easy Ways to Avoid Summer Slide
1. Keep students reading
You know the statistics as well as I do. Studies have shown kids lose as much as 25% of their reading skills over the summer break.
25%!
Think for a minute how hard you and your students worked to make those gains. That is incentive enough to find ways to shrink that number for your own students.
Students should read daily. Simply read.
Help students brainstorm a list of types of reading they can do before the end of the year. Graphic novels, sports or nature magazines, online articles? All good. Chapter books at their level? Even better.
Get your families involved. Consider sending home book lists with your students. Talk to your parents about the many benefits of still reading to their children or taking turns reading aloud to each other. This practice strengthens reading and comprehension as well as providing special time together.
How would you like a FREE, no-prep week of summer reading lessons to send home with your students? These activities are engaging and encourage students to THINK!
Grab a week of reading summer activities here in The Treasury.
2. Encourage student writers
We all agree students need to keep reading over the summer. They need to keep writing, too. Instead of relying on canned writing prompts, let’s make writing fun.
A few ways students and families can work writing into everyday summer activities:
Write a review for a book read over the summer, complete with a rating based on a student-designed rating system. Bonus points if they read a book that was made into a movie and review both versions!
Write an eyewitness account of a newsworthy event that happened in their neighborhood or town. Lost dogs, lemonade stands, results of a swim meet or a hotly contested game of dodgeball. The possibilities are endless.
Get creative and write a short story set in a location they visited during summer break. They can make themselves the star of the story or take it further and create a memorable main character.
For engaging and educational writing activities, check out this FREEBIE. You’ll find a full week of activities that require no-prep!
Looking for more than just a week of resources?
My full Summer Review Kit includes eight weeks of reading, writing, and maker activities that will keep students engaged and learning all summer long.
Find the printable version here and the digital version here.
To wrap It up…
Encourage your parents to simply make learning a part of their students’ summer daily routine.
If they set aside 30 minutes each day, and everyone is learning during that time, including parents, there will be less resistance. Engaging in learning games together like crossword puzzles or brain teasers will be fun for families and keep brains working all summer long!
You have a plan to arm your students with all they need to keep learning and growing this summer. Don’t forget to get yourself - and your classroom - ready for summer break, too.
Check out this post where I give you six easy steps to follow to organize your classroom and prepare it for summer vacation, too. You’ll be glad you did!
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