Why Summer Reading Matters

At the end of last school year, my reading students made this amazing video about the benefits of reading over the summer. It's a pretty great watch!



Though the video is a little silly, the condition that it discusses-- the "Summer Slide"-- is a real problem all over the country. Many students leave for the summer excited about the long break that they will get from school. A long break from school, however, is also a long break from learning. Imagine if you wanted to play basketball in high school and college, but you just stopped playing and practicing for two to three months every year! Would you make it?

Let your inner reading spirit soar! :)

What happens if I don't read over the summer?

According to research, "by the end of 6th grade, children who lose reading skills over the summer are an average of 2 years behind their peers." This means that each summer that you ditch your books, your ability as a reader suffers. You'll struggle with new concepts in class, and you'll have to work twice as hard to catch up.

I'm busy over the summer, and I am traveling a lot. How the heck am I supposed to fit in reading time?

Just because your teacher asks you to read over the summer doesn't mean that they are expecting you to spend ALL of your time reading! Even your reading teachers are probably not picking up a book every single day. Even reading 4-6 books over the entire course of the summer can help you keep on track!

Reading also doesn't mean reading ONLY chapter books. Reading books aloud to younger siblings is a great way to help you and your siblings practice good reading habits over the summer. Audiobooks, Podcasts, and other audio-reading is also a great alternative to reading books on paper. Reading news articles on subjects that you love is also a great way to practice reading. Catch up on how great the Royals are doing by reading a few newspaper articles about them!

But my teacher isn't here to help me find a book-- what should I do?

Though you can always just go and explore for great reads, there are also ways for you to find help
when looking for just the right book. If you have access to a local library, a librarian would be happy to help you find an amazing book according to interests and reading level. Local libraries generally have great reading programs in place, too, where you can win prizes and read with other readers your age. Feel free to check in with your friends, too. They may have read some awesome books that you haven't yet!

Here's one of our local libraries-- located conviniently near
the mall!   Image from the St. Joseph News Press

Are you worried about finding a book that's within your lexile/difficulty range? If you're on your own, the 5-Finger rule is generally a good trick when looking for a good book that's not too hard. Follow these steps from Scholastic.com:

1.  Find a book that looks interesting.
2. Open the book to a random page in the first chapter (watch out for those spoilers!)
3. Read the whole page, and put up a finger for each word that you don't know. 
4. If you have fewer than five fingers, the book should be in the right reading level. 

Don't let the 5-Finger rule scare you away from trying a harder book, though. Sometimes books have words that you may not know that aren't too hard; they're just a part of the story! Books like the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games all have book-specific vocabulary that you can figure out using context clues!

Take some risks, and always check out more than you can possibly finish from your library-- it's still ok to abandon books! I always check out around five books and end up only reading about two of them, and that's totally fine! Enjoy a summer full of play and reading!

Sources for more information:
Brighthub Education
The National Summer Reading Association
Scholastic Parents