Summer Reading Ideas

I have posted summer reading ideas below for my reading class. Keep your skills strong for Seventh Age in the fall!


Summer Reading Suggestions
(15-20 minutes)

1.Read to your child every day! If you are not available, a babysitter or older sibling can listen!

Choosing the right book: For reading material, please look to the summer reading list created by our Calvert librarian, Tina Thomas. (The reading list is linked to the Calvert website: www.calvertschool.org.) For additional materials, take your child to the public library and let him/her help you choose 5-10 books each time you go. Ask him/her what interests them. Then you can help guide them to books they will like. Start with books that contain short vowel words and a few sight words. You can increase the level of reading difficulty as your child’s comfort increases. FYI- your child has been reading short vowel and long vowel words, as well as words with blends and digraphs. Books with rhyming words or repetition are good choices. As a guide in choosing a book, a good rule of thumb is as follows: if your child misses more than 2-3 words on a page, it is too difficult (5 words to a page for books with lots of text).

There are 3 types of books for your child:
• Books to be read TO your child- these include picture books with a complicated vocabulary and plot that you can discuss as you read. These books increase vocabulary and understanding of more complex stories.
• Books to be read WITH your child- these include I Can Read and Hello Reader series (beginning or level 1books). You can take turns reading and even take more than one sitting to read the book. These help your child to be successful with more difficult books without getting too frustrated.
• Books to be read BY your child independently- these include books that are picture supported, repetitive, and easily read by your child. These books help them practice strategies and vocabulary independently.
*Each reading session should be at least 10 minutes but remember to keep it fun!

2. Continue to provide your child with small motor activities that will help later with handwriting. You could have them do dot-to-dots, mazes, puzzles, legos, drawing. Please DO NOT teach them any cursive because Calvert script is very specific. They will have plenty of time to practice in 7th age!

3. For additional reading materials including workbooks etc., Learning How in Kenilworth and Lakeshore in Towson are great places to seek out for games and activities. Depending on the difficulty, choose Kindergarten or First Grade. Remind them to work top to bottom and left to right.

Supporting Your Child’s Reading
When you are working with your child, there are certain things that you should do to support them. The key word is support. You can’t do their work for them. You want your child to become an independent reader but during this sometimes difficult process, both you and your child can become quite discouraged. The following tips should help as you both work together.

Before you and your child start reading: Look at the cover and talk about the book. What’s the title? Who’s the author? Have we read any of his/her books before? How about the illustrator? What do you think this book is about? Where is it taking place (What is the setting?)? Is it a real or make-believe story? How did you know?
*These questions and any others you can think of activate any prior
knowledge they might have about the subject and it also gives you
the opportunity to talk about possible vocabulary.

When you and your child are reading: Stop occasionally and ask what has happened. Ask for predictions as to what is going to happen. Ask for reasons for those predictions- AKA- What makes you think that?

When he/she comes to an unknown word:

Wait. Give them time to use one of their strategies. (If the word is very difficult, or a name they haven’t seen in the story yet- Give them the word immediately).

Ask them what they can do? Remind them that they have some strategies to draw from.

Think & Suggest- What clue could you give them so they can figure the word out? (Look at the picture; ask a question to which the answer is the unknown word. Ex.: The dog bit the man. I might ask, “What could a dog do?”)

Give them the word- If all else fails, don’t despair! Just give them the word and move on.

The most important thing to remember is that you want your child to enjoy reading. You want them to feel successful. Praise them often but sincerely. When they decode an unknown word- make a big deal of it. “Wow, that was fabulous!” “You’re so smart!” “You’re such a great reader!” Often children who are having difficulty in learning to read do not feel that they are smart. If the lose their self- confidence and have an “I can’t” attitude, a big battle has been lost.

After you and your child finish reading: Talk about what you and your child liked and disliked about the book. If you want to take it a step further, follow up with a suggested After-Reading Activity

After Reading Activities
(15-20 minutes)

Book Journal- Have your child draw a picture about their favorite part of the story. Then have them dictate a sentence that describes the picture. Please incorporate this writing at the top or bottom of the page.

Vocabulary Picture- Take a blank piece of paper and draw a big picture of something fun on it (ex. A pool, a present). The picture can even be an important item/ prop from the story. Then ask your child what words they would like to learn from the story you just read. Pick about 5 words. Write them on the picture. Each time, pick a different color marker and you can pick 5 more words to add to the picture. Review them occasionally.

Vocabulary/ Phonics Game- Take a blank piece of paper and draw a path or maze on it. Draw lines to divide the path into spaces for words and mark your “Start” and “Finish”. Use your vocabulary picture words or pick several word families (man, can, tan; fat, mat, cat, etc.) and fill the spaces with words. Add special messages to a few spaces such as “Go Ahead 1 Space”, “Go Back 2 Spaces”, or “ * ” means Go Again- anything goes! You will need a die and 2 markers. (I use pennies. One person is heads, the other is tails.) You are ready to play! Each time you or your child lands on a spot, he/she has to read the word. First one to reach “Finish” wins!

Concentration- Make 2 cards for each vocabulary word on your vocabulary chart. Only work on 10-15 words per game. As you play, make sure your child is reading the words as you turn the cards over rather than just seeing if they are a match.

Read Around the House- Take the word cards and make a path around the house or even outside. A start and finish sign can also make it fun. They can hop, skip, or just walk through the path and pick up each card as they read it.

Make a Sentence- Take the vocabulary cards from above and use them to make sentences. If you need extra words such as family member’s names or prepositions, etc, feel free to make them. Take turn with your child making sentences. You can write the sentence down and have them illustrate it as well.

Make a Book- Make a blank book of about 3-4 pages with a construction paper cover. Explain that the story has to have a beginning, middle, and an end. They can make up their own story or re-tell the story that you just read.

Vocabulary Go Fish- Go fish for vocabulary with a “fishing pole” (magnet attached to pole and to back of vocabulary cards).

Bingo- Make a Bingo game board from your vocabulary words.

*There are many other games you can play! These are simply a few suggestions!

Reading Vocabulary
Sight Words from Mrs. Armstrong’s class

up use says

put very now

too buy could

help when friends

she gives got

every oh with

people and play

your walk new

there down don’t

yes of they

out night he

in that was

said her make

so want day

from gone two

eat grows or

Mr. need right

be try saw

time our good

air animals around

fly live soon

turns

Digraphs and Blends

th (as in think and that)

br (brown)

fr (frown)

ch (church)

fl (flower)

gr (great)

pl (plate)

sp (spoon)

sh (shut)

tr (trap)

sm (small)

cl (clown)

wh (when, what, where)

Punctuation Marks

? (question mark)

. (period)

! (exclamation point)

“” (quotation/ talking marks)