Beat the Summer Slide: 9 Ways to Promote Summer Reading
At the start of every school year, teachers face a familiar predicament: After two months out of school, some students have lost significant academic ground.
This “summer slide” affects some students more than others, but it’s most apparent in those with limited access to books and resources at home. Without addressing the summer slide head-on, we risk letting this learning loss grow into a large achievement gap down the line.
How can we make sure that all students have access to books and learning opportunities over the summer? Here are a few ideas to help prevent the summer slide:
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Send text sets home with students
Put together packs of books for students to take home over the summer, like our summer-themed text sets. Record the titles, put them into a take-home book bag, and look forward to seeing them again in the fall—hopefully a bit worn from being read! If possible, have students choose their own books, but guide them toward picking texts they will be able to read nearly independently.
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Partner with your local library
Libraries are a treasure trove of summer learning resources! Investigate summer reading programs at your local library and encourage your students to participate. Remind students that the library is a welcoming community for them that can offer more than just books. If you still have time in the school year, take a field trip to the library with your students to show them around. (Bonus points if you invite caregivers!)
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Create a book giveaway program
Schools can get creative and work with their communities and states to provide books for students to keep. Book ownership can make an impact on a student’s entire family, since students often read to or pass on their books to younger siblings. Research has shown that book distribution programs can improve attitudes toward reading, which ultimately leads to more reading!
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Sign up for a Digital Reader summer subscription
Put more than a thousand books in your students’ hands with Digital Reader, a library of digital books and online word study activities. With engaging “Reading Adventures” and a kid-friendly interface, students will love bringing Digital Reader along on their summer adventures.
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Organize a summer book sale
Work with your school, PTA, or other community groups to organize a used book sale. Get students to bring in old books they no longer want and encourage trading. Promote the event within school communication channels and donate any funds toward purchasing books for students in need.
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Make free personalized books online
Use BookBuilder to create personalized books to print and send home with students. Students will be thrilled to see characters with their names! The variety of texts across reading abilities meets the needs of many early readers. Bookbuilder is free to start, or subscribe for access to more texts.
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Send a letter home to engage parents and caregivers
Remind families of the research on summer learning loss, and share tips on how to promote summer reading. Encourage caregivers to lean into students’ interests to help them find texts they will want to read. Suggest carving out a specific time for reading each day and keeping baskets of books close at hand, like in the car, in the bathroom, and next to the bed.. -
Strengthen reading comprehension with graphic organizers
Support students’ deepening comprehension by using graphic organizers that prompt students to summarize, learn vocabulary, and reflect on what they read. Get started with our free Summer Reading Toolkit which includes eight graphic organizers and tips for implementation.
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Be a summer reading role model
Model the summer reading habits you’d like to see in your students! Call or email students during the summer about what you're reading. Tell them about your own trips to the library and share some new things you’ve learned. Then ask how they are enjoying their books!
Most of all, encourage your students to have fun reading! While summer reading can help students make academic progress, it’s also a valuable opportunity to foster a love of reading. Just like adults gravitate toward entertaining beach reads, students also deserve enjoyable books that keep them coming back for more.
