Summer Reading Program

I don't know about you but I am absolutely determined to make sure my third graders keep their noses stuck in a book over the summer. They, eh hem, WE have worked way too hard to "lose" any ground. I want my kids to enter fourth grade feeling like confident rock star readers and not have to waste anytime making up lost ground. I posted a while back about using math calendars to help our kids practice math skills every day this summer. You can read about it here. But my focus today is summer reading.

Now I know our public libraries and our very own school libraries can put together reading lists for students. But how can we ensure our kids will actually pick up a book? I'm not sure really, but I am going to try reading with them. I purchased each student in my class a copy of Wayside School Wacky School that I plan to send them off with on their last day of third grade. I am going to post one video of myself reading aloud of one chapter of the book every day on my class site until the book is completed. I am going to do this using iSight on my Mac. You can view what it might look like (I haven't done it with my chapter book yet) here. This is a video of me reading Pout, Pout Fish with my son Dylan using iSight-just scroll down to the bottom of the post. I am also going to set a date midsummer via email to have my kids meet me a our school park for snacks, a little bit of catching up and most importantly a book discussion. I live so close to school and my own kids can play on the playground while I meet with my soon to be fourth graders. I have an extremely receptive parent group whom I've already spoken with about this summer reading project so I think it will be a success. I plan to email comprehension questions for kids to prepare prior to our book club in the park.

Now, why did I purchase that book? I didn't want to be too serious this summer and I know my kids love this series. The reading level is a good compromise too-not too easy, not too difficult for most, and silly for all! Those students who may struggle can use the read aloud video to follow along with as they read. I will also do a short vocabulary talk prior to each chapter.