How to Build a Summer Reading Program for Your School

How to Build a Summer Reading Program for Your School
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jane_Thursday,_Ed.D.]Jane Thursday, Ed.D.

Building a summer reading program for your school can be a fun way to engage young minds in reading. Don't let your students go the whole summer without reading! This article is chocked full of ideas for what your reading program shouldn't be, how to connect with the public library, how to get parents to document time, appropriate reading material, and incentives.

What the Reading Program Shouldn't Be

1. Difficult for parents to use: Parents should spend way more time reading with their kids and not trying to write down every book and author.

2. Focused only on fiction-heavy reading lists: As an adult you read lots of types of reading materials, and if you force your child to focus on fiction then you limit him or her from the magazines, websites, newspapers, and information texts with which he or she could be connecting.

3. Inflexible: The successful reading program gives parents lots of options. Let books students listen to on audio and books read to them by an adult count. Encourage day cares and children's' summer programs to complete parts of the documentation.

Connecting with the Public Library



Chances are your local public library will be ecstatic to help you build your summer reading program. Look for resources that the public library can provide you with, such as a representative who can come out and talk to the students about summer events and how to get a library card. The public library can also provide materials and may be willing to keep copies of your reading log. My school asked the library to stamp students' reading logs to indicate that they attended a public library event during the summer.

Getting Parents to Document Time

We chose a reading log that asked parents to check the amount of time their child read for the entire week. The category choices were at least 2.5 hours, at least 1.5 hours, at least 1 hour, or another amount for each week of the summer vacation. The last column allowed the parents to check at total amount: at least 20 hours, at least 15 hours, at least 10 hours.

Appropriate Reading Material

Another column allowed the parent to check as many of the types of reading as were applicable. This helped parents understand that lots of kinds of reading are helpful for kids. Explain to parents that reading materials should be at or near the child's reading level AND of high interest to the child.

Incentives

Student could show their public library card at the front office at the school and receive a voucher for free treat from a local bakery. We limited this to the first one hundred students while supplies lasted. Students could return their completed forms on open house night and get a prize. At our open house in the fall, students will receive door prize tickets for random drawing according to the following guidelines:

1. Read and document in the log at least 20 total hours during the summer = 5 raffle tickets
2. Read and document in the log at least 15 total hours during the summer = 3 raffle tickets
3. Read and document in the log at least 10 total hours during the summer = 1 raffle ticket

About the author:

Jane Thursday is a freelance writer, a mother of two young children, and an elementary school principal. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership, a master's degree in school administration, and 6-12 English Language Arts teaching licensure. She has studied public education in the United States, South Africa, the Philippines, and England.

Read more articles like this one at http://janethursday.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Build-a-Summer-Reading-Program-for-Your-School&id=7072282] How to Build a Summer Reading Program for Your School