Summer Reading Notes from the Literacy Center
Attention kids - Please read!
District Summer Reading Expectation and the Nixon Reading Challenge
Want to earn a homework pass for September?
Just meet the Nixon summer reading challenge! Here’s how - Just read a minimum of 10 books over the summer - four books from the Sudbury reading list and the rest of your choice. At least two books should be non-fiction or fiction depending on what you love more. Always smart to fuel your mind with some of both.
The district expectation is that each student should read a minimum of 6 books over the summer, 4 from the Sudbury Reading List which is posted o the Sudbury Public Schools website and may be found at the town library and 2 books of your own choice. Whether you choose to take the Nixon challenge or just fulfill the district expectation, you should bring your list of books read into your new teacher the first week of school. Don’t wait - get started and make time every day for at least 25 minutes of reading, older students at least 45 minutes.
Want to get your summer vacation off to great start? Grab your library card or sign up for one and get to the library.
The library is like a candy store to the mind - so many wonderful choices for every taste in reading and then even more new ones to try. Personally I have become hooked on books on tape for car rides but there are also exciting videos of books, movies and national geographic kinds of topics.
Summer vacation is almost here and what a perfect time for some cozy, relaxing reading! Reading to and with your child can be a special time of the day when all the hustle and bustle can be forgotten and lighthearted stories shared. Maybe you have a non-fiction fan who would love to take time to learn about a favorite animal, and look at incredible photographs of this creature in action. Whatever your child’s passion I strongly suggest you start at the local library. Once you make the first trip then you’ve begun your routine because each time you return books, you get to choose new ones!
Sometimes when you get tired of the heat, it just feels good to sit in the air conditioned room and read books there.
Why should you make reading daily a priority this summer? Lots of reasons.
1. It’s fun and relaxing. Using your imagination is the best!
2. It makes you smarter. Whether you are reading fiction or non-fiction, you are learning new words, new ideas, exercising your brain muscles to figure out why a character acts in a certain way or what might happen next in the story. Often books help us learn more about an interesting topic.
3. It makes you a better reader. Reading is the kind of skill that you need to do and practice in order to improve. Teachers and parents can give you tips but only you can make yourself a better reader by reading.
4. It builds your fluency. What’s fluency you ask? Fluency is the ability to read with expression, and matching your voice to what the punctuation tells you to do, like showing excitement when you see an exclamation mark. Fluency is not reading like a robot - word by word. Fluency means reading in longer, meaningful groups of words so that it is easier to understand what the book is telling you.
5. It makes you a better writer. Why? - because you’ll read many examples of special descriptive words that you’ll be able to use in your own writing. Try reading like a writer - it’s fun to notice how another writer grabs your attention or makes a story interesting to read.
6. It gives you the chance to be a time traveler to new places back in time, or in the future. Warning: putting the book down and returning to present time may be difficult!
7. Did I mention that it’s FUN?!!
Time to find those “just right” books about topics you enjoy. Happy summer reading everyone!!
