Photo by peapodsquadmom

By Arielle and Lauren, Guest Bloggers

As the weather gets hot and your students are itching to be outside, we thought we could prepare you with some perfect summer must-reads. After all, we can’t really blame them for their renewed Spring energy. Here are some great ideas to help your students continue to build their reading skills and enthusiasm during that final stretch of the school year and over their summer break.

Choosing new materials to read:

• Comic Books: Children love comic books, however, they are often forgotten about in terms of reading material. You can read a comic book alongside your students, and each read different character’s parts.
• Game Instructions: Spring and Summer are great times to play some games with your students. Write the directions out to an old or new game, for your students to read. This will give them reading practice with a major incentive!
• Trendy Songs: Find a cool song on the top hit 100 list that your students love (and of course one that is appropriate). Write the lyrics out big on chart paper for your students to read.  Your class will be so excited to learn how to read their favorite song and to read it together. (Arielle’s first grade class learned Dynamite by Taio Cruz and taught it to Lauren’s Kindergarten class using the enlarged song lyrics)
• Recipes: Cooking is always an activity that children love to partake in. If you are cooking with your students, write the recipe out on big chart paper, and have them read each step alongside you.

Tips for Rejuvenating Oldies but Goodies:

• Act it out: If you have stories that you have read over and over again, try to act out the story. Children are very engaged when their experience with a book is multi-sensory. By involving students in acting out a book, they are also using some of their Spring energy!
• Make a Spin-off: Write a new spin to an old favorite. For example, if you love Knufflebunny by Mo Willems, you can have Knuffle get lost at an ice cream store instead of a Laundromat.
• Write a song: Try to write your own lyrics to a poem or song. Use your favorite story as the theme for it.

Summer must- reads:

• Scaredy Squirrel at the beach by Melanie Watt
• The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
• Wemberly’s ice-cream star by Kevin Henkes
• Ladybug Girl at the Beach by David Somar and Jacky Davis
• Harry by the Sea by Gene Zion
• Little Miss and Mr. Series by Roger Hargreaves

About the Authors

Arielle and Lauren are both elementary school teachers trained in special education.  Arielle is also a mom.  They are the co-founders of acartonofmilk.com, a blog dedicated to helping parents sneak bits of learning into everyday activities with their children. They share favorite books, parenting tips, activities, advice from experts, and healthy lifestyle ideas. They discuss interesting opportunities and funny happenings on their twitter.   Most of all Lauren and Arielle have a love for teaching and hope to share some of their secrets from the classroom with parents and teachers alike.