READING! 2)Ideas to make reading even more FUN and EXCITING at your house

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1 READING! 1) Just Right Books (Mandatory) Attached you will find three lists of recommended books. Two of the lists are at your child s just right reading level, (meaning that your child will be able to read them independently). The third list is one just above his or her just right level, which your child will need some assistance in decoding or understanding the book. We ve done our best to keep our lists fresh and enticing to our readers. We ve highlighted some noteworthy books at each level that we think may appeal to our students, including hyperlinks to those books. When you receive these lists electronically, you may access the selected books on Amazon s website. Please note that almost every book mentioned on these lists can be found on Amazon s website. Your child has developed the laudable habit of reading independently for set periods of time. Children in kindergarten can now read about 15 minutes independently, whereas those in second can read for a half hour, and those in fifth grade can read for upwards of 45 minutes. We are proud of the stamina your child has developed, and it s important this habit be maintained. Please make sure that there is time set aside for daily reading, so that your child can retain what he or she has worked so hard to learn! 2)Ideas to make reading even more FUN and EXCITING at your house The best way you can encourage your child to read is to read yourself. Whether you pick up your own book and read alongside him or her, share the job of reading a particular book, or start a family book club, your interest in reading will motivate your children. They love you so much and want to be like you. :) Here are some ideas to help you get started: Have a Family Book Club: Choose a book that matches the reading level of one of your children. Everyone can then read that book separately (or you can read with the child(ren) for whom the book is too difficult). When you are finished with all (or a portion!) of the book, your family can meet to discuss the book--as you d do in a real book club. You can plan activities that are related to the book or have food that the characters may have eaten, etc. It s the conversation that teaches children that we read books for pleasure and understanding, to discuss them with other people, and to expand our worlds--not just in order to decode words or say them quickly (with fluency). Schedule a Family Reading Time: Setting a time where EVERYONE in the family sits down with an e-reader, newspaper, book, magazine, any text at all, and reads shows your children how special reading is. Every year we have new families try this, and the result is exciting. (Tip: Base the amount of time devoted to family reading on your youngest (school age) child s reading level.)

2 READING! continued Choose a summer read aloud book: Everyone loves to listen to a story. As a family, decide upon a book that a parent can read aloud to whole family throughout the summer. Choose a book that s a little higher than your oldest child s independent reading level. Read a chapter or two a day, stopping here and there to talk about what everyone s thinking as they read. (If you d like some recommendations, please ask Julie Sterrett!!) 3)Ideas to help kids respond to what they re reading Are you looking for some ways to ensure your child is reading for meaning? We understand. Besides some of the ways above, here are a few options your child can do (almost) independently. Write a letter to a friend: A lot of times when we read a book, we think to ourselves, So-and-so has got to read this book. Encourage your child to recommend the book to a friend via an or letter, explaining why this book is so worthy of his/her interest. Use post-it notes: Over the course of the last two years, your child has learned to use post-it notes as a way of thinking out loud while reading. Encourage him or her to use sticky notes throughout this summer as well. These post-its can help him or her begin a conversation with you about what they re reading. If your child is in the earlier grade levels, post-its might serve as a way for them to picture on paper what they can t yet picture in their heads. If your child is older, post-it notes serve as an introduction to annotating. Use Technology: Starting a family account on a site like goodreads.com, shelfari.com, or librarything.com, can provide a place for your child to log, rate, and review books read over the summer. Using an app such as ShowMe, your child can teach a friend or teacher about the book he or she just finished. By drawing pictures and doing a voiceover, your child can share what they viewed as the highlights of the book. Rewrite the story. Sites like: allow children to write and revise their favorite kids books and share their stories with others. They can also read how others have changed endings or extended the stories. This site is dedicated to children in grades k-6. Name or rename the chapters within the book. This is a great and simple way to ensure he or she has grasped the big idea in each chapter.

3 Writing Homework! Current Second, Third, and Fourth Graders: (MANDATORY) As we did in previous years, we re sending the second and third graders home with their writer s notebooks and the charge to collect seed ideas (i.e. ideas for personal narrative, essay, all about or nonfiction writing, fiction, and poetry.) Summer is full of wonderful moments, and we want to try to remember as many of them as possible. However, this is NO longer just a writer s notebook. Your child will transform their notebook into a commonplace book. These books have been kept by many of the great writers and thinkers of all time, including Dante Alighieri, Henry David Thoreau, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Jefferson and John Locke. Even characters like Lemony Snicket s Quagmire triplets (A Series of Unfortunate Events), have kept commonplace books. Here are SOME ideas of how one can turn a writer s notebook into a commonplace book: house your favorite post-it notes from books you ve loved. list and review the books you re reading. add quotes from books and poems you like. paste photos from travel or things that you think are simply cool. insert letters, postcards, birthday cards, etc. from friends and family members. draw pictures of things that inspire you. write down quick story/essay/poem/nonfiction, etc. journal about your travel. WHATEVER YOU imagine. Please note that these are just ideas. As students go through the grades, more and more emphasis will be placed on enabling them to make academic decisions for themselves--to think on their own. We believe that summer homework is a great place for our children to explore this type of open-ended assignment. To that end, your child can add to their commonplace whatever they wish. A commonplace book is one part scrapbook, one part reader s notebook, and one part writer s notebook.

4 Some cool Pages from last year s commonplace books Charles took Becca included fun photos of herself hanging out with photos of his friends. incredible dance moves. Brooke kept her Maddie pasted in newspaper clippings about her swim team. favorite post-its from books she read. Rayna made a list of things she would do if she were Noah made president. a travel journal. Emilie wrote her own clever songs!

5 Writing Homework For Current pre-k 3 & Pre-k 4 students Take/draw pictures throughout summer vacation to record people, places, things, feelings, discoveries, etc. to share at the beginning of the school year with your new class. We encourage the children to label their pictures, if appropriate, or to dictate their thoughts/ideas to a helper. We are requesting a minimum of 5 pictures to share in August. We are looking forward to the discussions that will naturally unfold both in our classrooms and at home. Thank you for your continuous support. For Current kindergarten students: Take photos or draw illustrations of what you do over the summer and in a journal write about it, so you can share with your friends in the fall! Try to write a few times a week. For Current first grade Students: Please use your reading journal to continue keeping track of the books you ve read. You can write down your favorite parts of fiction books or facts you ve learned in your nonfiction books.