Summer Literacy Activities

Here you can find an ever growing list of authentic activities to promote a love of reading and writing with your child. These are the revised book reports of the past!

We'll be sure to add new blog post when we add something new to this list, so just make sure you're following us to get updated when we write a new post! (The follow button is off to the left!)

1. Set weekly reading goals - Talk at the beginning of each week with your child to make sure you have a plan for reading throughout the week. Follow up the following week to see how it went, and then plan again. Make this an ongoing conversation.
2. Read and discuss books together - It's just this simple! Create a ritual around this - at bedtime, after breakfast, at lunch in the backyard - whatever works. The big idea is just that parent and child read together and then talk about the book. No reports. No worksheets. Nothing to make this authentic practice feel like drudgery. Just reading and talking, like real people do in real life!
3. Share a dialog notebook together - this is just a basic notebook (I prefer composition notebooks so pages aren't torn out) but a notebook where child and parent write letters (or draw pictures) about books and then write back and forth. Not only will your child think about the books they've read, but they'll write about it and then have to read your letters (or pictures) too. Again, letter writing is an authentic practice we use in real life, so this is a great experience. One more thing: Make a big deal of picking out the notebook. Take your child to the store with you, and pick out a notebook that's really special. Or, a plain one and decorate it. This will make it their own and they will take extra care and pride in it!
4. Share books with friends, neighbors, family...anyone who wants to get together to talk about them! Meet for lunch in the park and bring books. Everyone shares what they've been reading! As we talked about this, our parents had ideas about doing it around a campfire or at night with flashlights. We thought about maybe doing "Breakfast and Books" and they parents invited the teachers. LOVE! Social outings around books always increase engagement with them!
5. Routine library visits - I'm sure your local library has lots going on in the summer! Plan to meet up with friends or family and their kids to make it social. Be involved with library events!
6. Reading "Dates" - I don't have any kids of my own, but I always pictured myself taking my little ones (one day) to Barnes and Noble or any other book store, getting a coffee (or chocolate milk) and sitting in the cafe reading and enjoying one another's company. Make a reading date to see a movie of a book you've read or to go to a museum downtown, bring your books, and have lunch and reading in the park. What other ideas do you have? Any way to make reading special and social will be awesome!
7. Use social media - Blogs, Facebook, & Twitter - Set up a blog with your child write about books together. Then, share with the world! (In fact, if you do this, I'd love to have family blogs linked here to Emerson's Collaborative Blog, so let me know if this is something you do!) You can also follow lots of authors and characters on Twitter. Read a book and then Tweet the author or character. In many cases, they will write back! Additionally, there are tons of teacher blogs with lots of great ideas for teachers and parents to try out!

This list will grow...please check back often!

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