Summer is finally here! After a challenging school year, we all welcome exploring and learning at summer's slower, sunnier pace. Here at Reading Rockets, we've got some great resources and ideas to help nourish kids’ minds all summer long — through reading, writing, listening, moving, and creating. Dive in!
Children are full of questions about the world around them, and summer is a perfect time to tap into your child's interests. Here are some ways to start a journey of discovery together. (In English and Spanish)
Planning lots of local outings this summer? Record your learning adventures with our Community Adventure Tracker map and log sheet. Just download and print.
While many kids are in local day camps and youth programs this summer, others are spending more unstructured time at home. Our Book Life blogger Rachael Walker will be sharing ideas in the weeks ahead for providing your kids with a safe place to learn and have fun during the long summer days. First up: try our newest DIY summer camps, Tune In! (all about music) and Bird Buddies.
Imagine making music with your body, inventing simple instruments with recycled materials, playing conductor, building community through call-and-response singing and group dances, creating a music time capsule, drawing to music, designing an album cover, exploring voices and songs of social change, and writing original jingles, parodies, and raps. And sharing books — such as Charlie Parker Played Be Bop and Celia Cruz: Queen of Salsa — that inspire kids to read about musicians and composers from diverse backgrounds and cultures. With our free Tune In! toolkit, you'll discover 5 days of activities, ideas to encourage kids’ writing, and lots of recommendations for great fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and songs.
How much can we all learn when we stop to look and listen? And what better way to spend summer days than outside learning all about birds — from the connection between birds and dinosaurs, their fantastic feathers, beaks for all kinds of nest building and eating, and unique songs, and how we, as humans, can protect birds and their habitats? Our free Bird Buddies toolkit gives kids a chance to learn all about birds — how they live, eat, move, fly, sing, and socialize by taking nature walks, using binoculars, keeping a bird journal from the point of view of a scientist or from that of a bird itself, setting up an observation station, writing poems, myths, and riddles about birds, building a nest, and playing games like Bird Bingo and Jeop-Birdy. Discover wonderful picture books like How the Raven Got His Crooked Nose and Mr. Popper’s Penguins — inspiring kids to read about birds and their habitats.
Sign up for our summer learning tips, available in English or Spanish. You'll receive three messages per week, featuring hands-on activities to keep kids reading, creating, exploring — and learning — all summer long!
Summer is the perfect season for relaxed reading together … in your favorite cool, comfortable spot alongside a tall stack of books. In our new booklist, you’ll find colorful board books for the littlest ones, friendship and community stories, a word-of-the-day book, a 101-random-questions book, science and nature books, picture book biographies, a little bit of poetry, and much more. Discover the latest by Kevin Henkes, Deborah Hopkinson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mac Barnett, and other favorite book creators. Find more summer booklists here!
June is National Audio Book Month! Audio books are a wonderful way to expose your child to complex language, expressive reading, and fantastic stories. Kids can use their own imaginations to visualize the people and places they’re hearing about. Here, you’ll find guidance on what to look for in choosing audio books as well as listening tips. (In English and Spanish)
Having a time and place to talk with others about a book you’ve read is a great way to invite readers to come together to build new knowledge and understanding. That’s why we were so excited to talk with Mia Wenjen about her everyone-is-welcome Multicultural Children's Book Club. Join Mia for the upcoming online book club meeting on July 7th to celebrate National Clean Beaches Week (July 1-7) and World Nature Conservation Day (July 28). Carole Lindstrom — author of the featured book, We Are Water Protectors — will be a featured guest, along with a Native American speaker from Water Protector Legal Collective talk about how we can protect our environment, especially our water.
Give kids a chance to try different kinds of writing this summer — from poetry to nature journals to persuasive writing. These engaging writing activities are perfect for at home or as a group activity in summer programs. (From our summer learning initiative, Start with a Book)
In this special Reading Rockets video series, experts answer real questions from families about writing and how to support their children’s literacy at home. Our Writing SOS experts answer your questions about writing motivation, handwriting, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, technology, and more. (Produced in partnership with the National Education Association)
Ideas, organization, and clarifying, rich details are all important in writing, but literacy specialist Kyley Pulphus emphasizes voice when working with young writers. She encourages kids to write in their own unique voice, and shares “mentor texts” by writers from different backgrounds — authors like Jason Reynolds. Kyley talks about how writers use slang and dialect or mix languages to give their writing a natural, authentic voice. (From our Writing SOS series)
Blog post from Margaret Goldberg, literacy coach and co-founder of Right to Read Project: “At first, my students got a thrill from turning the squiggly lines into speech sounds, but eventually they learned to decode words effortlessly. Then their thrill came from visualizing stories and learning new facts as they read. Once they cracked the code, a love of reading began to flow. I was no longer trying to speak a love of reading into existence, I was watching my students discover it themselves.”
Refresh your literacy teaching skills this summer! Reading 101 is our free, self-paced professional development course for K-3 teachers. The program offers 9 course modules on reading (from phonemic awareness to comprehension), writing, and assessment.
Reading Rockets is a national educational service of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital. The goal of the project is to provide information on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.
Send your questions, comments, or suggestions to info@readingrockets.org. Our mailing address is WETA/Reading Rockets, 2775 S. Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22206. We look forward to hearing from you!
