THE IMPORTANCE OF SUMMER READING Welcome to our Parents’ Summer Reading Workshop! Thanks for joining us today. My name is _____, and I will be your host for this event. Children today will be responsible for reading at a rate unlike ever before in history. So it’s important that we give every child the tools necessary to achieve success. We can’t do that alone – we need your help, especially over the summer months. We have some information to share about why summer reading is important, and our plan to keep kids reading over the summer.

Only 10% of jobs require unskilled labor. Jobs Today 90% of the jobs today require either a TECHNICAL EDUCATION or a 4-YEAR COLLEGE DEGREE. Only 10% of jobs require unskilled labor. The skills required to earn a decent living have changed radically. Children in our elementary schools today need to grow to be readers, writers, and critical thinkers. By helping them develop in these skills, we are giving them options – options to be able to work wherever they choose. Think about jobs that are available today. Only 10 percent of jobs require unskilled labor and that number has decreased from 60% in 1950 to what it is today.

Kids who DO READ tend to gain a month of reading proficiency. Research on Summer Reading Children who DO NOT READ in the summer can lose two to three months of reading skills. Kids who DO READ tend to gain a month of reading proficiency. We all know that as summertime approaches, students look forward to their time off. But there’s one thing children shouldn’t take a break from over the summer – reading. Reading is the most important skill for a child to develop. It is an acquired skill. And like any skill, the more kids practice, the better they become. Summer reading loss or "summer setback" is a big problem for some children. If kids don’t read books over the summer, their reading skills typically decline an average of three months between June and September. And the decline adds up over every summer, every year. 3 3

The Importance of Summer Reading Children who read four or more books over the summer do better on reading tests in the fall. While the statistics on summer reading loss may seem discouraging, there are answers. Studies suggest that children who read as few as four books over the summer maintain the level of reading skills they achieved during the preceding school year. Students in grades three or higher need to read 4-8 books, while kindergarten through second grade students need to read 10-12 books over the summer. Children don't just need books, they need the right books. Making sure children have access to books that match their skill level and their interests is an important first step in encouraging independent reading over the summer. If children have opportunities to read, listen to, and talk about books they select, they can improve their independent reading. And they will likely return to school in the fall without experiencing a decline in reading skills!   *Kim, Jimmy. “Summer Reading and the Ethnic Achievement Gap,” The Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (2004). 4 4

Our Students Are Going to Take the Challenge! Note to presenter: Change the number on the slide to the one you hope your school will achieve. Now let’s talk about how we can encourage kids to read! (Share a personal story of having a child that either liked to read independently or didn’t like to read. Then ask participants to share their stories and experiences.) Some of you have children who read independently without much encouragement. And some of you have children who, no matter what you try, you can’t get them to pick up a book to read at home. And I bet there are a lot of you who have children somewhere in the middle. Our school is going to be involved in a summer reading challenge, and by asking all students to participate, we hope they will be motivated to take on this shared goal for our school. We’re going to participate in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. It’s a free program designed to motivate kids to read and log their minutes online as part of a school team.

Access to Books Students need access to good books: Book Fair/Reading Club School or community library Bookstores Book exchanges Garage sales First, in order for students to succeed in reading over the summer months, they need access to books that interest them and fit their reading level. There are many options for providing your child with access to good books. Here are a few suggestions. The goal is to get books for your kids however you can!

Engaging Students Interactive reading minute logs Read for the World Record! To keep students motivated and to encourage them to read more, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge gives kids an interactive reading log where students record the number of minutes they read each day. This web-based challenge invites students to join the school team to help Read for the World Record. Students simply join our school team, choose their books to read, then log their reading minutes online. They can also track our school’s reading progress throughout the summer. Students get virtual rewards through weekly challenges that motivate them to continue reading over the summer months. Poll: What are some of the ways you’ve motivated your children to read? In 2013, Read for the World Record inspired 133,289 kids from 4,287 schools in the U.S. and 31 countries to set a summer reading world record of 176,438,473 minutes. The top 20 schools with the most reading minutes this summer will be listed in the Scholastic 2015 Book of World Records.

Logging in the First Time The first time your child logs in they are asked to complete a short initial set up. Go to scholastic.com/summer In the KIDS box, click the “Get Started” button and enter their username and password. Follow the steps for the first-time sign-in. Note: If whole school is participating and has enrolled students, omit this slide. Note to presenter: If possible, have an account for a “sample” student available and an online connection to demonstrate the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge website. We’re signing up students and providing each with a username and password. We’ll go to the website and use a test account to demonstrate how to log in for the first time. Go to scholastic.com/summer 1. In the Kids square, click on GO NOW! 2. Click on the Sign In button. 3. Screen 1: Type in the screen name (your user name) and password provided by your teacher. Click Go. 4. Screen 2: Click NO when asked if you want to use your Stacks screen name. (If you already have a Stacks user name, it is your personal choice to use it or not.) 5. Screen 3: Use the password your teacher gave you when asked to create a password. 6. Choose a security question to answer and then answer it. Click on Boy or Girl button for yourself. Click SUBMIT. 7. Screen 4: Click on Continue. 8. Welcome to your homepage! Click on LOG MINUTES under the My Minutes section. Start entering your minutes! NOTE: Up until August 1, reading minutes may be entered on the current day, and up to two weeks prior. However, after August 1, students will be able to enter minutes for the whole summer up to the current day. Does anyone have any questions?

Logging Reading Minutes Go to scholastic.com/summer Select KIDS “Get Started” button and enter screen name and password. This takes you right to your personal home page to log minutes. After logging your minutes, you should see a “Your minutes were successfully logged” message. After initial setup as noted above, to log minutes on a daily or weekly basis: 1. Go to scholastic.com/summer. 2. Select KIDS button. 3. In the pop-up box that appears, enter your screen name and password; click GO. 4. This takes you right to your personal home page to log minutes. 5. After logging your minutes, you should see a “Your minutes were successfully logged” message. For kids ages 8 and up, there is a choice to enter a sweepstakes – this is optional and requires some additional information. To just log minutes, choose “NO.” Does anyone have any questions?

Setting a Reading Goal Partner with your child to create a reading goal. 4 books for Grades 3-6 @ 180 minutes per book = 720 minutes 20 minutes per day x 5 days a week x 10 weeks = 1,000 minutes Think about a reasonable goal for your child, discuss it with him or her, complete the My Summer Reading Goal card with your child’s name, grade, and the number of minutes your child commits to reading over the summer months, then place it in a box on the registration table before you leave. Here are two examples of how to estimate a goal: 1. It may take about 180 minutes to complete a novel for a third through sixth grade student. So if a child reads a minimum of four books this summer that equates to roughly 720 minutes. 2. You can also calculate the number of minutes for your goal by thinking your child will read 20 minutes per day for five days a week. There are approximately 14 weeks between June 1 and the September 6 end date. You could use 10-14 weeks, so your child’s reading goal would be 1000-1400 minutes.

Key Dates Begin entering minutes into Read for the World Record! Here are some key dates to remember: May 5: Kids can begin entering minutes into Read for the World Record! September 5: Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge officially ends. September 30: IMPORTANT! Last day for students and teachers to retrieve minutes and print out Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge stats!   Begin entering minutes into Read for the World Record! The Scholastic Summer Challenge officially ends. Last day for students and teachers to retrieve minutes and print out Summer Challenge stats!

A Successful Summer Reading Program Includes: Giving kids ACCESS to books they want to read Providing kids CHOICE in their book selection Family INVOLVEMENT to encourage and monitor reading Daily READING PRACTICE When families and schools work together student reading improves. Build or refresh a home library. Children who have access to more books have higher reading scores because they are practicing more. Visit your Book Fair or the local library. It’s a great opportunity to stock up on books to read over the summer. Let kids choose subjects they love. They’re more likely to finish books they pick out themselves. Set the example. Model good reading behaviors. Find time for your child to read at least 20 minutes every day. Lead them to read. Talk about books. Continue to read aloud to children, regardless of their age. Poll: Let’s share some ways we’ve gotten our children to read daily. Who has a great tip or strategy to share?

Kickoff Your Summer Reading Make a list of your summer reading goals and books to read as a family. Have your kids sign a Summer Reading Pledge with the number of minutes they plan to read. Visit scholastic.com/summer to easily log reading minutes. Thank you for coming tonight! Help your child set a goal and get off to a good start. As a family, write down your goals and some great books for your personal summer reading list. Don’t get discouraged as the summer begins, and life happens! You think this might be a good goal to commit to but... Work is busy at the moment Your child is in sports She has camp coming up Your home-life is packed Once you get started on the reading habit and entering minutes into the Summer Challenge website, you’ll find it gets easier to do!