Students will soon be enjoying a break from school, but that doesn’t mean that teachers can’t help them continue to build their literacy skills. Lexia, a Cambium Learning Group company, is sharing dozens of at-home activities that teachers can suggest families do to help accelerate their student’s learning over the summer months.
“The three-month summer break is a perfect opportunity for students to explore interesting books and improve their reading skills without feeling like they’re doing homework,” said Lexia Chief Learning Officer Dr. Liz Brooke. “In fact, families can make literacy development into enjoyable activities that involve movement, art projects, word play, scavenger hunts and more.”
Dr. Brooke gave an example of one such game for intermediate readers. Working with similes and metaphors, talk about what the phrases make you think about and then talk about the meaning they are trying to portray in a story or in a conversation. After the discussion around meaning, have the students illustrate each one - either using the literal meaning or the figurative meaning (e.g., The mall was a zoo.).
- I’m as hungry as a bear.
- He was as slow as a snail.
- It is as light as a feather.
- The mall was a zoo.
- My hair is a bird’s nest.
- You are my sunshine.
Lexia’s Summer Literacies page contains links to 73 more ideas for at-home literacy development. Students and their families can engage in activities such as:
● Summer Reading Bingo Challenge® for kindergartners to fifth graders
● Read @ Home games and projects for kindergartners to fifth graders
● Family game nights for foundational, intermediate, and adolescent readers
● Informational text comprehension for early readers
● Multisensory word challenges for pre-kindergarteners to fifth graders
● Reading-related art activities for foundational readers to middle schoolers
● Movement activities for children ranging from foundational readers to middle schoolers
In addition, Lexia has provided ideas for encouraging children to read at home and also to help beginning readers to practice matching speech sounds to corresponding written letters.
“Research shows students can lose a month of learning over the summer break. Since many students are still recovering from the pandemic’s learning disruptions, they can’t afford that setback,” Dr. Brooke added. “It’s hard to think of anything school related when trying to relax over the summer months. However, mixing in these fun activities with a “literacy twist” can make all the difference in a child’s future.”
About Lexia Learning
Lexia®, a Cambium Learning Group company, is a leader in science of reading-based solutions. For nearly 40 years, the company has focused on pre-K-12 literacy and today provides solutions for every student and educator. With a complete offering of professional learning, curriculum, and embedded assessment, Lexia helps more learners read, write, and speak with confidence. For more information, visit www.lexialearning.com.
About Cambium Learning Group
Cambium Learning® Group is the education essentials company, providing award-winning education technology and services for K-12 markets. With an intentionally curated portfolio of respected global brands, Cambium serves as a leader in the education space, helping millions of educators and students feel more universally valued every day. In everything it does, the company focuses on the elements that are most essential to the success of education, delivering simpler, more certain solutions that make a meaningful difference right now. To learn more, visit www.cambiumlearning.com or follow Cambium on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium. The Cambium family of companies includes: Cambium Assessment, Lexia®, Learning A-Z®, Voyager Sopris Learning®, ExploreLearning®, Time4Learning®, and Kurzweil Education®.
