Summer Reading Program Essay

During the next two decades, the focus of reading instruction shifted away from phonics based basal reading programs. Instead, research suggested teaching children how to think and

This understanding of literacy development is relatively new and complements the research that supports the crucial role that early experiences play in shaping the development of our brain.

Every year teachers in the school tried making reading fun by incorporating fun games or activities that introduced a book of choice. They would go as far as creating activities that continued all week or until the book was finished.

Early reading success is the foundation of a student’s knowledge and self-esteem. The foundation also provides future opportunities for growth. Students must learn to read proficiently so that they are able to learn more in future grades, post-secondary schools, and the workforce. Beverly Tyner’s Small-Group Reading Instruction: A Differentiated Teaching Model for Beginning and Struggling Readers states “In the United States, which offers few career opportunities for the illiterate, teaching children to read proficiently is the most important single task in education.” (Tyner, 2009). Beverly Tyner created the Small-Group Differentiated Reading Model which incorporates research-based strategies for teaching beginning reading skills and skills

he most fundamental responsibility of schools is teaching students to read. Indeed, the future success of all students hinges upon their ability to become proficient readers. Recent scientific studies have allowed us to understand more than ever before how literacy develops, why some children have difficulty, and what constitutes best instructional practice. Scientists now estimate that fully 95 percent of all children can be taught to read. Yet, in spite of all our knowledge, statistics reveal an alarming prevalence of struggling and poor readers that is not limited to any one segment of society:

(Counselors Affecting Reading Everyday). My plan would involve developing one-on-one counseling sessions where the students would start off by taking a learning style inventory as well as a reading interest inventory. The purpose of the learning style inventory would be to help the students as well as their teachers to understand how each individual child learns and processes information. The reading interest inventory would serve the purpose of helping the students to find a particular type of text that they may enjoy reading. Upon completion of the learning style inventory and reading interest inventory, the students would begin meeting with the counselor to receive one-on-one reading opportunities using books that students self-select based on their interest. This one-on-one meeting will serve to meet the needs of those students who stated that they did not have anyone at home to read with. The students will utilize the school’s Accelerated Reading program to take quizzes on the books they read with the counselor. After earning their first five Accelerated Reading points, a book will be purchased for the student based on their interest. This incentive plan will serve as a means to provide personal books for those students that do not own any as well as attempting to help them to get over the fear or taking reading tests. During these weekly meetings, the counselor will provide a variety of reading text (based on student

This critique is on the evaluation program of Freedom School Partners Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools. This evaluation report was composed in October of 2013 by Dr. D. Bruce Taylor, Dr. Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, and Dr. Crystal Glover members of The Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the fifth evaluation of The Freedom School Partners Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools. The main purpose of this evaluation is to analyze the outcome of this summer program on a student’s reading accomplishments while attending a Freedom School Partners in Charlotte. Ten of the nineteen Freedom Schools were chosen for evaluation.

Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive

The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success and achievement is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school. Parents must be literate to help their children succeed.

Goal 2: To raise the number of students who are reading at a second grade proficiency.

One way to ensure that your children won't fall on the wrong side of these statistics is to integrate reading your normal lifestyle at home. Whether you home school or not , ensuring every one in your family reads 20-30 minutes a night is vital. Even if your child isn't old enough to read, story time should

In “Summer Learning and its Implications” suggested that providing a summer outlet for low SES students with similar school materials and structure would aid in reducing SLL. Other suggestions include extending the school year, providing more cost friendly activities, and making the prospect of summer school more appealing to low-income students (Alexander, et al., 2007). Patton and Reschly propose that in the future research there should be an emphasis placed on the “recoupment, longitudinal studies of loss, and prevention”. They identify that when looking at these different areas it’s crucial that the multiple facets that impact them are also looked at, such as grade levels, subgrouping, when most academic growth occurs, and the type of instruction that will work best. Since the Kolose study didn’t directly measure the achievement loss of students, their future research is different than those suggested in the previous studies. Kolose identifies three major areas that need to be improved in order to decrease the SLE. First, there needs to be greater access to resources for low SES students. Second, efforts need to be made by both teachers and parents to increase the motivation and engagement that high SLE have for reading. Finally, high SLE students need to be provided with additional support and guidance when choosing appropriate books and building their independent reading skills. While each study proposes different means to decrease SLL, they all are identifying ways to make this goal

Poorer students also have a large disparity in access to books over the summer. Research shows that summer reading is one of the strongest factors related to summer learning. The best predictor of summer reading is number of books in the home (Heyns, 1978). Celano & Neuman (2008) reports that the average middle-income student has access to 12 books in the home but for lower income children, there is only about one book for every 355

Families are often encouraged to provide a variety of reading material for their children, especially at an early age, to give children plenty of options when learning how to read. When children are provided with a variety of reading material at home, they see that a high value is placed on reading. If parents value reading at home, children tend to value it also, and the more a child is encouraged to read at home, the more they will want to engage in reading in general. By being involved in their child’s reading development, parents can give their children a firm foundation to reading prior to entering grade school which will lead to a lifetime of reading enjoyment and

Through the use of a mixed methods study, we will determine if a growth based reading incentive program can in fact motivate students to read and provide academic growth in the area of reading comprehension.