The biggest selling point for planning summer reading and writing activities is that they keep students sharp and on task.
Besides reading ability loss, writing skills also fall behind without something to keep the habit going. Recently the National Commission on Writing in American Schools found students lacking in compositional skills and recommended the amount of time spent on writing should be doubled.
One of the best indicators of successful young readers is that they have been read to at home. The same could be true for fluent writers who have had a good model of families that practice writing.
Here are some activities families can use to keep skills sharp during the summer or when year-round students are "off-track":
Read and write every day:
Make grocery lists together.
Include children in outlining vacation plans, even tabulating costs and budgets.
Develop a family newspaper, listing news (what activities are going on?), editorials (what can be done about the long showers every morning) and cartoons (there's no limit for possibilities here). You may even include a space for ads (someone trading dish washing for cleanup?) or advertisements (what's the cost for laundry duty?) Try a round-robin letter. Divide the paper into as many parts as family members. The first person writes in one section, folds it over and places it under the dinner plate of the next person. And so on. Last one reads the letter aloud at dinner.
Plan scavenger hunts for good reading and writing practice.
Don't forget letters of thanks to a friend, a shut-in or last year's teacher. And remember grandparents.
Here are some books about letter writing and journals: "A Book of Letters" (Ken Wilson-Max); "Letter Writer Starter Kit" (Reader's Digest); "My Life According to Me" (Klutz); "Writing Smarts" (American Girl); "My Mother and Me" (Kids Can Press); "Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School" (Mark Teague); "Jones Family Express" (Javaka Steptoe).
Some good family read-alouds: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (J.K. Rowling); "Summer is Killing Me" (Jon Scieszka); "Freddy Goes Camping" (Walter R. Brooks); "Lord Thief" (S. Funke); "Crispin" (Avi); "Holes" (Louis Sachar); "Kensuke's Kingdom" (M. Morpunrgo); "Long Way from Chicago" (Richard Peck).
Short stories for the dog days of summer: "True Tales of the Wild West" (Paul Robert Walker); "The Hero's Trail" (T.A Barron); "Local News" (Gary Soto); "Rootabaga Stories" (Carl Sandburg); "Who Moved My Cheese: for Teens" (Spencer Johnson).
Keep sharp by journaling and scrapbooking:
Take journeys with a journal. Slip a notebook into the backpack or in the suitcase. Include a few colored pencils for sketching, too.
Taking a vacation? Read about places and event before you leave. During the vacation read road signs, monuments and historic sites.
Collect things to remember the trip. After the vacation, display the stuff in a basket for everyone to enjoy. Write about the funniest experience or the best meal on the trip.
Encourage reading and writing by organizing pictures and ideas in a scrapbook. Get a group together like in "The United Tates of America" by Paula Danziger.
Other books for journaling and scrapbooking: "Counting the Ways to Maine" (Maggie Smith) and "Tulip Sees America" (Cynthia Rylant).
Keep sharp by mapping it:
Identify where current events are happening on a map.
Locate the newest building in your neighborhood and mark it on a local map. Find other points of interest such as a short cut to school, the way to a friend's house or the library.
Note where the museums are and visit them. (Don't forget to visit Salt Lake City's newest points of interest: the Main Library and Clark Planetarium at The Gateway.
"Small World: Maps and Mapmaking" (Karen Young) will give ideas.
Study other cultures: Help children understand the customs of others by attending community events such as the Salt Lake Arts Festival. Try sampling ethnic foods and watch the dances. Note the different rhythms of the music and the instruments that play them.
Some good titles about other cultures: "Esperanza Rising" (Pam Munoz Ryan); "Shiva's Fire" (Suzanne Fisher Staples); "Goldfish and Chrysanthemums" (Andrea Cheng); "Babu's Song" (Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen); "The Story of Noodles" and "The Story of Kites" (Ying Chang Compestine); "Coming to America: A Muslim Family Story" (Bernard Wolf).
Keep sharp with books plus: There are many ways to go beyond the book! Some expand the story lines with added information such as the "Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter" (G. Waters) or "Stanley YeInats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake" (Sachar). Don't forget "The Complete Guide to Middle Earth: From the Hobbit to the Silmarillion" (Robert Foster).
Interactive games, crafts and directions for projects can be found in such books as "Crafts for Little Kids" (Better Homes and Gardens) and "I Can Cut and Stick" (Usborne).
Some books and kits develop skill in chemistry, astronomy, physics and biology and range from simple and inexpensive to comprehensive; for example, "The Ultimate Robot Kit" (DK). In "How I Built Rusty" (Mark Shulman and Phillip Fickling) you can build a favorite summer "pet." "The Kids Book of Chess" (Workman) is just right for developing the fine skills of this board game.
Find media tie-ins. Besides the Harry Potter movies and series, read and watch "Tuck Everlasting" (Natalie Babbitt) and Louis Sachar's "Holes." Disney's Lizzie McGuire is a rage with teens ("New Kid in School"), and younger ones will find the silly Sponge Bob on the TV and in "Tea at the Treedome."
Provide computer time: If a computer isn't available in your home, libraries or a summer school workshop may provide one. First, help students learn keyboarding correctly and fluently. This will pay off later as book reports and term papers are required in class.
Encourage exploration of different kinds of programs; art, music or nature. One example would be to find a poetry Web site for young poets. Begin a file of family favorites. Encourage original poetry with a sharing time at dinner during dessert.
Visit an author's Web site (usually listed under their names). Many have chat-sheets where you can pose questions for the writer.
For instance, read some of Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson's "Mysteries in our National Parks" (there are 12 of them) and write to one of the authors. Their Web sites are listed in each volume.
I'd love to hear about your favorite reading/writing this summer.