5 Ways to Accelerate Summer Reading Achievement

Summer isn't just a break from school—it's an opportunity to continue reading and learning.

Dr. Paul von Hippel, Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, provides a fresh outlook on maximizing the summer months, turning them into valuable time for academic enrichment instead of a period of learning stagnation.

Watch this video for Dr. von Hippel's five key steps to enhance learning during the summer.

1. Establish Reading Habits In The Spring

Start building strong reading habits in the spring, well before summer begins. When school lets out, reading will be a natural and anticipated part of daily activities, ensuring the habit continues even without the structured routine of the school year.

2. Provide a Variety of High-Quality Books

Create exciting and enriching reading experiences by providing a wide selection of high-quality, engaging books that appeal to a variety of interests.

With Just Right Reader’s library of 750+ decodable books in both English and Spanish, students enjoy reading with diverse characters, engaging stories and topics, and vibrant illustrations.

Take-Everywhere Decodable Packs providepersonalized phonics practice. Grounded in the Science of Reading research and mapped to a rigorous phonics progression, decodables offer students numerous opportunities to practice foundational reading skills in an engaging and meaningful experience.

3. Consistent and Interleaved Practice

Dr. von Hippel emphasizes the significance ofdaily practice to optimize summer learning. Encourage students to engage with a variety of decodables to reinforce different decoding skills. This consistent and interleaved practice is key to maintaining and improving their reading abilities.

4. Engage Students

In addition to relatable stories, topics and diverse characters, students enjoy fun phonics activities and memorable 2-minute videos that reinforce skills from each Just Right Reader decodable, ensuring they stay engaged throughout the summer.

5. Build Connections Through Reading

Encourage children to read with family and friends. Consider organizing small reading groups or book clubs where they discuss their books with friends. Reading together not only enhances reading skills but also fosters a sense of community. Sharing stories and insights gained from books can deepen relationships and make reading a social, enjoyable activity.

Try these ten ideas to make summer reading fun.

Use Just Right Reader Take-Home Decodable Packs to amplify summer school programs and encourage reading at home.

Whether district leaders opt forSkill Review Take-Everywhere Decodable Packs, designed to reinforce grade-level learning over the summer, orSchool Break Take-Everywhere Decodable Packs, ideal for summer school programs, students expand their at-home libraries with decodables they can relate to and are motivated to read. Families can also actively engage in their child's literacy journey through QR codes linking to video phonics lessons.

Our Take-Everywhere Decodable Packs Feature:

Science of Reading decodables personalized for each student based on district reading assessment data.
Writing pages to reinforce decoding and writing skills.
Evidence-based activities that motivate students to read and keep reading.
QR codes to access fun phonics lessons in English and Spanish to support students and families reading at home.
Backpacks for students to take their reading everywhere.
Packs wrapped in colorful wrapping paper to provide a joyful literacy experience.