Vacation Reading Prevents Brain Drain
Every summer, Bedford assigns its students a summer reading assignment. While some students complain about summer reading, the yearly work has a big purpose in the education of students.
Summer reading helps students keep the knowledge that they learned the past year in tact. Teachers give students these assignments to make sure that their brains stay active during the summer. Not reading during the summer can lead to knowledge loss, sometimes called the summer slide.
Summer reading loss is when kids lose the reading skills that students developed during the school year. One student can lose up to two months of school work from not reading over the summer according to research done at Harvard. Some researchers estimate that about 50 to 67 percent of the success gap for children living in poverty is because of the lack of summer reading.
Children and teenagers need to read during the summer months to maintain current reading levels. Reading just four to five books during the summer can prevent a decline in a student’s fall reading scores.
Some researchers estimate that about 50 to 67 percent of the success gap for children living in poverty is because of the lack of summer reading.
One thing that the teachers need to keep in mind is that it is important to let students choose the books that they want to read. Choosing their own reading material can overall benefit a student’s reading, writing, and spelling skills. Also choosing their own reading books can encourage students who struggle with reading.
“ I hope that everyone finds a book that will interest them and encourage them to read,” said Mrs. Antonovich, an eighth grade language art teacher.
This summer, each grade has a different assignment for summer reading. Each student has to read one fiction book and one nonfiction book based on the requirements for their grade. Then they have to fill out an organizer about each book that they read that will be due at the beginning of the school year.
So pick up your sunglasses, your book and start reading.
