Preventing the Summer Slide. Let's share our ideas!

[Joan_Moser]

We are going to be talking about wrapping up the school year and how to support kids during the summer. Would love to hear your ideas as well!

[hernandezmad]

At the end of the school year is very difficult to set goals for the summer. How can we support the kids to be ready for the next school year?

[srea]

Here's a letter you can send home as summer approaches:

http://www.thedailycafe.com/articles/stop-the-summer-and-vacation-slide-with-daily-5

[vling]

Thinking of the summer leads to prepping for the next new school year and how we can continue to support our "old" students. What about sending the CAFE cards, especially in a small school where there may only be one class at each grade level, with the students to their next classroom. The students and teacher can continue to build on the familiar that the students helped to build. It should help students to remember and use the strategies and could help to rebuild their sense of shared community.

[srea]

Along the lines of getting ready for next year, here's an idea we do between our first and second grades. During the last week of school, we ask each of our students to select 3-4 books from their book boxes that they can read independently. (These are books from our school's Literacy or Guided Reading Room, not teacher's private books.) The books are put in baggies and labeled with the child's name. We store them until the new year's class lists are formed, then sort them out for the teachers. This gives the new teacher a view into the child's reading level and kids the confidence to start Daily 5 in their new classrooms.