Summer Reading

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Reading Games and Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research

The Florida Center of Reading Research has developed a set of free games and activities for students to use to practice and extend their learning. Some activities your student may be able to do independently but most will work best when an adult plays along.  Most activities have picture cards or game boards that need to be printed.  Click on the links below to explore and find fun things to do with your young reader. 

Video Examples

Short videos that show how to do many of the activities above can be found here

YouTube Playlist

Reading Activities from the Nebraska Department of Education

Here is a collection of activities you can use with your student to practice and extend their reading skills. 

Reach

The REACH Program through PBS Learning Media is a free, self-paced interactive program that can be used by families at home to support their child’s reading skills during the summer months.  This program is organized by grade-level modules. The Pre-K through first grade modules focus on developing phonics, phonological awareness, comprehension and vocabulary skills.  The second and third grade modules integrate reading comprehension and vocabulary skills with math skills and science content through the reading of nonfiction text.

What do I need to do to get my child started on the REACH Program?

Parents must first create a student account for themselves.  Then together the parent and child can access the lessons on the PBS Learning Media site.  Parents can create this account using their Google credentials or they may create a PBS Learning Media account directly through the website.

Here is the link to PBS Learning Media Site:  https://net.pbslearningmedia.org/

Find the link to sign up for a student account in the top right-hand corner. 

How do my child and I access the lessons and modules on the PBS Learning Media site?

All of the lessons are sorted by grade level and linked below.

What Browsers can be used to access the REACH program?

The REACH Program will work on Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 11.0, Firefox 52+, Safari 9+, and Microsoft Edge.  For other technical requirements please visit this page of the PBS Learning Media page:  https://net.pbslearningmedia.org/help/technical-requirements/

How do I know what is being taught in each lesson?

There is a lesson overview document attached for each grade level in the chart below that describes what is being taught in each lesson.

Are there any parent resources I should consider exploring?

Yes, here are a few parent resource videos you might find helpful:

IES Support Your Child’s Reading at Home

The Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) has a website called “Support Your Child’s Reading at Home” with videos and activities for families to do to support their child in the area of reading.  

  1. Access the site through this link
  2. Open the “Chapter Menu” in the purple band.
  3. Select the recommendation you’d like to explore with your child.  The menu of options available on their site are listed  below.

Kindergarten

  1. Recommendation 1: Developing Language
  2. Recommendation 2: Linking Sounds to Letters
  3. Recommendation 3: Blending Letters, Recognizing and Writing Words
  4. Recommendation 4: Reading for Understanding

First Grade

  1. Recommendation 1: Developing Language
  2. Recommendation 2: Linking Sounds to Letters
  3. Recommendation 3: Blending Letters, Recognizing and Writing Words
  4. Recommendation 4: Reading for Understanding

Second Grade

  1. Recommendation 1: Developing Language
  2. Recommendation 2: Linking Sounds to Letters
  3. Recommendation 3: Blending Letters, Recognizing and Writing Words
  4. Recommendation 4: Reading for Understanding

Third Grade

  1. Recommendation 1: Developing Language
  2. Recommendation 2: Linking Sounds to Letters
  3. Recommendation 3: Blending Letters, Recognizing and Writing Words
  4. Recommendation 4: Reading for Understanding

Sounder & Friends

Sounder & Friends are videos available on Youtube designed to support the development of phonemic awareness skills for students in primary grades. Join in the fun as the mischievous raccoon named Sound Snatcher switches sounds in words making Sounder the dog and his human friends work together to fix the words and save the day!  These videos are endorsed by the Heggerty Phonological Awareness Organization.

Reading Buddies

Reading Buddies are videos available on YouTube designed to support the development of phonics/decoding skills for students in the primary grades. Join Dott, Alphabott, and the Alphabotteers as they help Dusty the Dog learn to read. These videos are developed by The Reading League. 

MindStar Books

MindStar Books has a variety of free interactive ebooks focused on science topics on their website to explore. These books are designed to support listening comprehension and reading comprehension. Each MindStar book includes three activities:

  1. A narrative multimedia presentation to build knowledge
  2. Some oral multiple choice questions about the presentation to check listening comprehension
  3. Reading practice where the reader can follow along as the text is read aloud

There is a short video that explains how to use MindStar Books to parents and guardians. The link to this video can be found here.