Summer Reading!

Greetings!

As we look toward the summer, we want to be sure to keep students reading! We have worked to put together some ideas and resources about how to engage families in various reading activities. See below for some tips from our Lower School Literacy Leadership Team, Ms. Laura Buri, Ms. Traci Taylor, and Ms. Connie Knowles.

We are hopeful that this information will be helpful as we wrap up the school year and head into the summer!

Happy Reading!

Sincerely,

Brooke Tousignant

Lower School Principal

How can I help my child over the summer? It’s important to realize that the “summer slide” (decline in reading proficiency over the summer months) is a real thing.

To help prevent summer reading loss, here are some suggestions to help:

• Read each day (make it a habit, build it into your daily schedule)

• Keep a daily or weekly reading log (writing something down helps keep us accountable)

• Participate in summer reading programs

• Take weekly trips to your local library (build these trips into your weekly schedule)

• Get kids their own library cards

• Let children see YOU reading (powerful influence - kids see parents reading and associate it as a pleasurable activity)
  

During distance learning, we hosted a virtual Parent Education Night, where the topic of how to support your child's reading at home were discussed. A recording of that event can be found here.

Ms. Buri explains some strategies for how to successfully kick off summer reading, including some tips and tricks for starting a family book club!

Ms. Taylor shares the importance of reading aloud to your child and shares some excellent strategies for increasing reading comprehension by modeling thinking and questioning before, during, and after reading.

With the Find-a-Book website, your child can find books that will help them continue learning – and further nurture a love of reading. This site uses a student’s Lexile reading measure to determine appropriate reading books for your child. Please note: Due to not taking an end of year reading assessment, you will most likely not have a Lexile measure for your child.

1. Enter the student’s Lexile measure. If you don’t know a student’s Lexile measure, you can search for books based on their comfort with grade-level materials.
2. Select the student’s interest categories.
3. View and refine the search results. As you browse books, click the “Find This Book” button next to the book title to check for availability at the local public library.
4. Add books to the student’s reading list. You can print the custom list for reference.

Here is another resource, including a free assessment, to determine your child's reading level.

Parents often ask how to pick books for their child to read. It’s important to find “Just Right” books for your child. A “Just Right” book is at your child’s instructional reading level. What that means is that it will stretch the child a bit, but not so much to make them frustrated. The idea is to find books that require just enough to help them continue to grow as a reader.

Here is a quick guide to use with your child when picking out “Just Right” books:

TOO EASY

• I have read the book many times before
• I understand and can retell the story without much effort.
• I know and understand almost every word.
• I can read the book smoothly and fluently without much practice.

TOO HARD

• There are 5 or more words on a page that I don’t recognize.
• I am confused about what’s happening in the story.
• When I read, I sound choppy.
• I need a lot of help when reading this book.

JUST RIGHT

• The book is new to me and the topic is interesting to me and I understand what is happening in most of the story.
• I can retell what I have read.
• I recognize most of the words on the page, but there are some words to work on.
• I can read the book by myself but may need help if I hit a tough spot.

Nova's partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library (SPPL) grants access to their online and physical collections to all our scholars regardless of where they live. The program is called Library Go and we will highlight some of their resources for summer reading.

The library provides card numbers to each student grades K-12 so that they can go to sppl.org and check out e-books, e-audiobooks, access online magazines and databases from home, as well as a reserve for contact-less pick-up up to 5 library materials including books, CDs, and DVDs. This program is completely free; the materials do not incur fines and for lost items, there is a read down the cost program for any incurred fees.

Go to sppl.org
Your child's library card number is:
Nova's number (2209190300) + (your child's 4-digit lunch PIN number)
Password: Your child's birthday written MMDDYY, for example, January 26, 2012 would be 01262012

Contact Ms. Gabor if you have any questions.

Learn something new, try your best, and be kind to each other. Let's make today the best day yet! It's a great day to be a knight!

Email: btousignant@novaclassical.org
Website: novaclassical.org
Location: 1455 Victoria Way, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-209-6320
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/novaclassical/