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Summer Reading - Tips for Parents for Helping Fight Learning Loss

6/10/2020

Learning loss as a result of COVID-19 is a concern for all of us. Keeping kids reading and learning this summer is more important than ever. So we’ve updated our summer reading tips for parents to help you help your child keep growing as a reader and learner:

The knowledge your child has about the world has always been one of the most important factors in their success as readers. Unfortunately, many children missed out on learning new topics this spring in school. Taking time this summer to read high-quality, engaging nonfiction is a great way to build the knowledge your child needs to become a successful reader.
Following their interests can motivate your child to read. Help your child figure out what they want to learn about and support them in finding ways to read about the topics they’re interested in. Then let them explore how much they can learn from reading!
Learning new things is like velcro: we learn even more when we read texts that are related to each other by topic because the knowledge from each new article sticks to what we just learned just like the two sides of velcro! When your child finds a topic that interests them, help them find multiple texts to read about it.
Talk about it! Making reading social can be a big motivator. Ask questions about what your child is reading. Read some of the same things they are reading. If they ask you questions you can’t answer, explore answers by reading about the topic together. Include siblings or friends in reading and sharing too.
Access to high-quality texts is still key! As your child looks to keep learning after a challenging spring, it’s even more important to make sure that they can get their hands on books and articles that are engaging and well-written.

ReadWorks has 3 easy ways to support all of these tips for your child’s summer reading at home:
The Summer of ReadWorks is a subscription for parents of children entering 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade. Parents receive hand-picked nonfiction reading and enriching activities tailored to the levels and interests of their child for only $15.99 per family for the whole summer: https://www.readworks.org/summer-of-readworks

ReadWorks also has free printable packets of nonfiction and fiction reading passages for summer. Packets have questions and answer guides and are for children entering 1st-12th grade. You can preview and download them here: www.readworks.org/summer-reading

The Student Library. Give your child access to the free ReadWorks Student Library so they can explore their interest independently all summer. Watch this video to learn how to turn it on: https://vimeo.com/405263649

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We stand with educators, students, and families against racial inequity

6/3/2020

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A Message from Terry Bowman, Executive Director at ReadWorks:

At this pivotal moment for our country, we stand with educators, students, and families against racial inequity.

At ReadWorks, we are a community dedicated to helping all students become successful readers. The ability to read successfully by 4th grade can change an individual’s trajectory for life, lowering both the chance of falling into abject poverty and the risk of being imprisoned, as well as improving chances of graduation. Yet access to a strong reading education is one of the many structural inequities facing Black communities in our country. While only 35% of all 4th graders in the US can read at grade level, only 18% of African American 4th graders*, a devastatingly worse rate, are reaching that goal.

We believe that equitable access to education can transform communities and our nation. We can and we must do better to provide our Black students with the education they deserve.

Yet while we continue our work, education will not bring back the lives we’ve lost. In light of the ongoing acts of police brutality and violence against the Black community, including the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, our hearts go out to their families and loved ones, and we want to express that we stand in solidarity with peaceful protestors exercising their constitutional right to have their justified anger heard.

To the educators grappling with how to handle this moment of pain and trauma with your students, we have compiled a few free resources that may offer you guidance:

The National Museum of African American History & Culture provides guides for talking about race for educators, families, and others: https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race
PBS Newshour provides lessons for 6th-12th graders around the murder of George Floyd and ensuing protests: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily-videos/the-death-of-george-floyd-sets-off-massive-protests/
Teaching Tolerance provides a package on teaching about race, racism, and police violence: https://www.tolerance.org/moment/racism-and-police-violence
Facing History and Ourselves provides resources for educators on the history of racism in our country along with this specific teaching idea to reflect on George Floyd’s death: https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/current-events/reflecting-george-floyds-death-police-violence-towards-black-americans
People Not Property is an interactive documentary about the history of Northern colonial enslavement and also provides resources to help teach the challenging subject of slavery in today’s classroom:
https://peoplenotproperty.hudsonvalley.org/teacher-resources

There is a lot more that we at ReadWorks can and must do. Before the next school year begins, we will commit to specific goals to do more to dismantle historic inequity through these initiatives:

Develop new and expanded ways that our content and curriculum can work to tackle the inequitable ways American history and other stories are told, along with specific goals to amplify Black stories and Black voices
Formalize and recommit to our own diversity, equity, and inclusion at an organizational level
Listen as much as possible, particularly increasing channels for input and feedback from the Black community, to learn how we can better serve our educators and students of color

We are grateful for the trust so many educators have put in ReadWorks over the years, and we remain committed to doing all we can to help usher in a brighter future for all Americans. We look forward to continuing the conversation.

Respectfully,
Terry Bowman
Executive Director, ReadWorks

*https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading/nation/achievement/?grade=4

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Summer Reading - Tips for Parents for Helping Fight Learning Loss

We stand with educators, students, and families against racial inequity

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