Summer Activities to Keep Kids Learning
from NCTE INBOX 6-19-07

June 21 is the first day of summer, and what better time to think about the many ways that families, tutors, summer school teachers, and other literacy volunteers can keep kids learning all summer long. ReadWriteThink's new Learning Beyond the Classroom section (announced in the Council Chronicle Online story above) provides summer activities that educators can complete with their own children or share with families looking for ways to support summer learning. Try these summer activities to get started!

• Note Writing at a Message Center (E) invites family members to write short everyday notes, to remind, plan, request, or compliment others. The activity can be adapted to any place children gather, such as summer clubs and day care programs.
  
  
• Start Your Own Book Club (E) includes details on how children can combine literacy and community-building by meeting with friends to choose, read, and discuss books together. Their meetings can come to life with discussions, arts and crafts, and activities.
  
  
• Design a Travel Brochure (M) explains how teens can create travel brochures, complete with pictures, photographs, and maps, after visiting someplace new over the summer.
  
  
• Soundtrack for My Life (S-C) asks teens to create autobiographical soundtracks or playlists.  After brainstorming lists of important events in their lives, teens select music that represents those events.