Barking Points: Summer Reading Opportunities Available for Students

For many, summer is an opportunity to relax, sit back and enjoy the heat in all of its glory. The three-month reprieve students have from the daily grind of school is named essentially for what it is: a vacation. Through all of the sun, swimming, trips and anything else in between, having a good time does not have to be synonymous with a regression of academic progress.

According to an analysis of summer brain drain on http://thinkstretch.com, “Research has been going on for over 100 years; summer learning loss statistics show students lose two-to-three months of knowledge every summer.”

There are ways to prevent this slip – particularly, summer reading. By engaging in summer reading, students can maintain and improve their reading level, while simultaneously enjoying literature at their own pace. For interested readers, resources such as the Ritzville Public Library can offer inspiration via their summer reading program.

The academic benefits of reading for pleasure over summer vacation are abundant and helpful to students’ future success both in and out of the classroom.

Rita Fryberger, Lind-Ritzville Middle School English teacher, stated, “I know that reading during the summer or reading independently helps students develop vocabulary and increases fluency. When you increase vocabulary and fluency, you increase comprehension and understanding.”

There is ample research to support her opinion. A study conducted in 2010 by Dominican University correlates summer reading with standardized testing results: “Students who participated in the public library reading program scored higher on reading achievement tests at the beginning of the next school year than those students who did not participate…”

The Ritzville Public Library is conducting their annual summer reading program starting in mid-June. Students interested can obtain more information and register at the library in downtown Ritzville. The program, as research supports, increases the amount of knowledge that is retained by first having participants set a reading goal of how many hours or novels they want to tackle this summer. Students keep track of their reading progress in order to achieve—even surpass—their initial goal.

In addition to striving toward their goals, the library incorporates a theme to which they hold weekly hands-on activities. This year, activities held in the library basement will be exposing students to fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). The STEM activities, including astronomy, robotics, entomology and many more, will encourage students to explore new learning opportunities and possibly read books coordinated with science.

WSU extension is collaborating with public libraries around the area to increase the quality and depth of their STEM theme.

Bridget Rohner, Lincoln County WSU Extension Director, said, “Participating in STEM activities this summer will be exciting and fun for kids as they get a chance to engage in their own learning. The STEM activities planned will challenge youth in a fun way to develop their critical thinking skills, apply mathematical concepts, analyze problems and learn to develop solutions.”

Fryberger continued, “As students move from grade school to middle school, they transition from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn.’ This is also true as students move into high school. Students who read independently are more successful at making that transition in their learning.”

As LRMS reaches the end of their academic calendar, many reading opportunities over the summer encourage students of expand on new horizons and discover great literature in order to stop summer learning loss!