FIVE TIPS FOR GETTING THE MOST OUT OF SUMMER READING

Tips for Enhancing Leisure Reading

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It's summer and everyone is exhausted from months of pandemic isolation, hunkering down at home, and neverending Netflix. We want to get outside. We want to play. We want to travel. But many of us are concerned that our kids have missed valuable instruction time over the past several months. We know that summer reading is important, but how do we balance that with having fun in the sun and being with friends? Is there anything more that we can do for our kids to enhance the reading experience besides taking them to the library and the bookstore? Does leisure reading end when summer is over?
You may be surprised to find out that there are fun and simple ways to make books come alive. Join me and my lively panel of New Mexico children's authors (Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Lois Ruby, and Caroline Starr Rose) to explore tips for getting the most out of leisure/summer reading. These authors and their books are featured in my new resource Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Enhancing Student Learning Through the Power of Storytelling. My book is primarily for educators, but the focus of today's panel is on families. If you are a teacher, feel free to send this blog link and the PDFs home to families to encourage summer reading.
The children's books discussed today are all fun as well as enlightening and feature historical events told through the voices of some of my favorite children's writers. After talking about their books, we then discuss Tips for Enhancing Leisure Reading. These authors are also retired educators and librarians, so they have a lot of insights.

THE FIVE TIPS in a nutshell:1. Be a Book Lover2. Provide Access to Books and Other Reading Materials3. Encourage Exploration4. Read Books Together5. Make Reading Connections
For further exploration, see my previous blog posts where authors Lois Ruby and Caroline Starr Rose talk about their writing styles and the differences between being a Panster vs. a Plotter.

See author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson's post on her blog - Poetry Break! Enjoy the Moment. During our panel, she also mentions one of her favorite books for encouraging reading aloud Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox, as well as The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma who shares her experience of being in fourth grade and making a promise with her father to read 100 books aloud with him in 100 days. The experience was so meaningful that they continued reading books together until she graduated from high school. 

Reading aloud is not just for little kids!

To find out more about the books written by the authors in this video, visit the links below.

Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Enhancing Student Learning Through the Power of Storytelling by Carolee Dean.

Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland (She Made History) by Caroline Starr Rose.

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose.

Steal Away Home by Lois Ruby

Stay tuned next month when I travel north to talk with Colorado children's authors/illustrators Andrea Wang, Dow Phumiruk, and Beth Anderson, as we explore writing personal narratives and memoir.

To receive a FREE writing template PDF for kids, sign up for my newsletter HERE and have fun with summer writing!