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Summer Series Reading List

By: Nicole Thompson on May 10, 2021 10:41:39 AM

high school recommended reading preschool Literacy elementary middle school featured summer reading

Summer vacation is quickly approaching, and you may be searching for ways to occupy the kids and foster their literacy. Perhaps you’re concerned with how the pandemic has affected student reading habits.

According to the report “What Kids are Reading: 2021 Edition” from Renaissance, a global leader in pre-K–12 education technology, children are not declining in their literacy skills. In fact, the opposite is true!

One study through Renaissance and myON concluded the following:

Fall 2019: 4.3 million hours of digital reading
Fall 2020: 8.9 million hours of digital reading
Sample size: 7 million students
Number of books read: 255 million books
Number of participating schools: 26,344

Reading increased by 107%. As a result, math scores increased because reading literacy directly impacts math skills.

With so many books to choose from, where do you begin? First, help your child find books to which they can make a connection.

Consider these questions:

Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction?
What genre do you like to read? (e.g., comedy, drama, suspense)
Do you like short stories or longer books?

Then, distinguish between reading for leisure and reading for academia. Ask yourself, Do I want my child reading for fun or for study?

Start Now

You can start building literacy with your child today with as little as one story before bedtime. If your child is young, read the story and have your child follow along. If your children are older, encourage them to read with your help. You’ll find that the favorites you used to read to your kids are now books they can read back to you.

Lengthen reading time over the course of a few weeks. Aim for 15 minutes for younger elementary children and 30 minutes to an hour for middle and high school students.

An hour may seem like a long time, but children can become easily engrossed in a good book for hours at a time!

For academic reading, Renaissance recommends considering the length of the text and the time it takes to read the text. Typically, students should be reading 500-1200 words, supported by instruction. The time it takes to read a text will vary based on grade level.

Now that you have a path toward supporting literacy this summer, check out our reading series recommendations from beginner to seasoned readers.