Poor children do not read because they have much more restricted access to books at home and in their communities (Neuman & Celano, 2012). However, in a recent study we demonstrated that simply providing children from low income families with self-selected books for summer reading eliminated summer reading loss and spurred reading gains comparable to those experienced by middle class children (Allington, McGill-Franzen, Camilli, et al.,2010) (p. 10).
In the following video, Richard
Allington talks about excellent teachers and summer reading loss.
Fortunately, there are steps teachers can take to alleviate summer
reading loss.
- Distribute books to children from low-income families. There are many ways to find funding for purchasing books to give to children to read over the summer such as those listed here.
- Give students choice in the books they read over the summer. Self-selection is a powerful motivator. Read this blog post by fourth grade teacher Colby Sharp on how he used a “speed dating” approach to help students find books they want to read over the summer
- Provide information to parents about summer reading opportunities at the local library and encourage students to participate. Scholastic also has a summer reading challenge for students.
- Provide opportunities for students to discuss books with each other through online book discussions. Read this blog post about how one school used the social media site Edmoto for summer reading book discussions.
References
Allington,
R., McGill-Franzen, A. (2013). Summer reading: Closing the rich/poor reading
achievement gap. Newark: IRA.
Allington,
R., McGill-Franzen, A., Camilli, G., Williams, L., Graff, J., Zeig, J., Zmach,
C. & Nowak, R. (2010). Addressing summer reading setback among economically
disadvantaged elementary students. Reading Psychology, 31(5), 411–427.
Neuman, S.
B., & Celano, D. C. (2012). Giving our children a fighting chance:
Poverty, illiteracy, and the development of information capital. New York:
Teachers College Press.
