PS 29 2020 Summer Reading Challenge...this year more important than EVER!
Hello PS 29 community,
As we all get ready for summer vacation to begin, we encourage you to consider making the annual PS 29 Summer Reading Challenge a part of your familyʼs summer plans. Here are a few quick reasons why:
Avoid the dreaded summer slide - Keeping kids reading over the summer is a key way to make sure that students avoid the “summer slide”. Whether theyʼre reading graphic novels, picture books, nonfiction, or even reading the same dogeared copy of a favorite chapter book over and over again ... itʼs all good, and it all helps them continue to grow as readers.
Make it a “game” - We know of several families whose children read all the time, but who told us that participating in the Summer Reading Challenge last year (for the first time), made it a really fun way for the kids to stay focused and self-motivated, checking their hours and tracking their progress.
The kids can set their own goal (any child who logs 30 hours or more of summer reading will: be invited to participate in our virtual Author Parties in the fall, receive a certificate of achievement, and our top ten readers get gift cards from Books Are Magic). Family members can support their progress with donations to the school - and perhaps thereʼs a special prize you can figure out for your families too (making an ice cream sundae, movie night featuring a movie of a favorite book, etc).
Connect with friends - While reading is clearly great for alone time and quiet time, weʼve already heard from some PS29 parents who are planning little virtual summer book clubs for their kids - maybe friends pick a book and find a weekly set time to meet together via Zoom to talk about what theyʼre reading, or do some fun (virtual) activities together surrounding the books.
Maybe you can figure out a way to do socially distant book trades with friends - leaving a surprise note in the pages, perhaps?
Learn more about whatʼs happening in the world right now - For those of you who may be looking to grab some new books for your kids this summer, this is an amazing resource for finding books that deal with social justice issues, that feature diverse protagonists, and that really teach compassion: https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/
Donations made during the Summer Reading Challenge go a long way for PS 29! With the cancellation of our annual gala and block party, please know that your donations during this yearʼs reading challenge will make a bigger impact than ever.
Last year we had 94 student readers participate, and we raised nearly $5,000 in donations. We are so appreciative for that support, and we hope that this year we have even more students participating. We hope that despite all that weʼve been through as a school community this year, this will be a way for us to come together to celebrate reading, and to celebrate our school.
–Your teachers will be emailing you a copy of the summer reading log. You can
print it and fill it out, or you can fill it out online. Once the school year is underway, we will ask that all forms be emailed (directly, or a photo/scan of the form) to ps29reads@gmail.com
– In case you missed the email, you can download your Summer Reading Log PDF below! The log will be available for download on the PS 29 Website all summer. (You can use this if your form gets lost, if you need additional pages to log your reading, etc)
– All donations will be payable online via our Kindful link.The link visible and noted on the PS29 website as well in the Summer Reading Challenge area.
Any questions can be sent to: ps29reads@gmail.com THANK YOU!
Warmly, The Summer Reading Challenge Team
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