Research Supports Summer Reading

Research Supports Summer Reading
by Joan Hamilton

The Book Fair is coming! The Book Fair is coming! This wonderful event sponsored annually by the hardworking, energetic members of our amazing PTO will have hundreds of books for sale, many of which are on Pierce's summer reading lists. As in the past, for Pierce students entering grades 2 - 8, there will be a required title -- one book to be read by every person in the class, plus a list of books from which students must choose four other titles.

There is a great deal of research that states that children who don't read over the summer actually lose ground in reading proficiency. Recent research from John Hopkins University's Center for Summer Learning concludes, "The effect of reading four to five books during the summer is large enough to prevent a decline in reading scores from spring to fall." Another study entitled Summer Learning and the Effects of Schooling by Barbara Heyns states. "Children (she was working with 6th and 7th graders) in every income group who read six or more books over the summer gained more in reading achievement that children who did not."

Stephen Krashen, in his report, The Power of Reading, says that children read more when they see other people reading. This suggests a practice my family indulged in successfully during the summers when my three children were still in school -- family reading time. The time was announced and it was expected that every family member would produce a book and we would all sit and read silently for half an hour. This could be followed by discussion or read aloud. It worked as well for family journaling--especially effective while on vacation. Krashen states, "If children read one million words a year, at least one thousand words will be added to their vocabulary." He concludes that reading as a leisure activity increases comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary as well as making the reader a better speller and a better writer.

So, see you at the Book Fair on May 27th, 28th, and 29th, and Happy Reading!