Aldine ISD Schools, Students Take Part in Scholastic’s 2015 Summer Reading Challenge

Research has proven that when children read over the summer, they return to school in the fall at or above the reading levels they were at the end of the school year.

Hill Intermediate School placed fifth in the world in the 2013 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge.

Many parents may not be aware of [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]summer learning loss. The summer is a critical period to maintain or increase the reading and skills learned during the school year. But when students don’t read during the summer, they are likely to fall behind when they head back to school. This learning loss is often called the “summer slide.”

[icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Aldine ISD has made it a priority to keep students’ skills sharp by encouraging them to read all summer long. The district will provide library service to give AISD students access to books this summer. More than 65 schools will open once a week starting June 8. The summer library service will run through July 30.

The AISD Library Services Department also offers eBooks that families can download and read offline. The eBooks in English and Spanish are available from [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Tumblebooks and [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Folletshelf. Email Buchanan ([email protected]) for password access to these sites.

And there is yet another way to keep students engaged in reading during the summer. AISD elementary, intermediate and middle schools are participating in [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Scholastic’s Summer Reading Challenge. The [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Title 1 Department sponsors the challenge in AISD.

Now in its ninth year, the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is a free global reading program. The challenge is a fun way to keep kids aged 4-14 reading all summer long. Kids simply read books and log their reading minutes online. They can also enter sweepstakes to win prizes. The kids that complete weekly reading challenges can also earn digital rewards. This year’s theme is “Power Up & Read,” sponsored by ENERGIZER®.

Summer Reading Statistics

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Teachers [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]spend four to six weeks re-teaching materials to students because of the “summer slide.”[/li] [li][icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Children who read books over the summer do better on reading comprehension tests in the fall than their peers who did not read.[/li][/ul]

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]A [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]high percentage of children ages 6-17 say their favorite books are ones that they have chosen themselves.[/li][/ul]

Parents can check with their child’s teacher to see if he or she signed up the entire class already. If so, the teacher has assigned each child a username and password. If not, parents and children can go to [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Scholastic and sign up to register. Kids can log minutes through any desktop browser or mobile device browser. But they or their parents must register or authenticate via a desktop browser first. If your child forgets his or her summer reading username, contact Scholastic at 1-800-SCHOLASTIC.

If your child’ school is not participating, parents can register their kids by going to Scholastic. Click on “kids” and then follow the instructions to pick a user name and password. After entering your country and state, you can find your child’s school so his or her reading minutes will count for the school. Make sure to check your email. You will need to approve by email to give Scholastic permission to apply the reading minutes to your child’s school.

There are benefits of having your child’s reading minutes count for the school. Scholastic will list the top 20 schools in the 2016 Scholastic Book of World Records. The goal this year for schools is to break the world record of 304,749,681 minutes read (set in summer 2014).

The top performing schools will also receive a “Reading Plaque” to display and a badge for their website. The top school in each state will also receive a plaque. And this year there will be two grand prizes for the schools that read and log the most minutes. The top elementary school will receive a visit from Michael Northrop. And the top middle school will receive a visit from Varian Johnson. So make sure to find your child’s school on the list.

At the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge website, parents will find creative ideas to get kids reading. Parents will also find many resources available to them and their kids. On [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Scholastic’s Parents Facebook page, folks can find details about upcoming chats. The page will also provide recommendations and discounts on books and weekly giveaways.

The organizers at Scholastic feel they are giving kids lots of offerings to encourage them to read.

Kids will enjoy the following:

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]New original stories and videos from bestselling authors[/li] [li]A dynamic creative game online[/li][/ul]

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Tons of sweepstakes and virtual prizes[/li][/ul]

Kids don’t need to wait until summer vacation to start. The Summer Reading Challenge contest began on May 4, 2015. The challenge ends on September 4, 2015.

Currently, several of the top 20 schools are Aldine ISD campuses. Keep checking the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Scholastic website on a regular basis to see how well your school is doing in the challenge.

Remember to encourage your children to read and make sure they log their minutes.

Have fun reading this summer and take the challenge!