Students tend to lose an average of *20%* of their yearly reading-skill progress over the summer. 

But that doesn't need to be the case! Summer is the perfect time to not only maintain reading skills but to make them blossom. Without the distraction of weekly quizzes or projects, students have an opportunity to simply read...and to think about what they've read...and to discuss what it could all mean...aka build their reading skills!

That's where this class comes in! It's fully customizable. If the student has a summer reading list, I'll read the books with them and create discussion questions for each meeting. If the student doesn't have a summer reading list, we can choose some books to focus on together. I'll also send a short survey to know which skills the student wants to prioritize building (e.g. vocabulary, comprehension, writing). 

While each class is 30 minutes, you can decide a schedule which works best for you (some students prefer to meet for 1 hour sessions...others prefer twice a week...others like one 30-minute session per week...it all works for me!)

...

In my class, I try to challenge learners and to foster their curiosity about texts. I'm always encouraging and I welcome students to bring their own questions and ideas to class. My main goal is to help students grow their love for reading and their confidence in understanding texts. 

...

Example of a lesson (1):

If the student needs to read The Great Gatsby and would like to work on their reading comprehension and writing skills, then I'll create a schedule for us. Some classes, we'll just read and discuss the plot and thematic elements. Every couple of classes, I'll have a short writing lesson in which I teach the student how to write a literary analysis paragraph (for example). I'll give them a prompt in class, and we'll plan how to write it together. For homework, they'll write the paragraph and send it to me for feedback. By the end of the book, they'll have an understanding of the book, as well as how to plan, write, and edit essays which analyze the book. 

Example of a lesson (2):

If a student needs to read The Old Man and the Sea and would like to work on reading comprehension and vocabulary, then I'll create a schedule for us. Each class, we'll begin with 5-10 new words from the reading. Given the quote, the student will try to guess the meaning from context. After, we'll learn the etymology, meaning, and context for that word. To wrap up each vocabulary section of the class, we'll play a game with those words and the words from previous weeks. Then, we'll spend the rest of class discussing the reading. 

*Look up the Summer Slide to learn more about research on students' reading levels before versus after summer.