The Need for Summer Reading

Most teachers have side gigs in the summer. I’m not just typing that because we don’t know how to sit still or because some of us are making barely above minimum wage, it’s just facts. I find teachers who don’t have small children are doing something for extra cash throughout the tanning season. Recently, my husband and I took an anniversary trip to Charleston and our tour guide on one of the plantations was also a high school math teacher and so yeah we are making it work.

Two summers ago, I did some door dashing and that had its ups and downs. I didn’t hate it and I was never bored, but sometimes I would drive around wasting my gas and then only deliver Taco Bell to Mickey on Western Ave for six dollars. I think we can all agree I’m worth more than six dollars.

So what led me to teach reading over the summer you ask? When I teach reading ALL year long and probably and most likely need a break from it.

Well, to be clear, a lot of things.

First of all, I began tutoring based on a good friends plea and I ended up loving every single second of it. Her son was working on sounding out words and fluency and he was at the great age, where he was willing to work, but not too cool and at times I tutored him for an hour and a half to two hours. Thinking it was a fluke and that no other kids could hang with me for that long , I put the idea out of my mind during the school year. Then I had a family member who began needing some reading help. She was in upper elementary and even though I”m certified K-8, I was intimidated to help her at first. Lower elementary folks are often intimidated by upper and middle school and vice versa. We get very we are from Mercury and you are from Venus attitudey with each other. When in reality, a struggling reader is a struggling reader, no matter the age or the cell phone in their hands.

As time went on and I tutored my fifth grade niece, I found that not only was she getting a lot out of the lessons and we had time to bond as auntie and niece, but that I was really good at it. I enjoyed picking out text for her to read, and breaking down words with her and helping her with her literacy homework. Sometimes in driving her home , she would tell me all the drama from the school day and I would give my two cents as a girl who used to be in fifth grade at one time.

As the school year came to an end in June, I noted that most of my second grade readers were on grade level or nearing grade level, but that I wished I had another month with my lowest reading group. They were making great gains and I hated to think about them sliding back over the summer. For three years, we have blamed so much on Covid and the fall out from that and I don’t think we can blame that as a reading hurdle any longer in second grade. Something else is getting in the way of kids reading or reading on grade level.

This led me to put out a facebook post in search of students who might need summer reading. This was daunting in itself. Would anyone even inquire? Would I do it right? Would they come in the front door and then go screaming out the back door in horror? Am I capable?

As I sat there chewing my nails, messages from parents came flooding in. I was surprised by the amount of interest I received. Surprised and Excited . Scxited.

I began to put together a schedule for my readers. I had incoming kindergarten students, all the way up to middle school students. I had hoped for a max of 5 and ended up with 11. I also noticed a trend that the majority of my older readers were mostly boys. This makes sense if you have read the Anxiety Generation. A whole chapter exists where the author writes about how schools are really formed around suiting girls and celebrating their quietness and calmly raised hands. I could tell this summer that boys are being left behind in the reading and writing journey. This is really too bad, because the boys I have been working with are amazing kids.

What are my secrets to working with boys this summer? Ohhh so many to write. The first is, boys are cool, but also curious. I went down to the library and took out Who would Win books and Would you rather? I borrowed my sons NBA magazines. I found survivalist books and books titled, Is it a Butt or a Face? I mean what 12-year-old is not going to flip that around. I also printed off a lot of non-fiction on high engagement topics, like You-Tube , Croc shoes, Pokemon cards. I have found spending time with my boys on breaking down a piece of non-fiction and how to find evidence, is really something they are lacking. When I ask them how they do it when they take NWEA, they all just shrug and say they guess and click their answer, sometimes closing their eyes.

Once I get kiddos interested, I am having them write and spell a lot. They grumble a bit , but I find they are a lot better about it when I am right there to coach them. Imagine how empowering this must feel to them. It certainly doesn’t happen during the school year, when their are 16 other bodies in the classroom and the student doesn’t know how to break down that huge word and so doesn’t it make more sense to just throw soap all over the mirror in the bathroom?

Now to be clear, I”m not saying tutoring is perfect. It takes a huge investment on the part of my parents. I”m sure their kiddos don’t want to come some days. The beach, the playground, their x-box looks way more inviting to them, but also it’s just a half hour, or an hour of the whole week and it makes a gigantic difference. I’m also picking the text, or guiding them to pick the text. So it is not a huge fight between parent and kid or an abandoned book from the library, that they never were really going to read anyway.

I have a K student who has learned 20 plus sight words in her time with me and is reading small decodable books. I have a second grader who is maintaining her skills from the school year and beginning to read chapter books. I have an incoming sixth grader who works tirelessly for 2 whole hours and we do word ladders, vocabulary, close reading and entire chapters. He is also hilarious and we laugh so hard together.

Is it a pain for my parents sometimes? Absolutely. Is it money out of their pocket? Yes. But so is a basketball training session. So are hair cuts. Giving a kiddo the ability to read, or read better, or maintain their reading, is worth it’s weight in gold in my opinion. I am so grateful for the opportunity to do this over the summer. It has made my confidence as a teacher of reading soar. It has helped me develop a great relationship with readers of varying ability and I hope it is giving them power over their next school year and beyond . I am good at Door Dashing, but that can be a guessing game in terms of success. This business of reading, is not a guessing game for me, it’s a sure thing.