The Solution • Research indicates that sending books home with children over the summer yields greater achievement gains and is less expensive and less extensive than providing summer school or engaging in comprehensive school reform (McGill-Franzen et al 2016; Allington and McGill-Franzen, 2013). • Children who receive and read free books over the summer experience the equivalent of attending three years of summer school—and the difference in fall reading scores is twice as high among the poorest children in the study (Allington and McGill-Franzen, 2013). • When children are provided with 10 to 20 self-selected books at the end of the school year, as many as 50 percent not only maintain their skills, but actually make reading gains (Allington and McGill-Franzen, 2013). • In addition, the Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report (2013) found: — 99% of parents think children their child’s age should read over the summer. — 86% of children say they read a book (or books) over the summer. — On average, kids say they read 12 books over the summer. Closing Thoughts Summer readers also benefit from family reading support. Researchers James Kim (2009) and Freddy Hiebert (2014) note that giving children books is essential, but so too is providing the instructional scaffolding that children need to successfully read the books. Both educators recommend that parents, with help from their children’s teachers, play an active role in supporting and interacting with their children as readers.
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CHAPTER 4: TEXT
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