Summer Writing Hints

Dear Parents & Guardians,

This coming year, we are partnering with Teachers College, Columbia University to help enrich our students experience in Reading and Writing Workshop. If you would like to get a jump-start at home, below you will find some suggestions for supporting your child’s reading and writing over the summer months.

Ideas for Home Journal Entries: Encourage your child to look at photos and write quick notes or stories about the special events and people they represent. These small entries are called “seed ideas” and they may grow into much more detailed stories later during Writer’s Workshop in the fall. Some other ideas include:

Summer Reading: While writing with your child, please be sure to allow time for your child to read (families are also encouraged to read together when possible). Reading helps expand a child’s horizons and provides many different models to learn from. Participating in the North Shore Public Library’s Summer Reading Club is one way to discover great books, stay cool and read. All are encouraged to participate.

Mrs. Kalin, our librarian, distributed suggestions of great reads during school. Here they are again. Pick “just right” selections that you feel great about and want to read (or choose other titles that you wish to explore):

Family story
A particular tradition in your family.
An artifact (arrowhead, ring, antique, etc.). Important objects in our lives often provide excellent material to write about.
Special place: special room, attic nook, inside of a tree, scary closet. You might start by quickly sketching a map of a house full of memories. Mark those rooms where something important happened to you.
Brother, sister, or special relative. Remember: think small. Focus on one aspect of that person, or one experience you had with him or her.
Your place in the family. Are you the oldest kid in your family? The youngest? Are you a middle child? An only child? Were you adopted?
Best friend. (Did you ever get in trouble? Do something special to help another person?)
Moving. Did you leave behind a best friend when you moved from your old house? A special place you liked to visit?
A disastrous time you had at camp or on a family vacation.
Horrible haircut (or other mortifying experience).
An injury. Did you ever have to go to the hospital?
Important first: your first day in school, the first time you rode a two-wheeler, first lesson with a new teacher, first time sailing, etc.
Favorite pet, or a pet you once had.
When your family changed: your brother went off to college, grandma came to live with you, etc.
What you are (or used to be) afraid of?
One thing you never want to do again!
One thing you really want to try again!

Great Summer Reads
for Students Entering Grade 2

Fiction
Cam Jansen Series
David Adler
Minnie and MooSeries
Denys Cazet
Horrible Harry Series
Suzy Kline
Frog and Toad
Arnold Lobel

Picture/Nonfiction
Mother Goose Treasury
Tomie DePaola
The Great Kapok Tree
Lynne Cherry
Chrysanthemum
Kevin Henkes
Leo the Late Bloomer
Robert Kraus
Pizza for Breadfast
Maryann Kovalski
The Man Who Took the Indoors Out
Arnold Lobel
What You Know First
Patricia MacLachlan
One Morning in Maine
Robert McClosky
Ticky Tacky Doll
Cynthia Rylant

Great Summer Reads
for Students Entering Grade 3

Fiction Chapter Books
Your Own Best Secret Place
Byrd Baylor & Peter Parnell
Freckle Juice
Judy Blume
Beans on the Roof
Betsy Byars
Ramona the Pest
Beverly Cleary
Jake Drake, Know-It-All
Andrew Clements
Gooney Bird Greene & the Room Mother
Lois Lowry
Many Moons
James Thruber

Picture/Nonfiction Books
Dreaming of America
Eve Bunting
The Mona Lisa Caper
Rick Jacobson
A Day With Wilbur Robinson
William Joyce
The Icky Bug Alphabet Book
Jerry Pallotta

Great Summer Reads
for Students Entering Grade 4

Fiction Books
Amber Brown Goes Fourth
Paula Danzinger
Marvelous Journey of Edward Tulane
Kate DiCamillo
The Whipping Boy
Sid Fleischman
More Perfect Than the Moon
Patricia MacLachlan
Shiloh
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Mick Harte Was Here
Barbara Parks

Picture/Nonfiction Books
Jazz
Walter Dean Myers
An Extraordinary Life
Laurence Pringle
Bad Case of Stripes
David Shannon

Great Summer Reads
for Students Entering Grade 5

Fiction Books
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Avi
Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism
Georgia Byng
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Beverly Cleary
Heartbeat
Sharon Creech
Regarding the Fountain
Kate Klise
Gathering Blue
Lois Lowry
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Brian Selznick

Picture/Nonfiction Books
Let it Begin Here: Lexington and Concord
Dennis B. Fradin
The English Roses
Madonna
Thank You, Mr. Falker
Patricia Polacco

Thank you in advance for helping encourage your child on developing their commitment to reading and writing, two areas that can emancipate their thoughts, ideas, goals and aspirations. If you have any questions, feel free to contact your child’s teacher or myself (lparrinello@swr.k12.ny.us) at your convenience.

I wish you and your family a restful summer filled with family adventures and memory-filled moments.

Sincerely,

Louis P. Parrinello