Parent Resources
There is A LOT that you can do this summer to help your child maintain or improve his/her reading level!!
On this page, please find videos from our English Language Arts teachers describing this year's summer assignments, tips for supporting your child's reading at home, and tools that your child can use to improve his/her reading.
Five Tips for Supporting Reading at Home:
1. Read with your children
If you have the time or are able to, try to read with your child every day or as soon as possible. Even though your child is in middle school, reading with family at home is still a great way to improve their reading performance at school. You can read to your child, you can listen to them read, or you can encourage them to read to younger siblings.
2. Ask your child about what they are reading
Your child will likely be reading books on their own. Even if you haven't read what they're reading, ask them to describe it to you! The more that students talk about what they reading, the better they will understand and remember what they've read.
3. Visit the public library regularly
Take advantage of the resources at your local Austin Public Library. You can take your child there to find books to read, to have a quiet space to read together, or to attend special events. Click here to visit the Austin Public Library website for information about the closest branch to your house and how to get a library card for you or your family.
4. Encourage writing
Any and all writing at home can help your child's overall literacy skills, including their reading skills. Encourage your child to write things like notes at home, entries in a journal or diary, letters to family who live outside of Austin, or their own creative stories. Anything that they write will help!
5. Play games that involve words and reading
If you have time at home, play games with your child that involve words, such as Scrabble, Boggle, or crosswords. These might be physical games that you play at home, or digital games that your child plays on a phone, computer or other device. Several digital games are linked in the section below.
Digital Reading Tools to Use at Home
This is a great website that offers books online that students can read and listen to. Students should already know how to log in, but if they don't they can use the following information:
School Name - Kealing Middle School
Username - Student's "S-Number"
Password - asid
OverDrive is a service that the Austin Public Library offers and lets you access books and audiobooks online. You only need a library card to log in! If your child finds a book at the library that is checked out, he/she may be able to access it online through OverDrive.
FreeRice is a fun online vocabulary game that quizzes students about the words that they know. Words get more and more challenging as they play, and with each correct answer, the game donates 10 grains of rice to families in need in other countries!
These FREE vocabulary apps target words that students should know or be learning in middle school. The more words students know, the better readers they become!!
There are many free Android or iOS word game and apps that students can play to improve their vocabulary, and ultimately their reading. Encourage your child to explore some of these apps, download them on devices at home, and have them play!!