PES students urged to "Bee" A Reader this summer

Claire Zahner reads “Little Mouse Gets Ready" at Camp Curiosity at Perryville Elementary School. All students are encouraged to participate in the Summer Reading Challenge.

Students at Perryville Elementary School are participating in a summer reading program to keep their skills fresh, and are encouraging their classmates to join the fun.

“The ‘Bee’ A Reader Summer Reading Challenge at PES is helping our students maintain their reading skills, which will make the transition to the next school year a success,” said Amanda Grein, a Title 1 reading specialist. “It’s an optional program, but we are encouraging every student who will be in grades 1-4 in August to participate.”

The school is assembling a paper Reading Chain to chart the students’ reading progress.

“Students complete a paper chain link for each book they read this summer. They return their pages of links when they come back to school, and we’ll assemble the paper Reading Chain,” Grein explained. “If our PES paper chain of books read this summer is long enough to reach end-zone to end-zone on the Pirate Stadium football field, the entire elementary will win a special prize.

“Our goal is to promote summer reading and help students maintain the fluency they have built this year,” Grein said. “All PES students are tested in reading fluency at the beginning of each school year. Those students who reach the benchmark goal for their grade level, or who maintain or increase their fluency score over the summer, will also earn a brag patch for their backpack.”

Student Chloe Moll, who will be in second grade next year, said she loves reading. “I have already added two Book Links to the chain, almost three,” Chloe said. “I am reading ‘Ready Freddy: Homework Hassles’ right now. It’s funny and I like funny books. I hope our chain is long enough to get our prize!”

Assistant Superintendent Jeanie White said that incentive programs like the “Bee” A Reader Summer Reading Program at PES help combat summer regression.

“Practice is important for critical skills like reading,” White explained. “During the summer months, when students don’t have reading assignments or math homework, we see some of those skills fall off, which can cause children to start the new school year at a less-advanced level than they ended the previous school year.”

Grein said that, for some students, it can take until December of the next school year for children to regain fluency lost over the summer months.

“That’s so disappointing to witness as a reading specialist,” she said. “The children work so hard during the school year, as do the teachers and parents, to build strong reading skills. When they come back after summer break and the gap is so wide, it can cause frustration for students.”

Grein said that parents can help lessen summer regression by reading with their children.

“First, find books that interest your child,” she said. “They will want to read about topics that they enjoy. You can use incentives, like we’re doing with the Reading Chain.

“I also recommend that parents use the ‘volleyball’ method of reading with their children, especially with struggling readers or children who don’t enjoy reading. The parent and child take turns reading, back and forth, with a parent reading a page aloud and then the child reading a page aloud. It gives the child regular breaks in reading, and allows parents to model fluent reading. Another benefit is that parents know what their children are reading, which can lead to great conversations that improve reading comprehension.”

Students at Camp Curiosity have already started the Reading Chain, with hundreds of book links completed.

“Our Camp Curiosity students are loving the challenge,” Grein said. “They’ve been doing a great job reading, and we’re already assembling the chain. We’re making progress, both with the challenge, and with helping our students maintain their reading skills.”

Parents can download the Reading Challenge information and the Book Links page by visiting www.perryville.k12.mo.us or the Perry County School District 32 Facebook page.