Beat the Summer Slide: 7 Essential Tips for Keeping Students Sharp

Beat the Summer Slide: Tips for Student Engagement

Each summer, students risk falling into the “summer slide.” The summer slide is a phenomenon where students can lose up to two to three months of academic progress during the summer months, setting them back and making reentry into the next school year more difficult. Here are seven proactive strategies that educators can recommend to parents and caregivers to ensure students return to school ready to continue their learning journey without missing a beat. With these essential tips for student engagement, you can help your students beat the dreaded summer slide.

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7 Ways to Celebrate Black History All Year Long

Black History Month in February is a vital time to reflect on the significant contributions, achievements, and experiences of Black individuals throughout America’s history. However, the celebration of Black history should extend far beyond just one month. Integrating this crucial part of our collective history into the school curriculum all year long is not just beneficial but essential for fostering a comprehensive and inclusive educational environment. Here are several strategies schools can adopt to celebrate Black history throughout the entire year.

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New Reading Comprehension Games Get Students Thinking Deeply about Text

We’ve got fantastic news to delight teachers in grades 1, 2 and 3! Footsteps2Brilliance Central™ now includes 80 new reading comprehension games in English and Spanish that get your students reading and thinking deeply about text. Best of all, when these games are assigned, teachers get automatic insight into their students’ proficiency with reading comprehension.

The new comprehension games start with student reading. Sometimes students read a high-interest book. Other times, students read a short passage. After reading, students complete a game designed to support them in clarifying and organizing information from the text. Modeled after some of the best graphic organizers, the comprehension games provide students with an interactive space to think deeply about what they have read. With the touch of a button, students can return to the text to further refine their understanding at any time. The new comprehension games support students with:

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Introducing Rapid Readers!

We are excited to announce a new book series to inspire your students’ curiosity about the world around them! The new Rapid Readers series can be found in Footsteps2Brilliance Level 3 and in Footsteps2Brilliance Central™. This series provides short books that answer interesting questions—bringing science to life in English and Spanish.

 

 

The Rapid Readers series offers high-interest books for transitioning readers to develop reading fluency, background knowledge, vocabulary, and critical thinking. Students listen to a model readers, practice reading independently, and record themselves reading to develop oral language and reading fluency. Additional activities guide students through comprehension strategies and critical thinking. Students complete each book unit with a writing prompt. Best of all, the entire experience can be toggled between English and Spanish to support emergent bilingual students.

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Just the Right Pet

For this week’s Family Friday, we will set up a game of bingo that is fun for all ages. In Just the Right Pet, children will learn the names of a wide variety of animals. Children will be further acquainted with their new furry friends in a game of bingo. Read our step-by-step guide on how you can play this interactive activity with your child at home!

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La Mascota Precisa

Para este Viernes en Familia, organizaremos un juego de bingo que es divertido para todas las edades. En La Mascota Precisa, los niños aprenderán los nombres de una gran variedad de animales. Los niños se familiarizarán más con sus nuevos amigos peludos en un juego de bingo. ¡Lea nuestra guía sobre cómo puede jugar esta actividad interactiva con su hijo en casa!

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Demystifying the science of reading #4: Instruction That Works

We’ve moved beyond the buzzwords and uncovered the mystery of the science of reading. Now we’ll talk practically about five essential reading domains, critical pillars that will lead to student reading achievement. While there’s no single set of instructions for teaching each of these domains, science of reading research has shown that spending instructional time building skills in these domains will set students up to be successful readers. In this final installment of the Demystifying the Science of Reading Teacher Tip Tuesday series, we’ll talk about ways you can address these essential domains in your reading instruction and offer some tools to make it easy and fun!

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Simple Machines: Super Powers

This week's Family Friday will deepen your understanding of simple machines. In our Physical Science and Engineering series, you will be introduced to important science concepts. Read our step-by-step guide on how to create a  catapult using everyday items. Have fun!

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