Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools



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READ, READ, READ!!

Summer Reading Lists from Various Sources

Beverly Woods summer reading list was compiled by our students and will be posted on the Beverly Woods wiki.







is a free resource for checking the levels of books for student reading.

The Public Library has also worked with local schools to develop suggested list of books, organized by grade level, which may enhance your child's reading skills while out of school this summer.

Kindergarten*

First Grade*

Second Grade*

Third Grade*

Fourth Grade*

Fifth Grade*

Reading Motivation









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Ideas for your Summer

Play Lots of Games

The Importance of Games

What your child most wants and needs is to be with you with no goal in mind beyond the joy of spending time together. He wants you to take pleasure in him, play with him, and listen to him. Nothing boosts his self-esteem more! So why not pull out an old board game tonight? Playing games is an easy and excellent way to spend unhurried, enjoyable time together this summer. As an added bonus, board games are also rich in learning opportunities. They satisfy your child's competitive urges and the desire to master new skills and concepts.

Games don't need to be overly academic to be educational, however. Just by playing them, board games can teach important social skills, such as communicating verbally, sharing, waiting, taking turns, and enjoying interaction with others. Board games can foster the ability to focus, and lengthen your child's attention span by encouraging the completion of an exciting, enjoyable game. Even simple board games offer learning opportunities and life skills: Your luck can change in an instant for the better or for the worse. The message inherent in board games is: Never give up. Just when you feel lost, you might hit the jackpot and move up, if you stay in the game for just a few more moves.

Board games have distinct boundaries. Living in a complex society, children need clear limits to feel safe. By staying within the playing field, much as tennis courts and football fields will do later, board games can help your child weave her wild and unpredictable side into a more organized, mature, and socially acceptable personality. After all, staying within the boundaries is crucial to leading a successful social and academic life.

Winning

Children take game playing seriously, so it's important that we help guide them through the contest. When a playing piece falls to a lower level, our kids really feel sad; when it rises up high, they are remarkably proud and happy, even if we adults know that it happened only by chance. Therefore, you need to help balance your child's pleasure in playing the game with his very limited ability to manage frustration and deal with the idea of losing.

For young children, winning is critical to a feeling of mastery. So generally, it's okay to "help" them win. By about 6, kids should begin to internalize the rules of fair play.

Below are some great games for you to consider:

Scrabble Junior (Milton Bradley): This is the younger cousin of the tremendously educational and challenging Scrabble, which we all know and love. Using large yellow letter tiles, players match letters to words already written on one side of the board. The reverse side has an open grid where older children can create their own words.

Learning highlights: Fosters literacy and language skills.

Boggle Junior (Parker Brothers): The prelude to Boggle — one of the best learning games for older kids — is Boggle Junior, in which players link pictures to letters and words. The game comes with 6-sided letter cubes and numerous picture cards that have the name of the object spelled below. Players place a card on a blue tray and use 3- or 4-letter cubes to copy the item's spelling. Older children can hide the written words and spell the word just using the picture.

Learning highlights: Teaches letters, words, spelling, and matching skills.

Zingo (Think Fun Company): One of this year's "hot" games, this Bingo-style matching game relies on a player's ability to spot pictures (of a dog, say, or the sun) and match them quickly to the words and pictures on his play card. As in Bingo, the first one to finish a complete line of items wins.

Learning Highlights: Encourages matching skills and quick thinking.

Monopoly Junior (Parker Brothers): As they do in its senior sibling, players roll dice to move around the game board and buy real estate. The game is shorter and uses smaller dollar denominations so kids can figure out winnings and penalties more quickly.

Learning highlights: Develops math, color recognition, reading, reasoning, and social skills.

Junior Labyrinth (Ravensburger): Each player gets a large, easy-to-handle piece shaped like a ghost, which she moves through an extra-large maze in an attempt to reach a treasure. While the path may appear straight, the walls move and shift, so getting there is a challenge. This game imparts the idea of impermanence and change, since a path that was open just a moment ago might now be closed and vice versa. Players have to figure out what to do when circumstances change unexpectedly — a good life skill to learn.

Learning highlights: Teaches spatial relations and relies on some manual dexterity.

Other Activities to Share

• Learn how to... Is there something your child would really like to do, such as perform magic tricks or add sequins to her jeans? Encourage her to find out how by reading about it. She can read instructions in do-it-yourself kits or download information from the Web, then look for related books.

• Get cooking. Invite your child to help you bake a cake or a special meal together. If necessary, simplify and rewrite a recipe's instructions so he can read it to you. Also try kid cookbooks like The Magic Spoon, which has fun recipes and entertaining directions for her to read.

• Make cards. Have your child make her own cards for holidays, birthdays, party invitations, and thank-yous. Help her write a personal message to each recipient.

• Create signs and labels. Help your early reader build his vocabulary by creating stickers or signs for his room that identify toys or furniture: "bike," "desk," etc.

• Take a road trip. Write down travel directions and have your child serve as navigator when you drive. Give your co-pilot a map before you go and ask her to mark the route according to the directions.

• Put on a play. You can perform the play for a special celebration or family party. Help your child find an appealing script or create one together based on a favorite movie. Print out copies, recruit other children or family members to act, and make costumes. Remind your child that he must memorize his lines by reading them over and over.

• Write messages for your child. Even if you spend hours together in the same room, there are many reasons to write to your child. Drop a letter in her school bag or e-mail her a joke she can forward to her friends. Post a list of chores on the refrigerator and write family news or appointments on a wall calendar.

• Have a Written Conversation. Rule number one: No talking. This is an activity where you write sentences with your child in the same way you would have a conversation.

• Host a scavenger hunt. Make a list of items that your child and his friends need to find inside your house or around the neighborhood. Provide written clues that lead to the treasures. Make it a weekly event.

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Letter and Sound Fun

Alphabet Collage

On sheets of cardboard or construction paper, draw freehand or use stencils to create large letters. Cut out the letters, being careful to make them wide enough to accommodate collage materials. Cut out more than one of the letters that are used frequently when spelling (ex. vowels, l, r, t.) Provide a variety of collage supplies and glue for children to decorate the cardboard letters. Instruct them to choose materials, colors, or objects that can be associated with the letter they are decorating. For instance, "P" might be painted purple, then decorated with pictures of "people" and "polka dots." After all of the letters are decorated, have the children spell out their names or other words. They may also enjoy unscrambling groups of letters to spell words.

Alphabet Book*

Another variation of the alphabet collage is to create an alphabet book. Write each upper and lower case letter on a separate piece of white paper. Then have children go through old magazines to find pictures that begin with that letter. Let them cut them out and glue them to the paper. Three hole punch the pages and put them in a binder to make a book that they can go through over and over, adding more images. along the way

Taking I SPY on the Road

I SPY riddles help children become more familiar with letter and word recognition. A great way to reinforce this skill is to play I SPY the alphabet in the car. Whether you are taking a long journey or a short ride, this will keep children entertained while they learn. Use the letters of the alphabet to search for objects during your trip. Start with the letter A: I spy an airplane in the sky. I spy a bank on Smith Street. I spy a cat on the sidewalk. Take turns finding objects in alphabetical order. See how long it takes to get all the way to Z. Start from A again and try to find the letters of the alphabet in street signs or on license plates too.

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Sound Search

Be on the lookout for letters. Point them out on signs, labels and cereal boxes. Slow down your speech to emphasize the sounds in the words: "I see a 'p' in that sign. Can you read it? It says st-ah-p." Ask her to hunt for letters from her name, or to find a word that begins with "P."

Nature I Spy

Take your kids on a hike in a park or forest. Make it their "mission" to find objects on a predetermined nature theme. (This is a good activity for an introductory botany or ecology unit.) They can gather objects,

Aqua I SPY

Here's a fun one. Find things that float (and won't get ruined by water). Use a sink, bathtub, or kiddie pool as your "canvas." Here you will face some fun and interesting challenges as you try to get your picture just right. The results will be well worth it!

Letter Drama

What you need:

• 26 (or 52) index cards

• marker

What to do:

1. Invite your child to write the letters of the alphabet on index cards, one letter per card. (You may need to help younger children write the letters.) For an extra challenge, write the uppercase letter on one card and the lowercase letter on another.

2. Have your child draw a card, think of a word that begins with that letter, and act out the word.

3. Once you have guessed the word, it's your turn to draw a card.

4. Continue taking turns until you have acted out at least 10 letters.

5. For older children, try acting out words that end with the letter on the card.

Alphabet Fieldtrip

The Alphabet Game: The first player starts the game by saying, "I'm going on a field trip and I'm bringing ________," naming something that starts with the letter A. The next player repeats this, and then adds an item that begins with the letter B. The game goes through the alphabet until a player gets tripped up trying to recite the whole list. If remembering the list becomes too difficult for younger travelers, just name an item with the next letter rather than repeating all the items.

 

Go Fish

Give your child a three-foot piece of string with a magnet tied to the end. Place a container of magnetic letters at his feet, or just scatter them on the floor of the car. Once a letter has been "caught," ask your child to identify the letter. Children can think of a word that begins with that letter, and elementary-aged children can think of the word and spell it.

 

The Letter Game

The Letter Game: One player selects a letter. Everyone in the car looks for things that start with that letter. The first person to call out an item starting with the selected letter gets one point. The person with the most points at the end of the drive (or other designated period of time) wins the game.

Dear America Activities

Enjoy reading Dear America…books throughout the summer.

What you need:

• crayons and/or markers

• posterboard or cardboard

• scissors

• glue

What to do:

1. Go to the Dear America Website.



dearamerica/parentteacher/club/index.htm

2. Follow the steps to make and print out a frame (middle of the page). Next, use crayons and/or markers to decorate the frame.

3. Glue the frame to a piece of posterboard or cardboard and cut off the extra so that the back is the same size and shape as the frame. Cut out an additional piece of cardboard to form the back of the frame (the part that goes behind the picture you place in the frame).

4. Choose a favorite picture to display in the frame.

5. For more fun book-related activities, try your hand at making your own frame for another favorite book. What pictures would you use to decorate the frame? Or: send an e-card based on your favorite book! Check out our kids' Card Factory.

Word Storm

What you need:

• index cards

• marker

What to do:

1. Begin by writing words on index cards. If your child has a vocabulary or spelling list to study, you can use those words. Be sure to include nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

2. Provide some silly choices, too — words such as "squishy," "hippopotamus," "liver," "bumps," "flip," and "gargle."

3. Toss 10 to 12 of the cards into the air and let them fall to the ground.

4. As they are falling, challenge your child to pick up words as quickly as he can, read them, and use them to form a sentence.

5. Once your child has formed a few sentences, trade places and let him toss the cards.

Punctuation Fun

What you need:

• scissors

• paper lunch bags

• paper

• pencils

• printable punctuation cards

What to do:

1. Print out the punctuation cards and cut them out along the dotted lines.

2. Fill a paper bag with the punctuation cards.

3. Ask each child to select a card.

4. Take turns creating a sentence that uses the punctuation on the card (some cards have two). No repeating someone else's sentence!

5. Write down each sentence after saying it aloud. Score one point for each correct sentence; double for those using two punctuation marks.

6. After all the cards have been used, add up the points. The person with the most points wins. (There may be ties, and that's okay too!)

7. For more of a challenge, cut up the sentences that you wrote into individual words. Put all of the words in one bag, and the punctuation cards in another.

8. Now play the same game, but select both a word card and a punctuation card. Can you make a sentence using the word you've chosen and the punctuation mark?

Newspaper Fun

What you need:

• newspaper

• art supplies

What to do:

1. Look at a newspaper with your child. Talk about the different sections, such as sports, weather, and entertainment. Point out how headlines look different from articles. Find one or two articles and pictures that interest her and read or summarize the articles.

2. Invite her to be a newspaper reporter. Ask her to create a newspaper about important events in her life. Suggest that she think of a name for her newspaper, such as "Lena's Daily News."

3. She can write about special things that she did at school or home, a family event, a birthday party, or her gymnastics class.

4. Encourage her to add a page each day.

5. Photocopy the paper so your child can distribute it to other family members and friends.

Moving Pictures

What you need:

• four paper-towel tubes

• one narrow cardboard box

• roll of brown paper

• washable paint, markers, glue, and masking tape

• adult-size scissors and utility knife

• child safety scissors

• ruler

• old magazines

What to do:

1. First you and your child can create the "case" for his moving picture book. Make holes on each side of the cardboard box about 4 inches from the top and large enough for paper-towel tubes to fit through. Fit one tube through each hole. (If the box is wider than the tube is long, attach two tubes together with masking tape.) Leave about 1 1/2 inches of the tube protruding from either side of the box.

2. Remove the bottom tube and help your child measure the brown paper so it fits the width of the tube. Cut a long strip of paper and fold it like an accordion. Make each fold large enough to be a story frame.

3. Encourage your child to illustrate a story using art materials or magazine cutouts. He can write captions at the bottom of each frame or dictate his words to you.

4. Open up the accordion and tape the end of the story to the bottom paper tube. Ask your child to carefully turn the end of the tube and roll up the story. Tape the top of the story to the top tube. Now your child is ready to roll and read!

Automobile Games

Mental Math

Mental Math: The first player finds a number on a road sign. The next player does the same and adds their number to the first person's number. The game continues, with each person in the car taking turns finding numbers. Everyone wins if the numbers add up to 20 before the car reaches its destination.

 I Spy

Play "I Spy." On walks or in the car, take turns spotting objects that begin with different letter sounds. "I spy something that begins with B." Work up to more complex challenges, like words that begin with letter blends (such as "brush"). "I spy something that begins with the sound 'brrr.'"

 

Sing the Name Game

Sing the name game. Make up silly songs using your child's name: "Matt, Matt sat on a cat," or "Amy, Amy, bo bamy." Encourage him to add his own lines, or maybe even create a new "mommy" or "daddy" song.

Rhyme Time

Make time to rhyme. Read rhyming classics, and ask your child to complete lines like, "One fish, two fish, red fish, ____." Or challenge her to make up silly words: "I'm thinking of a word that rhymes with 'wiggle.'" Rhymes, nonsense words, and repetitive refrains help her become sensitive to the sounds in words, an essential skill.

 

 Great Fun in Charlotte

Check out summer programs at our public libraries.

Book Clubs

Clubs are always favorite activities for children. Anything done in the context of a club becomes more interesting. Try some of the clubs below:

Starting a Book Club:

It's really simple. A book club is just a bunch of friends who decide to read the same book and then get together to talk about it. All across the country these groups of book lovers are becoming very popular. It's easy, and it's lots of fun! Here are some tips on how to get a club started.

The easiest way to begin is to help your child call or email buddies who like to read and see if they want to get together to read and discuss a good book. If everyone brings one other person, you'll have a big enough club in no time! You can also put up posters advertising the club if you still want more members.

Attendance can be a big deal with clubs just starting out. Make sure friends are really dedicated to reading the books and will come to the meetings. Decide if members who haven't finished the book yet are welcome to the discussion. They might steer the discussion off-track, and you want people there who have actually read the books!

Decide on some simple rules to keep things running smoothly. How will books be selected? Some clubs only read one kind of book (like mysteries or fantasy), while others like to read a wide range of stuff. You might want to make one member the "Secretary.” He or she will keep track of book lists and send out reminders about meeting times and places.

Running a Book Club:

1. When to Meet

The first thing you should decide is when to meet. Some groups meet once every week, but keep in mind that the books can't be too long if people only have 7 days to read them. You also need to pick a set time to meet. It can be tough working around the busy schedules of everyone in the group, but you can usually find a couple of hours when everyone is free.

2. What to Bring

The books, of course! And snacks are almost as important as books for any good Book Club, so make sure everyone shares the responsibility of bringing something to eat, like chips and salsa, cookies, or brownies. Also, instead of having only one person supply food, have two or three; that way the group doesn't rely on just one person each time and there will be a variety of food.

4. Who Leads The Discussion

Another part of the Book Club to consider is the way the discussion is going to go. It's helpful to have one person lead the discussion, so some groups have the person who proposed the book make some questions and get the conversation started. You can also have each member come up with a couple questions of their own and go around the group. Don't be afraid of using outside help! Find a Book Club Guide for your book online and use those questions to start the discussion. Another possibility (especially for groups just starting out) is for a grownup to lead the discussion until the group gets the hang of it. Sometimes it can be tough to spark a good debate, so it never hurts to have a lot of questions and tricks up your sleeve!

The most important part of a Book Club is the book, so try hard to keep the discussion focused on the book and not Sally's new shoes or Ben's silly prank. If a Book Club turns into a Gossip Group, it won't last long, but if it sticks to books, it'll be a big success.

Choosing What to Read:

Probably the best place to start looking is on members' bookshelves. If a child in the club has already read a book and liked it, there's a pretty good chance others will too. There's nothing wrong with occasionally rereading an old favorite. You'll be surprised how many points the club will bring up that you never thought about before. For example, most of the kids in your club have probably read some (or all) of the Harry Potter books, but if you find a good guide to give you challenging questions, you won't be bored thinking about it again!

The best way to make sure your club's happy with the book choices is to create a list and then vote on which ones you're going to read. The more information you have on each book (author info, recommendations, previous reading experience, stuff like that), the easier it'll be for your club to make a smart decision. Remember: Choosing books should be fun. Make a good list and then enjoy the best part: reading and discussing great books!!

Book Club Activity Example

Some book clubs like to share an activity after reading a book together.

1st, 2nd or 3rd grade

Read Me and My Robot! It is a great easy reader and very fun to read aloud!

(Using a robot voice- for the robot responses is a crowd pleaser.)

Summary: Reese has a robot. While they have lots of fun together, sometimes Reese has to teach Robot new things. Like when a friends kitten goes missing, Robot leads the friends to every other small and furry animal- except a kitten!

Children might enjoy making their own robots.

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Magnets hold their features in place. This is a metallic equivalent of a Mr. Potato Head.

You can also invite them to bring items from their junk drawers.

Talk about your new robot and the book.

What was the name of Reese's' robot?

What are you going to name your robot?

What kinds of things does Reese have to teach his robot?

What kinds of things will you teach your robot?

Book Club Sites for Boys





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Mother-Daughter Book Club

What to do:

1. Go to the home page of the Dear America Mother-Daughter Book Club, located in the Kids Fun Online area of .



2. You'll find all the information you need to start a book club with your daughter(s) — the logistics of inviting members and sending out meeting reminders, benefits of starting a club, discussion guides for specific books.

3. As preparation for a discussion, the members of your club should investigate the time period covered by the novel you have chosen. You can use the Internet, the library, or both to do your research. How does the diary you are reading reflect the time period? Would someone else in that time have seen events differently?

4. As your club continues, consider branching out from historical fiction into other genres, such as biography, fiction (current), or fairy tales.

Book Quizzes and Book Reviews

What to do:

1. Log on to Book Central in the Kids Fun Online section of .

2. In the Read It & Rate It section, your child can read and rate an excerpt from a new book.

3. Is there a book your child wants to tell others about? She can submit a book review with the Talk Back feature.

4. Next, it's time to Get Quizzy With It! Your reader can test her book knowledge with a series of multiple-choice questions.

5. Finally, in Book Central, your child can find info on her favorite authors and illustrators, including J. K. Rowling, Freymann & Elffers, and others.

Flashlight Readers



How to Use Flashlight Readers

Flashlight Readers Home

A pop-up window prompts your child to sign in or to register if not already a member. When your child registers, he will receive a printable membership card with a user name and password. There is also an option to enter as a guest for limited participation. Guests can participate in games and activities, but are not able to communicate with other users or to collect special rewards. (Registration is free.)

Click objects on and around the desk to see what happens: 

• Begin an interactive book exploration by clicking the featured book on the desk.

• Previously featured books are available from the "Pick a Book" menu. Click one to access its games, activities, and more.

• To chat with the author, click the phone. A message on the notepad states when the next chat will happen.

• Click the calendar for dates of new featured books.

• To get a key that will open the desk drawer, you must sign up to be a member of Flashlight Readers. The drawer holds a membership card, a message prompting exploration, and "rewards" earned for participating in the activities and games associated with featured books.

• The Flash Board reveals messages left by other Flashlight Readers. Click it to see the most recent messages or to create a new message.

Flashlight Readers Installment

Each book installment offers games, activities, chats, and more opportunities to learn about the book's theme, characters, settings, plot, and author. Here's what you'll find inside:

• Interactive games and activities range from creating a scrapbook of favorite book characters to solving a maze by answering questions about the story.

• The key reveals the reward earned by completing the session's activities. One reward, for example, is a photograph autographed by the author.

• Flashlight Readers communicate with each other by clicking and dragging book-related icons and words to create and post messages on the Flash Board. Sentence starters are also provided.

• Enjoyed the book? Take a look at a list of related titles.

• Find out more about featured authors by reading short biographies and past interviews.

• Clickable book-related objects link to a range of multimedia experiences. Examples include: audio clips, photographs, printable bookmarks, narrated book excerpts, and slideshows.

Stay Active All Summer!

Active bodies. Active minds. First Lady Michele Obama is leading the national Let's Move initiative — with the goal of raising a healthier generation of children. The Let's Move website has lots of ideas to help kids get the 60 minutes of active play they need every day. At Your Library has suggestions for fun outdoor games — everything from the classics (remember Capture the Flag?) to how to invent your own, plus a list of books that will inspire you to "let the games begin."

Looking for more than just a movie? The Kids Off the Couch website pairs a recommended kids movie with similar family adventures within your community. You'll find helpful information about the movie, conversation starters, and bits of wisdom about planning a successful family outing..

Real world books. Interesting Nonfiction for Kids (I.N.K.) introduces kids to writers who are presenting nonfiction in new and engaging ways. For more book ideas to share with parents, check out the Orbis Pictus Award winners — outstanding nonfiction for children, presented by the National Council of Teachers of English.

A Few Favorite Websites

• National Geographic Kids: offers great nature videos, activities, games, stories, and more

• CoolMath4Kids: take a trip through an amusement park of math and more at this extremely interactive math website

• Smithsonian Kids Collecting: how to start your own collection and see what other kids collect

• Explore Dinosaurs: FAQs and top 10 myths about dinosaurs, a virtual dig, behind the scenes tours, and more from the National Museum of Natural History

• Smithsonian Digging for Answers: a site that tests your research skills and knowledge

• NASA Quest: interactive explorations that engage students in real science and engineering. Topics include robots, helicopters, lunar exploration, and designing your own human-friendly planet

• My Wonderful World: a multimedia tour of our seven continents

• Time for Kids: fun games (The Great State Race), an online weekly magazine written for kids, and news from around the world

• International Children's Digital Library, an amazing (and growing!) collection of international children's books available to read online in their original languages.

• Big Universe is another online library of fiction and nonfiction books for kids 0-12. The site also offers adults and kids the chance to create and publish their own stories.

• AudibleKids has an extensive collection of downloadable books, and some of them are free through a partnership with RIF.

• has favorite picture books read by professionals. It is a great resource for hearing fluent reading.

• is the public library website and has a collection of books for kids which are downloadable e-books and/or audio books.

• Reading A-Z and Reading Eggs(for younger students) is available during the summer.

Most of all, have fun with your family

• Talk a lot together!

• Tell stories of your childhood!

• Tell Jokes! Pick up some knock-Knock books from the library and tell one each day!

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