Summer reading

Reading over the summer break has several benefits for ākonga.

It has been shown to mitigate the “summer learning effect”, where students show a drop in test scores following the long holiday. Additionally, reading over summer can encourage students to develop and nurture a love of reading – a well-known predictor of literacy.  

Read the latest print edition of School News online HERE.

But getting stuck into a book may not always be an appealing option for ākonga. After all, summer holidays are a time without phone bans, and largely without school responsibilities and commitments. So how can we encourage students to continue reading when they don’t need to finish a book report, write an essay, or do a class presentation?  

Why do some students read over the summer?   

Certain students need no encouragement to read over the summer. Studies show that the primary motivator for students is for leisure. In other words, students want to read about things that interest them.  

Although perhaps counterintuitive, a 2012 NZ study found that students who didn’t receive assigned texts were more likely to read over the break. Instead, students who self-selected texts were found to read more. This suggests that students are motivated to read over the summer because they enjoyed the material. 

Although the external motivating factors of book assignments are lost over the summer holidays, this can be a positive thing. Without an academic framework, students are free to select texts they enjoy and may not usually be exposed to, cultivating the habit of reading for enjoyment.  

Barriers to summer reading 

Conversely, students who didn’t read over the summer holidays were found to share a number of barriers.  

These include:  

• Lack of access to books and libraries

• Lack of choice in high-interest material

• Low reading skills and confidence

• Negative attitudes to reading

• No opportunity to practice

• Lack of role models and encouragement

To mitigate these barriers, schools can offer summer reading initiatives such as long-term loans over the break.  

Research also shows that meta-teaching can effectively mitigate some of these barriers. This means teaching strategies that encourage and enable students to access texts of interest independently.  

For instance, students can and should be taught:  

• How to navigate a library and check out material

• How to develop their reading identity and be aware of what they like to read

• Do they enjoy novels? Short stories? Non-fiction? Graphic novels? Picture books? Action?

• Why?

• Where can they find more material they enjoy reading?

Schools should also seek to involve whānau when developing a summer reading strategy. Parents and caregivers can support children’s engagement with a text through strategies like asking questions about a book, enabling access to books and libraries and more.  

A summer reading list  

As summer approaches, encouraging students to continue reading over the summer may be as simple as collaborating with the school library to ensure children can take home material.  

A book club, a parent information session, or sitting down with ākonga to develop meta strategies to promote reading may also be helpful. Teachers can also get students to make their own reading list for the summer.  

More information on planning a summer reading initiative for your school can be found on the National Library website here.

The Term 4 edition of School News is out now. Read it HERE.