Making Summer Count! Keeping Skills Strong & Growing for Sundance Scholars!
Thank you to our PreK-6th grade students for all of your efforts this school year, guided by the 3 Personal Standards- Make good decisions, show respect, and solve problems. Our students worked hard toward their personal goals, including academic and behavioral/social. So many students met their goals and were recognized through our “I Met a Goal” weekly video celebration and certificates. We thank our teachers and families for their continued partnership and roles in growing our learners here at Sundance! It was wonderful to see so many of you here for our annual Art & Literacy Family event. We appreciate your support and involvement! Let me know if you have any follow-up questions.
Learning doesn’t have to stop in May. Did you know younger readers and especially those who are not proficient readers can lose ground over the summer? It is a similar case for our
mathematicians who are not yet proficient in their fluency standards. Check out these ideas to make summer count!
READING & WRITING
- Read every day! Give purpose to your child’s reading by putting on the subtitles while watching TV, having him or her read the steps of a favorite family recipe, or sharing a book altogether as a family! Listening to podcasts and books on audio can support vocabulary acquisition and comprehension, especially if you discuss it together. Try to balance both literature and nonfiction reads.
- Keep reading aloud! Share the love of reading. Snuggling up to a good book together not emphasizes the importance of reading and a focus on comprehension, but makes this time extra special for the two of you! You are building memories to last a lifetime.
- Six books to summer success: Research shows that reading just six books during the summer may keep a struggling reader from regressing. When choosing the six, be sure that they are just right — not too hard and not too easy. Ask your child’s teacher for more guidance if needed. Going to the library weekly during summer can provide something to look forward to and share with your child.
PRACTICE RESOURCES
RAZ-Kids- Every Sundance Kindergartener-3rd grader has their very own individualized reading account that will continue through the summer. It is available as a website and as an app for both Android and Apple products. Raz-Kids allows our students to read at their level and listen to them as well for modeled fluency. Interactive quizzes are available at the end of each book to support various comprehension skills. Lost your login information? Contact your child’s teacher(s) now!- Sundance licenses active through the entire summer! Many teachers have also set up GetEpic libraries that are open for reading enjoyment and practice during school hours.
Recommended Book Lists- The ALSC Summer Reading Lists and the Newberry Medal and Honor Book lists are a great reference! The New Mexico Battle of the Books is a reading
competition for students in grades 4-8. Their book lists offer wonderfully rich and diverse reads! Ms. Marry, 4th-grade teacher, is our club sponsor and may have a suggestion for you, too!
K-3 readers can benefit from practice on sight words through flashcards and other games.
Keeping a journal with your student or writing letters or postcards can help give purpose to
writing and keep up their skills.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Los Lunas Public Library is celebrating Universe of Stories this summer from June 4-August 2
with their annual reading program and various programs. There are programs for ALL ages every Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. and Wednesdays-Fridays at 10:30 a.m. There are also teen programs available this year Wednesdays-Fridays at 2:30 p.m. Please join in for a Summer of Exploration!
Isleta Library offers a Summer Reading Program. There is a summer lunch program and a youth program available too!
The Club Read Program encourages children to read and rewards them for their dedication! It is currently running now for PreK-5th grade kids! This program is co-sponsored by Dion’s and the Albuquerque Isotopes.
MATH
Consistent practice is key for math fluency to build automaticity and exercise repeated reasoning. Talking about math mentally, hands-on/minds-on Games, strategically selected flashcards, such as multiplication/division fact triangles, and targeted activity sheets. Below please find your student’s current and next grade-level fluency standards. Parents and caregivers can find these important concepts fun and easy to support.