Company One Minute Reader Summer Reading Program Helps Students Retain Skills
A summer reading program using One Minute Reader materials helped students in Ludington, Michigan, avoid the “summer slide” in their reading skills. A recent article in the Ludington Daily News talked about the program and how it appealed to both students and their parents.
“Last year it was really nice, so I wanted to do it again,” said Luke Schwass, a fifth grader at Foster Elementary School in Ludington. “This year I got two books and it really helped me through the summer. It kept my reading score up. I loved it.”
Parents had positive things to say about the program, too.
“For our family, it was a real enjoyable experience,” said Connie Schwass, Luke’s mother. “A summer reading program can be a little tough to take for young kids, but we never had to fight with them about doing it. It was just fun.”
The One Minute Reader summer program was organized by Kim Alexander, literary program coordinator for Foster Elementary School. She also partially funded the program with $1,000 she received when she won the Teacher of the Year Award from a local Sam’s Club store. Alexander used her award money to reduce the cost of the One Minute Reader starter kits by $10 per family.
As an educator, Alexander works with children who need to improve their reading fluency. She organized the summer reading program to try to halt the decline in reading skills that many children experience when they do not continue reading over the summer.
“We are hoping to see [students] maintain their skills during the summer,” she said. “The more stories they completed, the better chance of beginning this year at the same level they left off with last year.”