At least for me, it seems like once spring break has come and gone, our school year is nearly over. Technically speaking, it’s not. Our spring break is always the third week in March, and school is in session in Arkansas until the end of May. But, when we return from spring break, it seems that instruction shifts to test prep, and our days fill up with field trips, track and field day, picnics, testing days, and so much more! That’s why it is important to me to keep my kiddos engaging in reading practice as long as possible, even over a break in school. Read on to find out my top 5 tips for reading over spring break.
Index cards. I love to send index cards home with my students! They are super low-tech, but incredibly useful. Here are some things that my students have used their index cards for:
- Make letter cards to spell words, or a family member can spell words for the student to decode.
- Play “Switch It” By Marnie at Reading Simplified. Click here to see a video of Switch It on youtube. If you fast-forward to the 5 minutes mark, you will just see the game. 🙂 I like to send a brief explanation and a list of words for kids to do home with the index cards.
- Write and practice heart words
- Hide and Seek words parents can hide words around the house for kids to go find
- Students can illustrate their favorite part of a story that they have heard read to them on an index card.
Websites and Apps:
There are so many great websites out there that kids have a lot of fun with, and learn valuable literacy skills. I just send my students’ login info to parents so they can play at home.
- ABC Mouse (teachers can set up a free account)
- Lalio.com
- Teachyourmonstertoread.com
- Boom Cards
- Add activities and assignments to Google Classroom
- Youtube learning videos. I love to send links to Youtube videos that we have watched in class that I know my students love. Jack Hartman is a great one to seek out for some great videos with kindergarten skills
Take-Home Reading Material:
I love to clear out my students’ reading fluency folders right before a break in school. It might be fun to send home the passages and books that have been in there for a while so students can have some reading practice for their time at home. You could even send a new passage or home as well that is right on my students’ level. You can write them yourself or find some great ones online. (Free and paid). Want to know more about reading fluency folders? Click here to read all about them!
Phonemic Awareness Practice:
My own son and I have so much fun doing phonological awareness activities when we are driving on long road trips. I give him a word and he orally manipulates it. He begs for more and tells me it helps his drive go by so much faster. It might be a lot of fun for students to play these games with their families. I’ve included a handout to download that will help them get started. Click below to check it out!
Phonological Awareness For the Car
Heart Word Practice:
- Search for heart words in environmental print, library books, books that students have at home
- Have a contest to see who can find the most heart words over their break. It might be fun to give kiddos a small participation prize.
I hope these 5 tips for reading over spring break are incredibly helpful for your students!
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Don’t miss out on these freebies from my tpt store!
Decodable Text Mega Bundle in my TPT store
Free Level 1 Passages
Free Level 2 Passages
Free Level 1 Book
Here are some other options that I have used:
- Reading A-Z has a whole library of decodable text. Occasionally, I have difficulty matching it to my readers, but it was still a great resource. They offer a 15-day free trial that would definitely let you try their books out.
- Fly Leaf is offering ALL of their decodable texts for free at the time of this writing (11/23/2020). I like this company as well for students who have mastered consonants, short vowels, and some blends and phonics chunks.
Thank you Through the Lens 
for some great images!
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