GAMIFY YOUR SUMMER TO COMBAT THE SLIDE

It’s finally summer time!  As I transition into my summer “time zone,” I still check my email as often as I did in the school year.  I’ve noticed two significant changes in my inbox over the past few days.  The first is obvious; I get way less.  There are no parents notifying me of changes in dismissal, no colleagues scheduling meetings, and no changes in the lunch order.  The second change in my inbox is quite important.  While it’s mostly spam, the spam is focused around one topic: summer slide. 

Teachers work hard all school year long to teach their students as much as they possibly can.  When summer starts, we just hope they pick up a book every now and then, so that they don’t lose it all over the summer. 

This week, I read about different ways to combat summer slide.  English Language Learners can have a particularly difficult time in the summer.  They may not have access to as many L1 learners over the summer.  They may not have as many opportunities to practice their English listening and speaking skills. 

Hamilton Schools are holding an English language summer camp to help L2 learners continue to make progress with their English over the summer.  The summer camps utilize technology to help students work on their English speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.  Utilizing STEM as a resource to teach L2 learners will do more than simply slow down the summer slide, but it will likely cause students to make progress.

The most exciting way to fight summer slide?

Gamify everything!  iCivics, and organization founded by retired supreme court justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, teamed up with 8 English Language Learner experts to create interactive digital games to teach all students about civic responsibilities and democracy.  The students have an opportunity to learn about how government works, while also learning about the English language.

Both of these articles energized me to gamify some remediation activities for my students.  Rather than creating a book list of recommended summer reading, I need to compile a website of resources that are fun and educational.  What do you do to combat summer slide?  Better yet, how do have your students scaling slides to make real progress over the summer months?