Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Participating in the summer slide reading progrm are, from left, first row: Lila Miljevich, Adam Everson, Killian Spencer, Nightealeeya Harvey, Liam Schoeller, Kaelynn Anderson and Lilliana LaMaide; second row: Jac Rabe, Eli Winter, Kevyn Nordine, Zola Zeckovich, Lillian Cooney, Matthew Skolowski, Steven Worthington, Annalise Rooni and Madalynn Ahonen.
WAKEFIELD - As summer quickly approaches, the Wakefield-Marenisco School District has partnered with its reading coach, Jennifer Burla, to work to provide ways to prevent "summer slide" for students.
"A great deal of what a child learns during the school year can be forgotten over summer break if nothing is done to try to prevent it," said Jason Gustafson, a teacher at Wakefield-Marenisco. "Research found that simply giving students access to self-selected, appropriately leveled books to read over the summer was as effective as any other program to ease or eliminate summer reading loss. As few as three books read during the summer made a difference in eliminating summer slide in students."
Burla wrote a grant proposal and secured a $200 Kathryn Saunders grant through the ADK Teachers' Sorority. The Wakefield-Marenisco School District matched the funding, allowing the program to roll ahead.
Using a list of books recommended by teachers, books from Scholastic Book Clubs were ordered to provide all the first and second graders with four books of their own to read over the summer.
Title I teacher Teri Giuliano worked with Burla to design postcards to put inside the books. When the student finishes a book, he or she can mail the postcard in to the school. All the postcards that are mailed in will be placed in a drawing for more free books in the fall.
