Reading Activities for Summer Learning Fun

• You have the opportunity to interview the author of your book. What will you ask? Share your questions and your reason for asking them.
• I will draw a “squiggle” and you complete a picture in relation to your book. Share your “vision” in words on the back of the page.
• Persuade an audience to read your book.
• Re-create the cover of the book. Be sure to include the author and title.
• This book will be made into a movie. Who will play the characters? Why did you choose them? Where will the filming take place?
• Make a collage all about your book. Use any materials you’d like!
• Draw a Venn diagram between 2 characters in the book.
• Draw a Venn diagram between YOU and the main character.
• What did you “learn” from the book? (can include factual information, something you learned about yourself, something you learned about life in general…. Etc.)
• Pick out vocabulary words and character names to make a word search on the computer. (Be sure to discuss words first, check spelling …). Your puzzle will be taped in your journal.
• Make a Book Jacket for your book. (design the cover, spine, and inside flap, which will describe the main characters, another flap will include the main problem or setting, and the back page will contain the summary). If you need to, look at other book jackets for inspiration.
• Make a timeline of the events that took place.
• You can spend a day with a character from the book! Who, What, Where, Why??
• Write yourself into the story! Explain.
• Create a postcard that illustrates the setting of the book. Write a note to a friend on the back of your “postcard.”
• Illustrate your favorite part of the story. Explain your illustration on the back.
• If the book is non-fiction, explain why you chose this book. What sparked your interest in this topic? Would you like to read another book on this same topic? What else would you like to learn about this particular topic?
• Create a “diary” for one of the characters in your book. Include at least 3 separate diary entries. The entries should include thoughts, feelings, and actions surrounding the events that took place in the book.
• Make a 6-slide comic related to your book. Each frame should include a sentence or two. (think of a sheet of paper folded in half the long way and then into thirds). Each box is a comic frame.
• Make a memory box. Include items that relate to the story. Give a brief description of each item that was included.
• Create a mural. Use the entire page. The mural should include several scenes from the book.
• Create an “alphabet book” complete with illustrations for each page. Basically, turn your book into a “picture book.” If interested we can get the completed project laminated!
• Reader’s Choice! What can YOU come up with to show me you comprehended your reading?

Pictures books lend themselves various reading extension activities for the older kids as well!  So far my favorite this summer has been reading the book The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald.

After we read the book together, we had a discussion on what each child considered to be “their best part.”  The next day we took pictures of their parts and they wrote why they chose that particular part about themselves.  Then we put it all together on a page. Each child had something different to share about themselves and it’s great for them to share something personal that they value about their bodies.  My 5-year-old is not writing sentences per se but he had a lot to share and I wrote his words verbatim for his page.

My name is Nadine Cruz-Saubert from DeKalb IL.  I have a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development from Northern Illinois University with a personal, vested interest in all things Literacy.  I am currently a SAHM of 3 children ages 11, 9, and 5.  When we are not at the pool we spend our summer days involved in summer literacy activities.

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p.s. Related posts:

Summer Reading Book Lists

Summer Reading Programs & Free Books for Kids

Rising 4th Grade Summer Reading Book List

Summer Reading List for ages 8 and up

Summer Reading Ideas: What Counts as “Reading”

Summer Reading Lists and Programs for Kids

Summer Reading List for Kids (mine!) ages 8 through 13

Rising Kindergarten Summer Reading List

Rising First Grade Summer Reading List

Rising 2nd Grade Summer Reading List

Rising 3rd Grade Summer Reading List

Rising 4th Grade Summer Reading List

Rising 5th Grade Summer Reading List

Summer Reading List: New Books for Kids and Book Reviews for B&N

Summer Reading Lists for Middle School Kids

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My books:

 Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• Junior Library Guild Gold selection
• Massachusetts Book Award Long List
• Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
• Starred review from School Library Journal
• Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
• 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
• Green Earth Book Award Long List
• Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me