BOSTON – As school comes to an end for the summer, teachers can help students and their families turn literacy learning into summertime fun. Lexia, a Cambium Learning Group brand, is sharing more than 50 activities that teachers can suggest families do to help students sustain and even accelerate learning over the summer break.
“ Research shows that students can lose up to two months’ worth of reading skills over the summer,” said Lexia Chief Learning Officer Dr. Liz Brooke. “To combat that learning loss, we’re sharing a handpicked selection of fun, easy activities to help combat the ‘summer slide’ and ensure students will be ready for the new school year.”
One example of a learning game for students in kindergarten through grade four helps sharpen students’ familiarity with words and word components by drawing letters, sight words, or word parts – such as prefixes or suffixes – on the ground with chalk. The student can jump to each item and read it aloud, like a game of hopscotch. In the case of prefixes or suffixes, young learners can name a word that includes that word part. Bonus points for using the word in a sentence!
Below are examples of the words or word components that can be used for each grade level.
| Kindergarten | First Grade | Second Grade | Third Grade | Fourth Grade |
| letters of the alphabet | could | sweet | con- | -ness |
| they | once | strange | dis- | -ous |
| four | of | giggle | ex- | -ment |
| where | were | easy | mis- | -ity |
| are | have | friend | pro- | -ly |
| there | very | happy | un- | -ful |
| said | walk | damp | re- | -tion |
Lexia’s Summer Literacy page contains links to over 40 more ideas for at-home literacy development. Students and their families can engage in activities such as:
● Summer Reading Bingo Challenge® for kindergartners to fifth graders
● Read @ Home games and projects for kindergartners to fifth graders
● Family game nights for foundational, intermediate, and adolescent readers
● Informational text comprehension for early readers
● Multisensory word challenges for pre-kindergarteners to fifth graders
● Reading-related art activities for foundational readers to middle schoolers
● Movement activities for children ranging from foundational readers to middle schoolers
In addition, Lexia has provided ideas for encouraging children to read at home and also to help beginning readers to practice matching speech sounds to corresponding written letters.
“Teachers know how important summer learning can be and with our activities based on the science of reading and in game-like formats, students can see just how much fun learning can be,” Dr. Brooke added. “By sharing these summer home activities with families, teachers can provide additional support that continues the learning over the summer months and plants the seeds for their students’ becoming lifelong learners.”
About Lexia
Lexia®, a Cambium Learning Group brand, is a leader in science of reading-based solutions. For 40 years, the company has focused on pre-K-12 literacy and today provides solutions for students and educators. With a complete offering of professional learning, curriculum, and embedded assessment, Lexia helps more learners read, write, and speak with confidence. For more information, visit www.lexialearning.com.
About Cambium Learning Group
Cambium Learning Group is the education essentials company, providing award-winning education technology and services for K-12 educators and students. With an intentional collection of respected global brands, Cambium serves as a leader, helping millions of educators and students feel more seen, valued, and supported every day. In everything it does, the company focuses on the elements that are most essential to the success of education, delivering simpler, more certain solutions that make a meaningful difference right now.
To learn more, visit www.cambiumlearning.com or follow Cambium on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. The Cambium family of brands includes: Cambium Assessment, Lexia, Learning A-Z, ExploreLearning, and Time4Learning.
