Summer Reading Lessons and Activities

Updated on May 2019

Keep your K-12 students reading all summer long with this best-of reading collection. From book lists to engaging literacy activities for all ages, abilities and background, this curated Share My Lesson collection is one you can use to help students avoid the "summer slide" and re-energize an interest in literacy.

So use these resources to support summer reading assignments and reinforce the skills and strategies that students have developed during the school year. You'll find ideas to help children enjoy summer reading at home and assess their reading when they return to school.

Bonus: Find out what teachers are reading this summer.

See all Summer of Learning resources.

In This Collection:

General Resources
Elementary School Resources
Middle School Resources
High School Resources

Beloved Books

Be sure to check out our related collection, "Beloved Books" for more great reading ideas.

General ResourcesBack to top

#3 Blog of 2018

Summer break means summer reading! The two of us – Jess and Tricia - have been comparing lists of books we have “on deck”—meaning they are on the top of our piles and ready to be read,...

This post originally appeared in the American Educator Spring 2018

The struggle is real. Summer learning loss, or the “summer slide...

Now On Demand.

Available for one-hour of PD credit.

Join Michael Levine and Lisa Guernsey as they show how educators and parents can help children grow into strong, passionate readers who are skilled at using media and technology of all kinds—print, digital, and everything in between.

Available for one-hour of PD credit.

When the National Reading Panel released the 5 components of reading in 2000, the first one listed was Phonological Awareness. Without these skills, students may struggle to read but these difficulties are often contributed to one of the other 4 components.

Now On Demand.

Available for one-hour of PD credit.

Join Brian Smith from Newton-Conover City Schools and Share My Lesson for a webinar on supporting students with Dyslexia.

Librarians/Teachers can use this presentation as a template for how to roll out summer reading to students, parents and educators.

These journals allow students to practice the skill of finding evidence from the text and explaining the meaning or significance of that passage. Students complete the left side at home and work...

Common Core

<p>Have just had so much fun with this topic……kids have loved it! Our theme for the half term was Africa hence all the stories are based on Africa. Thought I would share with you all. Other...

Some cards I made for year 9s and upwards showing a selection of recommended authors and titles. Ideal for displays or as cards in libraries. Or to be distributed by English teachers as a...

These resources include two sample projects (one for elementary and one for middle/high) and a variety of project ideas for teachers to get their students thinking about and analyzing what they...

This activity was designed for English Language learners in a Bilingual program. This summer reading project was modified and written in kid friendly language. Students must read a novel during...

This unit addresses The Seven Habits of Effective Readers and Close Reading. The unit covers fiction and nonfiction texts. Literary terms, usage and application will also be explored in detail....

It's National Poetry Month and William Shakespeare's Birthday is April 23rd.

Find lesson plans, activities, assessments and videos to engage and enchant students with one of the...

Have a book you love to teach? Explore our Beloved Books collection for a new K-12 lesson plan or student activity for you to try. From Where the Wild Things Are and Harry Potter...

Elementary School ResourcesBack to top

Three handouts differentiated for lower; middle and higher ability children to write a recount the story of "The Little Red Hen".

Pre-kindergarten story activity map based on Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin.

<p>Students become completely engaged in the Pete the Cat books by Erik Litwin. Use the books to teach a variety of skills. With this lesson, students will increase comprehension skills by...

Roald Dahl’s story - Listening comprehension

Students work in the Reciprocal Teaching groups to discuss, evaluate, and comprehend the text. These students also have the opportunity to learn more about Michelangelo, present information about him orally and visually. Students learn the basic art of sculpting in Art, and learn more about how the United Nations is a leading organization developed after WWII in order to help resolve crisis between countries.This book provides many opportunities for integration across the curriculum. Aligned with Common Core Standards: RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.3, RL.5.4

Standards aligned

Written by Gene Zion. Illustrations by Margaret Bloy Graham. Read by Betty White.

Harry is a white dog with black spots who loves everything.. except baths. So one day before bath time,...

In this unit students will compare and contrast multiple versions of Cinderella by different authors and from different cultures. The students will be asked to identify similarities in and...

Standards aligned

Written and illustrated by Gerald Kelley and read by Rashida Jones.

Life is sweet for Benedict. Every morning he wakes up to find jars of fresh honey on his back porch. He makes honey toast...

Written by William Miller, illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb and read by Viola Davis.

This story is set in New Orleans in the 1930s. Sonny and his mother are scraping by to pay their rent...

Middle School ResourcesBack to top

This book list for middle school readers has some great suggestions for reading, grouped by theme.

Numerous activities that can be completed after reading the novel A Wrinkle in Time. Activities can be chosen or given to the student by the teacher. The activities tap into a variety of learning...

#10 Member Lesson of 2018

New York DOE

This packet gives students in grades 6 &7 guidance while reading the novel The Giver. There are questions, vocabulary squares and activities for all chapters. Aligned to Common Core State...

Standards aligned

<p>A chapter by chapter workbook; offering activites linked to each chapter. Can be used with silent; paired; group; class reading and acceptable for low ability or great for sparking...

This is a culminating activity with student choice.

Booktalks are a wonderful way for students to demonstrate their understanding of books they read while practicing their writing and speaking skills. The resources in this product are designed to...

I’m one of those quote collectors. I have the catchy signs in my house, journals filled with snippets of conversations, and novels full of underlined (and sometimes starred) sentences that jumped...

A lesson based around the poem by Maya Angelou. Students cite evidence after working in pairs to find quotations based around some key themes in the poem. Some extension activities listed for...

Common Core

A resource book containing over 55 activities that show how Macbeth can be taught using extracts from the play and tasks differentiated using the multiple intelligence theory planning process....

Common Core

High School ResourcesBack to top

A 49-page collection of assignments; activities; and projects to build leadership; critical thinking; vocabulary; background knowledge and historical parallels associated with George Orwell's...

Standards aligned

Spring Board curriculum converted to Powerpoint presentation anoted with lesson plans. Lessons double as presentation to guide class activities. Aligned to Common Core State Standards: RL.9-10.1,...

Standards aligned

Spring Board curriculum converted to Powerpoint presentation anoted with lesson plans. Lessons double as presentation to guide class activities. Aligned to Common Core State Standards: RL.9-10.1,...

Standards aligned

Introduction to Heroes by Robert Cormier - context; social and cultural etcMatt Posner: A very large and thorough PowerPoint is provided to guide the teacher and students through the major...

Hot-seating character tasks plus character grid worksheet.

This is an out-of-class project for students to complete as they read novels of their own choosing. I adapted it from a workshop I attended years ago. The plans include common core standards.

This presentation defines dystopia; introduces The Handmaid's Tale and other dystopian fiction; and leads to a discussion of parallels between Atwood's world and our own.

This is a culminating activity with student choice.

Photo Credit: By Samuel Hollyer (1826-1919) of a daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison (1818-1902)(original lost). (Morgan Library & Museum) [Public domain]

My love for Walt Whitman began in my freshman year of college. I lugged around a tattered copy of Leaves of Grass, and my impressions of Walt Whitman speaking to me then are so clear that...

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Summer Reading Lessons and Activities

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