Summer Literacy Opportunities for SIS Elementary Students Dear Parents, Summer vacation is almost here, and you may be wondering how you can help your child maintain his/her English literacy skills that he/she has achieved during this past school year. It is important to remember that your child needs a chance to rest and enjoy the summer so that she/he comes back to school ready to learn. Research shows that we learn best when we are rested, relaxed, motivated, engaged and having fun. Thus, participation in fun activities will help your child to maintain-- or even increase!-- his/her English literacy skills over the summer. Here is a list of suggested activities. Please see page 3 as well for a resource list of book recommendations, web-based games and apps. SPEAKING AND LISTENING

Spend some quality time with your child. Make this time screen free time, so there are no interruptions and distractions. Talk, ask questions and listen well. Build memories together.

Take trips around the community and talk with your child about these experiences. Whether you stay in China or go abroad, museums, historical sites, parks, markets, fairs, zoos, farms, airports, and train stations all offer wonderful opportunities to enhance your childs understanding of how the world works, build their vocabulary and enhance their background knowledge. Discussing and naming what he or she sees (animals, fruits, transport, etc) and talking about these things will help your child to transfer these experiences to their learning when they return to school.

Arrange play dates and fun activities with English-speaking friends to maintain your childs speaking and listening skills. Even Skype calls to far-away friends can be a great way to connect across the distances and maintain friendships.

Sign your child up for summer day camps. If you will spend your summer in an English-speaking country, then consider taking advantage of the many sports, wildlife and arts and craft camps that are available there.

If you are staying in Shekou, then the SIS Summer Camp is a great choice since it offers a variety of activities: http://share.sis.org.cn/summercamp2015/ Contact Ms. Lily Lin for registration: llin@sis.org.cn

READING AND WRITING

Set a family reading time everyday for children and adults. Read daily by scheduling it first thing in the morning or during an afternoon break time. Read with or to your child, or set a good example by reading your own book while your child reads his or hers. Reading for 20 minutes is a good start and should be done everyday. This will help reading for pleasure to become a life-long habit.

Read in both English and the native language. Have your child alternate days, reading in one language one day and reading in the other language the next day.

Discuss what happened in a story with your child. Feel free to do this in your native language even if the book is in English. Talk about important words/ideas in both languages.

Get a library card and visit the library. Public libraries in English-speaking countries are a great source of free childrens English books, DVDs, CDs, and magazines (Highlights for Children and Jr. Scholastic magazines are a good start). Many even offer classes, programs/activities and even free passes to parks, museums, etc.

Visit local bookstores or go online to find great English language materials (see websites and apps below).

Give your child a choice about what he/she reads. Its important that children have a sense of ownership about what they read.

Help your child choose a just right book. You can get your childs correct reading level from his/her homeroom teacher. Have the librarian help you to choose books that are at a correct level based on this information. Forcing a child to read at too difficult of a level will not only frustrate him/her, but it will be a waste of time in terms of language acquisition.

Help your child write and send emails/letters/texts to relatives and friends.

Write a family history based on family photos and family stories. Above all, have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable summer. We look forward to seeing your child next fall! The ES EAL Team Shekou International School

RESOURCES 1. SIS Library Blog: http://share.sis.org.cn/elemlibrary/

Tumble Book Library: http://asp.tumblebooks.com/ : an online collection of animated, talking picture books or e-books". Once you log-in you can choose TumbleBookCloud Library or TBCjr which is for older children (TumbleBookCloudjr).

o Students need to log in and use a password once they get to the site log-in: shekouis password: books

TumbleBooks Jr: students need to find the link at the bottom of the site. Encyclopedia Britannica: This offers non-fiction reading opportunities and will read the text

aloud. The login and password information is on the parent portal.

2. Starfall: www.starfall.com (also available as an app for iPad) - for younger readers 3. Newsela: www.newsela.com (news articles, by reading level) - for older readers 4. We Give Books: http://www.wegivebooks.org/books The books on the site are free to read and in e-book format. You can also donate to this organization and give books to children in need! 5. American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/alsc/2015-summer-reading-list American Library Association) has some summer reading lists. Parents could use this to help their children decide on books. However, it is important that parents do not see this as a prescribed list of books that must be read. They are suggestions. 6. Apps for iPad and iPhone Parents and students may wish to consult the following site: https://www.commonsensemedia.org when they are considering which apps to purchase or movies to watch. There are recommendations and reviews based on a variety of criteria including educational content, age levels, and engagement. SIGHT WORDS

Play Sight Words 2, Gr. 1 & 2 (eFlashApps, LLC) Sight Words List - Learn to Read Flash Cards & Games (Innovative Mobile

Apps) Sight Words by Photo Touch (Innovative Investments Limited) Sight Words Ninja - The Endless Slicing Game to Learn to Read

(Innovative Investments Limited) Word BINGO (ABCya.com)- this has sight words by grade level

SPELLING SpellingCity (SpellingCity) Spelling Kit (TapToLearn Software) - this is a bundle of 4 fun spelling apps

READING / Free e-BOOKS

Epic! Unlimited Free Books for Kids (Epic! Creations Inc) News-O-Matic (Press4Kids) - Kid friendly news articles, by level National Geographic Kids (National Geographic Kids)

WRITING / STORYTELLING Toontastic (Launchpad Toys) - create stories with a plot, can add

characters and make them move, record yourself talking GRAMMAR FUN

Mad Libs (Penguin Group, USA) Comparative Adjectives (Innovative Investments Limited)

6. English language games online: www.eslgamesworld.com www.learningchocolate.com www.englishclub.com www.manythings.org www.a4esl.org 7. Computer software: http://www.worldofreading.com/cat-esl-software---preschool-to-elementary-school.cfm

recommended for younger or beginning ESOL Students