By LINDA CHION KENNEY
To stop the slide that commonly occurs when students take a summer break from reading, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative officials are offering another round of summer-break incentives to keep the pages turning.
“Summer Reading: Oceans of Possibilities” kicks off June 1, asking participants to track their reading to qualify for a variety of prizes for all ages. The initiative involves reading challenges, ocean-themed events, interactive events and virtual author visits. Registration categories range from “babies and toddlers” to “adult” and cover all school grade levels.
The reading challenge runs through July 31, less than two weeks before the start of the new school year. Hillsborough County public schools are set to reopen Aug. 10 for the 2022-23 school year.
Research backs the need for summertime reading activities.
According to the Institute of Reading Development, “The summer slide commonly occurs when kids don’t read or get enough practice using skills over the summer break. Studies on summer learning loss have shown that, on average, kids lose two months of reading progress over the summer.”
According to Scholastic, the behemoth publisher and distributor of children’s books, the concept of the summer slide dates back to at least 1996, when one of the first comprehensive studies on the phenomenon was published. The study found “kids lose significant knowledge in reading and math over summer break, which tends to have a snowball effect as they experience subsequent skill loss each year.”
Noting a more recent study released in 2020, Scholastic reports children in grades 3 through 5 “lost, on average, about 20 percent of their school-year gains in reading and 27 percent of their school-year gains in math during summer break.”
Meanwhile, a series of more recent studies target the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on learning. In one such study, released in February, Amplify, a curriculum and assessment company, found “more students are at risk for not learning to read than pre-pandemic, especially in grades K-2.”
With this backdrop in mind, the HCPLC’s “Oceans of Possibilities” kicks off in partnership with ZooTampa at Lowry Park, Tampa- Hillsborough County Children’s Library Foundation, Friends of the Library Tampa-Hillsborough County, Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation, Hillsborough County Public Schools and the Tampa Bay History Center.
Online registration to track progress is open for adults registering a child and for individuals representing themselves.
Participants log their reading at Beanstack, the program used for tracking, and they will earn digital badges in the process. Reading/logging deadlines for prize eligibility are noted as well, along with category specific reading lists centered on the theme, “Oceans of Possibilities.”
Why oceans?
Because they “play a vital [part] in our daily lives,” according to challenge materials. “They help produce the air we breathe, impact climate conditions and feature a diverse range of plant and animal life for us to study. Oceans can inspire us to think, create, read and write. Throughout literature, we find powerful themes and stories set in or around the great expanse of the sea. Oceans sustain us and remind us of life’s many possibilities.”
As for the virtual author sessions, they kick off Friday, June 3, at 6:30 p.m., with award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, who won the Newberry Medal, America’s top prize for children’s literature, twice. Also on tap are award-winning authors Kate Messner (2 p.m. June 16) and Greg Neri (2 p.m. June 29).
Also at Beanstack, participants can compete with friends in leaderboards, share their stories and add recommended books to their individualized wish lists.
For more information and to register, visit: www.HCPLC.org/Summer/. The site includes a calendar listing of additional activities, including Geology in Motion (June 3), Introduction to Underwater Photography (June 5), A Map in the Stars: The Story of Celestial Ocean Navigation (June 8), One Book One Night: The Little Mermaid (June 10), ZT Slaves: Florida Manatees (June 13), Secrets of the Hillsborough River (June 14), Story Time With ZooTampa: Animal in My Neighborhood (June 16), Storytelling With Wendell Campbell (June 22), All About Sharks (June 27) and Tampa Bay’s Nesting Sea Turtles (June 29). Evening story times are set for 6 p.m. Thursday nights.
