Welcome Parents and Caregivers,
This summer edition of the UCS Family Literacy Connection includes ways to keep students reading all summer long. Summer break is typically a time for kids to kick back, indulge in a little extra screen time, play outside, and embrace the kind of freedom that only comes with being young and having zero responsibilities. However, all of this free time can lead to the summer slide, a regression in academic proficiency due to summer break, and experts warn it is hindering kids’ progress when they head back to school.
Developing successful readers along with a love of reading is a shared mission across the district. Your partnership and consistent adult support at home are key contributors to your child's educational success. We look forward to a continued partnership to create a culture of reading not only at school but at home as well.
Have a joyous summer filled with fun, laughter and reading!
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July 30th is Paperback Book DayJuly 30 is Paperback Book Day because it’s the anniversary of the day the first Penguin paperbacks were published in 1935 in England. | Aug 9th is National Book Lovers DayA day for all those who love to read, National Book Lovers Day encourages you to find your favorite reading place, a good book (whether it be fiction or non-fiction) and read the day away. | September is Library Card Sign-UpSeptember is Library Card Sign-up Month! A library card provides opportunity for discovery and access to a rich and diverse world. It empowers you to make change and experience new stories. |
July 30th is Paperback Book Day
July 30 is Paperback Book Day because it’s the anniversary of the day the first Penguin paperbacks were published in 1935 in England.
Aug 9th is National Book Lovers Day
A day for all those who love to read, National Book Lovers Day encourages you to find your favorite reading place, a good book (whether it be fiction or non-fiction) and read the day away.
September is Library Card Sign-Up
September is Library Card Sign-up Month! A library card provides opportunity for discovery and access to a rich and diverse world. It empowers you to make change and experience new stories.
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Cannonball By: Sacha CotterA summer tale about family, overcoming fears, and the importance of being oneself, all in the pursuit of performing the perfect cannonball I'm ready to pull off the perfect cannonball, but everyone has advice. As one boy searches for the secret to executing the perfect cannonball, it's only by listening to his own voice that he finds his unique style and pulls off a truly awe-inspiring CANNONBALL. | Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt By: Kate Mesner Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt there is a busy world of earthworms digging, snakes hunting, skunks burrowing, and all the other animals that make a garden their home. In this exuberant and lyrical book, discover the wonders that lie hidden between stalks, under the shade of leaves...and down in the dirt. | One Crazy Summer By: Rita Willams-Garcia In One Crazy Summer, eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. |
Cannonball By: Sacha Cotter
A summer tale about family, overcoming fears, and the importance of being oneself, all in the pursuit of performing the perfect cannonball
I'm ready to pull off the perfect cannonball, but everyone has advice.
"You need more weight"
"Bigger shorts!"
"More muscles!"
"BIGGER SHORTS!"
As one boy searches for the secret to executing the perfect cannonball, it's only by listening to his own voice that he finds his unique style and pulls off a truly awe-inspiring CANNONBALL.
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt By: Kate Mesner
One Crazy Summer By: Rita Willams-Garcia
Utica Community Schools Literacy Department
