As we wind down this school year, many of our students will need to participate in extended learning during the summer. But who wants to go to summer school? Just the thought of it brings to mind "failure." So, this summer, let’s disrupt what’s been known as summer school and let’s call it summer camp!

Start out by going to wonderopolis.org and looking at the five camps set up for student exploration. Camp Wonderopolis® is the free online summer-learning destination that's full of fun, interactive STEM and literacy-building topics boosted by Maker experiments!

You might also partner with community groups such as the Junior League to develop plans around cultural events or community celebrations. In 2006, I partnered with the Junior League of San Antonio to create a two week summer camp for students who were going to be entering third grade in the fall. We planned a two week, half-day curriculum that centered around being a zoologist at the San Antonio Zoo. Our goal for the camp session was to build background and to strengthen our students vocabulary, reading fluency, and writing skills. Each day included camp songs, science experiments, individual research on animals of interest and a culminating activity of going to the zoo. Even the snacks were related to nature or an imitation of something in nature.

Please reach out if you’d like any help planning your summer camp. I’d love to be a resource for you and your students!

Playing daily word games can really help students discover and utilize the relationships of letter and spelling patterns. I recently ran across a great website for making your own class Wordles. Many of the teachers I work with are using Wordle to start whole group and small group lessons. It's a great way to get students into analytical thinking right from the start!