Reading

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Taking on the BrainFreeze Reading Challenge Online
Taking on the BrainFreeze Reading Challenge Online 300 109 admin

Over Winter Break, 606 students signed up for and took on the challenge to read 20 minutes per day at home with our new online BrainFreeze Reading Challenge. Even students who have been struggling with reading were excited at the chance to receive prizes; it was fantastic to get emails from parents sharing their child’s drive to read more than they ever have before.

In total, BrainFreeze Reading Challenge online participants read a whopping 58,052 minutes over Winter Break! Readers answered 413 extra BrainGain questions, sharing interesting facts from and parts of the stories they read as well as new words they learned during their time reading over Winter Break. The two readers who challenged themselves to read the most this break achieved over 1,000 minutes of reading each!

More students in Michigan, California, and New York challenged themselves to read than in any other state. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the ThinkStretch BrainFreeze Reading Challenge. We’d like to congratulate Abbot Elementary in Michigan, in particular. After having fantastic success this past summer in overcoming summer learning loss with ThinkStretch, 40 students from Abbot challenged themselves to log minutes online this winter as well.

Great job to all participants. Keeping your brains warmed up over Winter Break will help when you return to school! The following prize winners were drawn randomly from students who logged their minutes online:

1st Prize (iPod Touch) went to Jaxon J., a 1st grader in Michigan

2nd Prize (Kindle) went to Abby L., a 5th grader in Michigan

BrainGain Prize (iPod Nano) was Priscilla M., a 7th grader in Maryland

Sometimes students need a little motivation to keep reading when they take a break from school. A chance to challenge themselves online and win prizes turned out to be great motivation. We’ve received emails from teachers and parents telling us how much their students enjoyed participating in the first ever online BrainFreeze Reading Challenge and are excited to have seen such great success. We’re looking forward to rolling out a summer reading challenge online for schools and students with our summer learning program to motivate students throughout summer months, when summer learning loss is a significant challenge every student faces. Stay tuned for more details!

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Classroom tips to keep young brains warm over winter break!
Classroom tips to keep young brains warm over winter break! 150 184 admin

We’re excited to offer new 2013 BrainFreeze packets. For your classroom or for your whole school, you can help students return to school in the new year ready to learn new skills.

To get the most out of your BrainFreeze packets, we have a few classroom tips to help keep the young brains in your classroom warm over winter break: 

Send the BrainFreeze packet home the day BEFORE break begins. Sometimes backpacks do not get opened again until the night before school starts back up!

Host a school contest. Reward the class that turns in the most BrainFreeze packets with a popsicle party.

Offer a special class privilege to EVERY class that has ALL its students return a completed BrainFreeze packet—lunch in the classroom, extra recess time, free computer time, or their names read on the loudspeaker.

Offer a token reward to each student who turns in a completed BrainFreeze packet silly pencils or cool erasers.

If you haven’t gotten your BrainFreeze packet yet, download BrainFreeze now!

[cta text=”Keep students’ brains warmed up with BrainFreeze Winter Break packets from ThinkStretch!” link=”https://thinkstretch.com/product/brain-freeze/” color=”blue”] Download BrainFreeze [/cta]

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BrainFreeze Reading Challenge ONLINE!
BrainFreeze Reading Challenge ONLINE! 300 109 admin

Sign up for the online BrainFreeze Reading Challenge to give your students or children a chance to win great prizes for reading over winter break!

We’re thrilled to announce our first ever online reading challenge. Kids can log their reading minutes daily in our winter break reading log and earn a raffle ticket into a random drawing with a grand prize of an iPod Touch.

And as an extra bonus for kids, BrainGain questions keep reading alive and engaging. Plus, for every BrainGain question answered, students are entered into a random drawing for an iPod nano.

Join ThinkStretch as we challenge students and families to keep an online reading log this winter break. Everyone wins when students return to school with ready to learn new skills in the new year! Sign up today!

P.S. If you haven’t gotten your BrainFreeze packet yet, download BrainFreeze now!

[cta text=”Keep students’ brains warmed up with BrainFreeze Winter Break packets from ThinkStretch!” link=”https://thinkstretch.com/product/brain-freeze/” color=”blue”] Download BrainFreeze [/cta]

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Quotes from Librarians
Quotes from Librarians 300 200 admin

Librarians have ideas to keep your child reading all summer long. Here are just a few ideas from across the country.

Thank you Scholastic for collecting these terrific quotes.

  • Full of Summer Reading Fun
    “Visit your local public library because there is so much going on and the enthusiasm of the librarians is infectious. So many libraries do wonderful summer reading programs for all ages. We actually have a program called ‘Teens & Tots’ where older kids read to younger kids — it’s great to make that connection between kids, and both generations really enjoy it. We also hold a lot of activities at night, like story hours, so parents can come after work with their children — and we encourage parents to volunteer, which really shows the kids that reading is important to adults as well.”
    —Anita LaSpina, Librarian, Rockville Center, New York
  • Show Children That Reading Is Important to You
    “Model, model, model. It cannot be emphasized enough that children who observe their parents reading become readers themselves. Make sure there are plenty of reading materials scattered throughout the house — not just novels, but magazines and newspapers as well.”
    —Jennifer Hubert Swan, Librarian at the Little Red School House/Elisabeth Irwin High School, New York, New York
  • Make Summer Reading a Way to Connect
    “Some children respond better when they know other children are going to read and respond to a book, which is why book discussion groups are great. I also think parents should be required to read what their children read at all ages so they can really connect with their child and be able to answer questions and instigate discussion. This is one of the reasons parent/child book groups are so great.”
    —John Peters, Central Children’s Room, The New York Public Library
  • Set Reading Times and Find the Fun in Books
    “The number-one golden rule is to make time to read over the summer — parents should designate an hour a day just for books, or set aside a time once a week to go to the library. There’s so much going on in the summer, so much temptation to be outside, that it’s important to schedule time just for reading. Have kids keep a reading journal — even if it’s just the book titles. Once the journal gets filled up, there’s a real sense of accomplishment that’s very rewarding.”
    —Dorie Freebury, Librarian, Northville, Michigan
  • Take Reading on the Road
    “When preparing for family road trips, stock up on audio books from your library. Let your children choose some stories to listen to in the car. Have family members share favorite ghost stories and/or adventure stories around the campfire at picnics and on camping trips.”
    —The American Library Association (Reprinted with permission from the ALA)
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We Give Books
We Give Books 140 96 admin

We Give Books is a new digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don’t have them, simply by reading online.

We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, providing a new way to inspire children to become lifelong readers and lifelong givers.

ThinkStretch is happy to share our mission to encourage summer reading with We Give Books. Log the books you read in your ThinkStretch summer learning workbook!

Join today, read online, and give books to kids in need at www.wegivebooks.org

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What to Read?
What to Read? 300 221 admin

Did you know kids enjoy reading more when they get to pick their own books? While choosing a book can be tricky, you can help your child find their “just right” book by offering titles and authors that have a track record of pleasing kids. Some of my kids favorites were found by looking at book lists from trusted folks. Here are some resources that are sure to help you find perfect elementary school books!

What is your child’s favorite book? Leave a comment below!

reading is fundamental logo

Reading is Fundamental is a the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States. RIF’s goal is to motivate young children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8.

Terrific booklists help you and your child find just what you are looking for!

elementary school books resource

Reading Rockets is a non-profit that offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Their reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in helping readers build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

With lists organized by theme – you and your child are bound to find the next “best book ever”!

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