English,  Gamification,  Library,  Literacy

Fighting the Summer Slide with Gamified Reading Challenges

As educators, our ultimate goal is to combat the summer slide. Engaging students in any form of literacy over the summer is a significant win. Long ago, I discovered a variation on the traditional Summer Reading project. I have always opposed strict booklists and rigid summer reading requirements. Why? Because they strip away the joy of reading.

Never have I finished a required book, completed numerous assignments on it, and thought, “Wow, that was amazing.” Assignments and grading can kill the joy of reading. Instead, there are many ways to engage with literacy—through writing, reading, listening, and more.

This project incorporates gamification elements into summer reading. Each student receives a challenge and earns points by completing various tasks, such as:

  • Retell a story from your family history or your history with friends.
  • Turn your favorite page of text into a blackout or found poem.
  • Create a piece of art to represent a character in a book.
  • Create fake social media posts by a character or important figure in the text (think Instagram, TikTok, etc)
  • Create a Music Playlist for Your Book
  • Create a storyboard for a book that has NOT been adapted into a TV show or movie.
  • With a partner or group, retell your book (with a twist!) in a visual format using audio and video.

These options vary, with some requiring reading a book and others not. This variety allows students to engage with literacy in diverse ways. The tasks are divided into three groups, each worth a different number of points: 30, 40, and 50. The goal is for each student to achieve 100 points, but even partial completion enters the student into a drawing for swag.

Partnering with local businesses and your parent-teacher organization can help provide prizes for students. For a detailed template, Check out the template. By incorporating creativity and choice into summer reading, we can foster a love of literacy that extends beyond the classroom. Let’s make summer reading an adventure, not a chore!

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