This week at TWT we will be writing about how to keep learning going through the summer months. As we approach the end of the year, thinking of new ways to inspire students to carry the learning with them is always a daunting task. We hope to inspire you throughout the week with ideas and tips to encourage both you and your students to bridge the gap from June to September. For an overview of the blog series click here.
It’s the last day of school. You give your last high-fives and hugs of the year. Everyone is smiling and excited. You think, “I did everything I could. Now it’s up to them,” and you wave as the bus pulls out. Maybe you even shed a tear.
As teachers, we know about the inevitable slide that can occur over the course of the summer. We often hear statistics that include learning loss and how these losses over years begin to accumulate, putting students behind their peers. Just Google, “summer slide statistics” and you will be inundated with infographics and articles covering the issue. It made me think, “How long does it take to lose a skill?” There just so happens to be an article on this topic covered by the online publication Hopes&Fears. It’s an interesting read that covers several perspectives. One section of the article that I thought was most prevalent to teaching writing was from Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D. After discussing how the loss of a skill is directly proportional to the amount of time spent learning the skill he explained how we often are surprised that we can still ride a bike after many years or plink out a song on the keyboard.
In contrast, if we’ve just developed a new skill, it’s quick to fade. The neural connections that encode this learning are neither extensive nor “deep.” We see this all of the time in our colleges and universities as students “cram for the test” and days later they are unable to remember the content or demonstrate the skill. It’s called surface learning for a reason, as it’s easily erased.
As I thought about all the new skills my students have learned over the past school year I thought to myself, as I often do, how deeply is this going?
Pondering this over the past few weeks I began to wonder what I could do to prevent or at least stifle the loss in the area of writing. Can I help students identify what skills they have learned deeply and have them set goals to maintain some level of their learning? When my students began the school year it was their stamina that seemed to be hit the hardest. If I could encourage my students to write periodically through the summer months focusing on some of their strongest skills it would certainly make a difference once they came back next year. I started to think about what they would need most to make this happen. Well, guess what? Something that has been a motivator for me in the past is when I’ve set aside a special place, a writing space.
I decided to chat about this with my students to see what they thought.
“I want you to imagine the place that you have had some of your best writing experiences.”
We began to list. Some students said a tree house, grandma’s backyard, their porch, under their desk, the classroom library, on their bed or in their closet. I asked the class what made these places so perfect for a good writing experience. Many of them talked about the fact that all these places were quiet or a place their little brother or sister couldn’t bother them. Some of them mentioned that being surrounded by nature or all their favorite things made them happy and it made it easier to think about something to write about. I asked each to think about a place they could create and design that would meet their writing needs when they were at home. Students sketched out their perfect writing spot and made a list of what they would need.
In the coming weeks, students are going to try and set up their spaces to prepare for summer. Collecting the items they need and getting it just right. Once we have our spaces ready each of them will be able to create their goal board. This will simply be a small poster listing two-three goals they have for themselves as writers. These goals will be different from goals they have set in the past. Typically in my classroom, students find an area they want to improve and write it on a sticky note to post near them and on our goal chart. Our summer goals will be what they feel they are independently capable of practicing with success. It might be, always using punctuation or remembering to organize using paragraphs and structure. Maybe their goals will be to continue to write catchy leads or informative pieces that include voice and personal stories. I think ending the school year celebrating some our biggest strengths will be a great way to cap off all the learning that has occurred. Students will be focused on what has gone well and set a goal to continue to excel in these areas. We will also talk about the best place for our little goal posters. Maybe on the refrigerator or inside our notebooks.
Feeling like we have already achieved a certain level of success takes a lot of pressure off of our goal setting. I suspect if students are able to work and practice skills they already feel comfortable with they will write with more freedom. It really is just about the writing. The act itself. The more we can encourage our students to be free to write and share with their own purposes the more likely they will succeed in the area of writing across time.
This brings me to our giveaway! At the end of our series this week I will be using a random number generator to choose one winner for Heinemann’s new book from Ralph Fletcher, Joy Write. I hope you are inspired by the series this week and I wish you luck in the giveaway! Read below for details.
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
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This giveaway is for a copy of Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact, Low-Stakes Writing. Many thanks to Heinemann for donating a copy for one reader. (You must have a U.S. mailing address to win a copy of this book.)
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For a chance to win this copy of Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact, Low-Stakes Writing, please leave a comment about this or any blog post in this blog series by Sunday, May 7th at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Betsy Hubbard will use a random number generator to pick the winner whose name will be announced in the ICYMI blog post for this series on Monday, May 8th.
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Please be sure to leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment, so Betsy can contact you to obtain your mailing address if you win. From there, our contact at Heinemann will ship your book out to you. (NOTE: Your e-mail address will not be published online if you leave it in the e-mail field only.)
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If you are the winner of the book, Betsy will email you with the subject line of TWO WRITING TEACHERS – JOY WRITE BOOK. Please respond to her e-mail with your mailing address within five days of receipt. Unfortunately, a new winner will be chosen if a response isn’t received within five days of the giveaway announcement.
TWO WRITING TEACHERS 
Summer slide in skills and strategies, motivation and stamina – it’s important to motivate to keep it going so they come back ready to keep it all going! Nice post!
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So simple, but so important! Visualize yourself writing in favorite places over the summer, and then get your toolkit ready so you can do it. Then, bring your summer writing to share when school starts again.
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Thanks for sharing your ideas.
They are making a difference in the learning lives of students.
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Love the idea of having a special place to go for writing.
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How wise to address summer writing. Summer reading is such a big push. Summer writing deserves attention, too! I’ll be following this week’s posts closely!
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I love this idea. It’s just as important to keep writing over the summer as it is to keep reading. Thank you!
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I’m so inspired to help my students prepare for the summer of independent learning. Thanks for th boost.
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I think that your idea that the children establish a space for writing is top flight. No hunting for paper/notebook or writing implements. Those that like to write out of doors could even make a “tool kit” to grab and go to that special place. Thank you!
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Interesting things to ponder as the year wind down for some students. So much growth in a year…how to keep that in tact for next year is always a challenge.
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Thank you for posting about the summer writing slide and “surface learning”! Very good idea to have kids sketch their best writing moments/places. Not just their reading spots!
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What a great series! We should educate students and parents about the summer learning slide and develop strategies together to lessen it!
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Love this idea and am thinking about ways I can do some summer goal setting with my current reading intervention kiddos. My biggest fear is that they’ll slide back a few levels and will have even more ground to gain upon returning to school in the fall. Thanks for the post!
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I love this idea of helping kids early, before summer is too close, to set up their summer learning environment. Designing their goals and mapping their space makes it very tangible. I plan to borrow this idea!
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Wow, i am really focused on preventing simmer slide in reading but I should be concerned about writing too! Pstegink@fhps.net
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I have had students talk about favorite reading spots and planning when and where they would read. I now plan to do the same for writing. Thank you for the wonderful ideas!
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I love this idea!! All students have an entry point to accomplish this and honor their accomplishments as writers throughout the summer.
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Thanks for a thoughtful post on summer writing. Always excited to learn from Ralph Fletcher. And I’m doing to set some of my own summer writing goals, too.
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What a great idea! This is something I have struggled with at home with my own kids as well. Thanks for the ideas!
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I love the idea of planning where and when before going into what or how. Thanks for this idea!
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As an experienced teacher but new to 5th grade teacher, I am hoping to set my “big kids” up with a plan/goal for the summer to keep them on track! Thanks for the reminder and suggestions!
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I always think about supporting reading throughout the summer, but I have never made a point to create a plan with my students about writing! I appreciate this information!
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Love your ideas Betsy. Makes me think of my first grade daughter who loves to draw and write. Think I will be taking some pictures of her (in her writing spaces) to share with kids. Then maybe some pictures of my writing spaces too.
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Great ideas for getting students ready to continue writing during the summer.
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I love the idea of visualizing that space and then setting goals. Thanks!
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Great ideas! I think I need to use the idea of naming a place and making a goal poster for myself, too. Changing grade level focus for next year and would love to have Ralph’s book to help inspire the new teachers with whom I’ll be working.
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Betsy, I love the intentional way you are setting up your students for success this summer. I need to take some of your ideas and apply them to my own summer writing life!
Love the topic of this blog series as well – so relevant!
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Great ideas to encourage and engage kids! Can’t wait to share with my colleagues. Would love to put Ralph’s book on my summer reading list!! dgrohman@somsd.k12.nj.us
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I think opening the conversation with kids re: what their summer writing and reading looks like is often something that doesn’t happen. Setting a place is so smart – we all have special places we love to be. Why would that place not be your reading/writing spot?
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I think teachers often think if summer slide in reading, but it is critical in writing as well! Love the idea of them thinking of a writing place for the summer!
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This is giving me the inspiration to stay focused during the last month of school. The final push! Love the idea of celebrating growth to help set new goals.
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What great ideas to keep kids writing during the summer!
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I love the idea of the informal survey of where/how much writing is done outside of school, and then use it to create a summer writing goal. Thanks also for the hyperlinks. I have saved the 3rd graders goal-setting post to share with teachers as I support them next year.
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Love the ideas presented in this article. Often I consider how to help my students create lists of books to read and where they might make the time to read, but I had not considered writing. I cannot wait to enact some of these ideas and communicate them with parents as well.
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I will share some of these ideas with the 5th grade @ my school. I hope to get them thinking about summer reading and writing as preparation for middle school.
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What a great way to engage students and get them thinking about writing before the summer begins, Betsy!
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Thank you for this post. Timing is perfect. Love the hyperlinks, too. Will share with my colleagues as we can never do enough to combat the summer slide. Love the quote you included “In contrast…”
It has me thinking. Thanks!
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