Look no further for attention-grabbing, fun, summer writing prompts to get you and your students through the month of June!
One key tactic for summer slide prevention is to use these Daily Writing Prompts for June to make learning fun over the summer. Incorporating reading and writing into summer activities is how to keep kids learning without them even realizing it.
We’ve all heard about the practically inevitable summer slide in reading and writing, in which young learners lose a portion of what they gained in a school year because of lack of practice. Summer slide is real. If you do a search online, you’ll find several different summer slide infographics. This year, with months of online learning behind us, the summer slide may be even more pronounced. Reading and writing just a few minutes a day can help reverse the trend.
Thoughts of June bring visions of days by the beach or the lake or the pool or looking at starry skies. I think of kids in floaties and on rafts, big sunglasses, slushy drinks, and the smell of sunscreen. What about you? Whether you’re out of school or in summer school, you can keep your students and children learning while enjoying a wide variety of summertime activities that are extensions of reading and writing.
In the next section, I have some ideas you can easily incorporate into your summer routine.
Ideas for Summer Slide Prevention Activities
In the June Daily Writing Journal you can discover the wide range of ideas for writing in the summertime. These are all based on National Days calendars. You can even look for more ideas by searching the National Days.
All of these reading, researching, and writing activities incorporate the 3 Es of teaching; Engaging, Exploring, and Explaining. Add an Extension by following up with a related activity to make it the 4 Es.
For example, on National Egg Day, learn about different types of eggs. Do you know about the folklore surrounding eggs and the equinox? That would really pique the interest of the students. (Engage) There are so many different experiments with eggs that it would be fun to choose one or more to explore. (Explore) Your students can write the step-by-step process for the experiment they choose. Or you can have them explain the folklore around the balancing eggs during the equinoxes. (Explain). After that, give them the opportunity to do an experiment, or two, or three. (Extend). They can write again to record their results and any variations on the experiment that they tried. Head to the library to find books or articles about other egg experiments to try. Take a deep dive into learning about how eggshells form and what they are made of.
National Meteor Watch Day is a fun one. Have you ever held a star party? It’s something many National Parks in the United States do. But you can hold one in your own local area. After learning about meteors, you can have the students arrange their own star party. They can make star maps of the areas they watch. They can investigate and learn more about astronomy, if they’re interested. You’ve covered the 4 Cs!
Fun Activities To Do in Summer
National Yo-Yo Day is always a popular one. What kid doesn’t love a Yo-Yo? They can watch videos to learn how to play with a Yo-Yo and how to do tricks. (Engage). Next, if you have time, search for videos showing champion Yo-Yo experts. It’s amazing what they can do! (Explore). After that, students can write about what they saw, explain how to do a trick, describe a Yo-Yo they like, and even write a story about going to a Yo-Yo Championship event. (Explain). Finally, head outside and start playing and practicing some of the Yo-Yo tricks! (Extend).
Make Writing Interactive with Video or Audio
With this journal of writing prompts for June, every day gives you an opportunity to engage young learners in an activity that relates to the writing.
One really fun idea is to create a video relating what they did or what they learned. They can record their ideas on Screenpal, Flip, a phone, a tablet, or whatever way you like to have them make a video. Then they can share the video with classmates, grandparents, or other family members. This is a great way to share results of a science experiment or a new yo-yo trick.
Another idea is to create a video journal of their activity. A day by day journal of the egg experiment or the yo-yo tricks they learned, with photos and captions is a fun thing to do. Again, it’s meant to be shared so they can take pride in their accomplishments.
Here I’ve only talked about a couple of the June writing prompts. However, you can engage, explore, explain, and extend with every one of them.
Even More June Writing Prompts for Summer Slide Prevention
This is a popular way to get creative with story writing! Each prompt comes with a picture and an idea for the story line. Your students will have so much fun writing about camping trips, trips to the lake, dogs playing fetch in the water, going fishing, and more. This journal includes an easy graphic organizer to help your young writers get their ideas organized before they write their stories.
There are so many fun ways to keep students learning over the summer. If we make it fun, they’ll look forward to the activities and they might not even realize they’re working on academic skills. Each day, have them watch a related video (I’ve included a page for you that’s full of links) or read a related online article. Look for more information they can read, if you have time, or let them do a safe search. Do an extension activity. Share the results.
Games to Prevent Summer Slide
Don’t forget to include games. Money games such as Monopoly, dice games such as Yahtzee, or word games such as Boggle are perfect for keeping those skills sharp. Here is a Word Scramble game I created that’s simply print and go! It has a little bit of word work and a little bit of scorekeeping for math skills. My family loves it.
Whatever you decide to do, as long as you’re providing engaging ways for your children or students to interact with what they read and write, you’ll be giving them the ability to retain what they learned in the past year. Research shows that children who read, visit the library, write letters, and do other literacy related activities don’t suffer as much from summer slide.
What are your favorite activities to keep your children learning over the summer vacation months? Tell me in the comments!
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