Secretary of State Literacy Office

Cool Reading Tips

• Take a favorite book to your neighborhood park, sit under the trees or on a park bench and read out loud to each other.
• Take books to the lake or the pool and read while you relax in the sun.
• Read about a summer time activity, like camping or biking, and then do it.
• Borrow local maps from the library, and explore parts of your town or neighborhood you’ve never seen before.
• Borrow books about nature from the library, take them to a garden or park near you and see how much you can learn about trees, flowers or animals.
• Get a book about stars, constellations and the meteor showers of August, then watch the night sky together.
• If you are involved in a summer sport like softball or swimming, read a book about it and surprise your teammates and family with fun facts.
• Choose one book you and your friends or family want to read, read it at the same time and trade opinions about it.
• Escape the heat in the library one day and see how many books you can find with the word “summer” in the title.
• Join the summer reading club at the local library. Sign up at your library for games, activities and rewards for reading this summer. Check it out and see what your library has on its shelves.
• Send away for the READ*WRITE*NOW! kit from the federal government (1-800-USA-LEARN). You’ll get an activity guide, a vocabulary building guide, bookmarks and certificates. This program connects kids with reading partners like their families.