Students can continue to sharpen their reading skills over the break. Teachers at Durbin Creek Elementary School in Jacksonville, Fla., recommend to parents that students read at least two books over the summer and create a book summary about each one by plotting a timeline of important events of the story, drawing a picture of their favorite scene, or writing a play between two different characters from the book and acting it out with a classmate. Popular fifth-grade books include C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" series and Beverly Cleary's "Dear Mr. Henshaw."
If the teacher includes a vocabulary list to accompany a required summer book list, use the vocabulary list for word activities. Otherwise, assist your child in building his own vocabulary list from key words and context clues from the books. Play some educational games as a family to reinforce the words and their meanings, such as vocabulary bingo, in which you create a bingo card with 24 vocabulary words and one bingo space. Instead of calling the words, give a definition of a word; players must locate the word that matches it. Play continues until someone marks five words in a row.
Because children will use textbooks, encyclopedias and news-related websites to gather facts for research reports, spend the summer getting them acquainted with different formats. Peruse an old textbook and show your child the highlights, such as the table of contents, index, vocabulary words and chapter summaries that will make understanding the key points easier. Ask your child about her interests and read a news article relating to them together. Discuss it afterward, covering the main points and timeline of events.
Scholastic hosts a summer reading challenge to help motivate children to read more over the summer and log the minutes they read each night as they all compete in Read for the World Record. The 20 schools logging the most minutes of student reading time over the summer each year are recognized in the following year's Scholastic Book of World Records. Children can also compete for weekly prizes, such as books, audio chapters or badges, throughout the competition. While children are encouraged to read any book of their choosing, Scholastic offers suggestions by grade level. Choices for fifth grade include Kate DiCamillo's "Because of Winn-Dixie" and Fred Gipson's "Old Yeller."