Are you looking for some fun literacy activities to carry you through the final weeks of the school year? Or, maybe you're teaching a summer program and in need of some fun options to keep those kiddos engaged. Either way, I've got you covered! Come along for a round-up of summer literacy activities that your primary students will love!
Let's Make Literacy Fun!
As a long-time primary intervention teacher, I have learned a thing or two about literacy lessons over the years. When it comes to teaching literacy skills, the most important piece is to make sure you turn up the fun. This is especially crucial for our littles who are struggling. We want to help them see that learning to read can be fun, not frustrating. While there will always be moments of struggle along the way, my aim is to make them WANT to sit down at the small group table with me and get to work. After all, the more engagement we have, the better they learn, right?
My go-to for making literacy activities more fun is to switch things up. We can't do the same thing every day and expect great success. That's just plain boring, right?! So instead, I recommend that you weave in a variety of activities that use hands-on learning and challenge kiddos to think in different ways. Oh, and if you're anything like me, you probably appreciate a good theme too! Embracing the seasons, holidays, or another fun topic is a great way to keep lessons feeling fresh. So, let's talk summer literacy activities that check all the boxes and will make lesson planning a breeze!
1. Summer Visual Discrimination Cards
Before you begin, teach students two distinct hand movements to indicate if pictures are a match or not. (Think, a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down") You'll hold up one card at a time, and students will silently give their answers. This activity works well for small groups as well as an activity for your whole class. Either way, I know it will be a hit!
2. Summer Syllable Count
Next up, a fun activity for learning to count syllables in words! This Summer Syllable Count includes 40
different numbered cards that feature different pictures. Students will choose a task card and write what number it is on their recording sheet. Next, they clap out the syllables and determine how many syllables it has. Then, they circle the number on their recording sheet.
This is a wonderful activity for independent learning once students understand how to use it. You can set this up as a literacy station in your class and have students work through each of the cards. This resource also works well as a Scoot game, and I've even included heading cards if you prefer to have students sort cards by syllable. The variety allows you to use this resource in many different ways.
3. Missing Letter Game
This Summer Missing Letter Game is a perfect addition to your literacy centers. Included there are 24 lowercase letter cards, 24 uppercase letter cards, as well as a recording sheet and an answer key.
To play, students choose a card and study it to determine which letter is missing from the sequence. You can have students use magnet letters to fill in the missing letter on the card, or laminate the cards and have them use dry-erase markers to write it. The recording sheet is great if you want a way to keep students accountable for their work or prefer to play it as a Scoot game.
4. Summer Letter Hole Punch
These cards are in black and white, and since they print four to a page, you can easily cut them apart with a paper cutter. Just place the cards in a literacy center with reduced-effort hole punches and you've got a great hands-on learning activity to add to your lessons!
5. Summer Letter and Sound Search
- 2 black and white worksheets with uppercase letters
- 2 black and white worksheets with lowercase sounds
- 4 black and white worksheets with beginning sound pictures
- 1 color deck of task cards - uppercase
- 1 color deck of task cards - lowercase
- 1 color deck of picture cards
The idea is that students will receive a worksheet with the skill that you are trying to target, along with a stack of task cards to work with. They choose a card, find the match on their paper, and repeat. You can match lowercase to lowercase, uppercase to uppercase, cross-case match, or match pictures to beginning sounds. With so many options, I know you'll use this activity again and again in your classroom over the summer!
6. Letter Fluency Spinner Game
Letter name fluency and letter sound fluency are likely skills you're targeting in your literacy lessons. If so, I know you'll love this Summer Letter Fluency Spinner Game. This is a great activity to use as a small group warm-up, center station, or independent work activity. To play, students spin the spinner, identify the picture, and then find the match on their card. Then, they read across as fluently as possible with a focus on either letter names or sounds, depending on what you'd like to target. I always recommend that you laminate these cards as they're a great activity to use more than once in your classroom.
7. Hidden Treasure Sight Word Game
You will choose the number of cards you want to use at once and place them in a pocket chart. Then, hide the 5 included hidden treasure cards behind random words. Students will take turns pointing out a card and reading the word. If they read it correctly, they get to pull that card from the pocket chart and see if a hidden treasure is behind it! This is a great activity when engagement is low and you need something to snag attention and boost excitement!
8. Summer CVC Spin a Word
Students will lay a plastic spinner over the wheel and spin one by one. Each time they spin, they place a letter tile down for what they got. Once they have recorded all 3 letters, they read the word and then decide if it's real or not. There is also a recording sheet included if you'd like to have students also write the words they built and their choice on whether or not it's real.
9. Summer Nonsense Word Sort
Next up, I've got another fun summer literacy activity that's super simple to prep and can be used in a variety of ways. This Summer Nonsense Word Sort is a great way to practice reading fluency and decoding. There are 60 different summer-themed word cards with a mix of both real and nonsense CVC words. I've also included headings for real and nonsense. Students will choose a card, read it, and decide which category it falls into. Then, it gets sorted into the correct group.
This is a great warm-up activity for your small groups! Students can take turns choosing a card, reading the word, and sorting it into the correct category. Once they know how to play, it also makes a great partner activity to use in a pocket chart and work together. I've even included a recording sheet so that you can have your students write down their answers as they go.
10. Nonsense Word Fluency
The best part about this activity is that it's a fun way to practice blending CVC words. The nonsense words are sure to make your kids giggle and make working towards reading fluency an engaging activity that everyone will enjoy!
Make Summer Literacy Fun!
So, which of these summer literacy activities was your favorite?! I know it can be hard to choose, which I exactly why I used them all in my room. Using a variety of lessons, games, and center activities is the best way to ensure that your students stay engaged in learning. Don't forget, you can find all of these summer literacy activities, along with many more options, in my TPT Shop. Have fun planning!
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