SUMMER LEARNING
Cultivate Summer Learning
Don’t Miss: “The Evidence Base for Summer Enrichment and Comprehensive Afterschool Opportunities” by Terry K. Peterson, PhD, and Deborah Lowe Vandell, PhD: The Evidence Base for Summer Enrichment and Comprehensive Afterschool Opportunities
Why is Summer Learning So Important?
Summer is a time for young people to explore and learn. At the Wyoming Afterschool Alliance, we know that learning happens everywhere. This is especially true in the summertime!
Three Benefits of Summer Programs
- Summer is a great time for districts to experiment.
- High-quality programs can help re-ignite students’ passion to learn.
- Young people are ready for additional challenges and opportunities.
WYAA Summer Fellows are making a difference!
The Wyoming Afterschool Alliance is building a community of young people connected across different ages who are invested in one another through common STEM experiences.
Summer Fellows 2024
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The WYAA Summer STEM Fellows Program is for undergraduates from a range of majors who wish to gain practical experience designing and delivering activities that focus on art, math, creativity, making, and developing an engineering mindset all in a fun and hands-on way.
A Spotlight on Literacy!
Reading skills provide the foundation for academic success. From the beginning of school, students should be taught different ways of using language to help them learn and communicate about academic content.” improvingliteracy.org
Dive Into Summer Learning & Literacy with These Resources!
Use these tools to help you create the best summer program ever! Develop strategies for engaging staff and volunteers!
Wyoming State Library Offers Tools for Summer Reading Programs
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The Wyoming State Library strongly encourages residents to participate in summer reading programming at their local public library. Years of research have continued to demonstrate how summer reading helps to maintain the literacy skills and academic performance of children and teens while providing them with education and entertainment. Each year, the State Library sponsors the annual Summer Reading program for all Wyoming public libraries, offering people of all ages access to free reading materials and programming activities.
Local Sunbeam: Check out the Natrona County Public Library Summer Reading Program!
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Celebrate the “Wild Wonders of Wyoming” through August 31! Readers of all ages are invited to dive into the joys of treehouses, camping, hiking, s’mores, and barbecues through the pages of your favorite books. Make this summer an unforgettable journey of exploration by committing to read for twenty minutes a day all summer long. Plus, you’ll unlock amazing prizes for every 25 days you read! To check out their event calendar, click here.
WDE Embrace Literacy All Year Long Professional Development Opportunity
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Embrace Literacy All Year Long is a recorded series from the Wyoming Department of Education that extends the annual Embracing Literacy Conference throughout the year. Participants can watch recorded sessions at their leisure to gain additional expertise. UW and PTSB credit is available. There are strands for both elementary and secondary educators. Topics include K-3 reading, screening and what comes next, early childhood literacy, read alouds and vocabulary, knowledge building, adolescent literacy, multilingual learners and literacy and others.
Local Sunbeam: The Sheridan Press Highlights Summer Reading Program: “Summer Reading Program Kicks off at Fulmer Public Library”
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Libraries are a great place to learn in the summer and Hector Martinez shared information about the summer reading program at the Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library: “Librarian Jessica McClelland recognizes the importance of literacy and the benefits of reading. ‘Kids that have parents that read to them basically from the time that they’re born and through grade-school, they do higher in SAT tests, they have better classroom attention (and) fewer behavior issues. It’s because (of) that parent to child interaction,’ McClelland said.”
Bottom Photo by Hector Martinez forThe Sheridan Press: “Tyler Julian spreads his ‘wings’ out as he reads a book to Sheridan youth.”
Professional Development: For Summer Programs
Use these tools to help you create the best summer program ever! Develop strategies for engaging staff and volunteers!
NAA Summer 2024 Products & Services Catalog
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Are you ready to take your summer programming to new heights? Look no further! We’re excited to announce the Summer 2024 NAA Products & Services Catalog. Packed with an array of tools, resources, and products carefully curated by NAA and our trusted partners, this catalog is your ultimate guide to elevating your summer programming like never before. NAA understands the importance of providing enriching and engaging experiences for young people and the staff who work with them during the summer months. This comprehensive collection of products and services is designed to inspire, educate, and entertain.
Wallace Foundation: Summer Learning Toolkit
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The Wallace Foundation Summer Learning Toolkit provides evidence-based tools and guidance for delivering effective summer programs. During the summer, low-income students lose ground compared to their wealthier peers. But summer can also be a time to help level the playing field through high-quality, summer learning programs that research shows produce measurable benefits in math, reading and social and emotional learning. With more than 50, evidence-based tools and resources—drawn from the work of five urban school districts and their partners, and aligned with research from RAND—the Summer Learning Toolkit helps educators deliver programs that make a real difference.
NSLA: Summer Learning Program Quality Assessment Case Study
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This brief highlights the findings of a program quality assessment from a collaboration between the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) and Spring Forward, a nonprofit based in Rock Island, Illinois, that provides educational and enrichment opportunities at no cost to enhance the lives of families in the community. NSLA encourages organizations to use these findings as not only inspiration but also practical examples for building program sustainability.
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation: Summer Self-Care Summer Toolkit
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The Alliance for a Healthier Generation promotes healthy environments so that young people can achieve lifelong good health. Follow the tips and activities their Self-Care Summer Toolkit to prioritize mental health and well-being, for yourself and your family. The toolkit includes activities in English and Spanish.
American Camp Association: Training Tool Sheets
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The American Camp Association has created a training tool for summer program directors and counselors. Through a series of tip sheets, ACA helps set priorities for training time by sorting through what needs to be said and understood versus read and understood. It covers everthing from “Facilitation Overview” to “Returning Staff Expectations” and more!
Get Wild Wyoming: Resources for Nature-Based Education
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The Get Wild Wyoming initiative is a partnership between the Wyoming Department of Education, Wyoming State Parks, Wyoming Game and Fish and the Wyoming Department of Health. It focuses on supporting the overall mental and physical wellness of a child through nature-based education.
Activities: For Summer Programs and Families
Use these vetted activities to engage young people this summer!
Beyond School Bells: Youth Brainstorming Sheet
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Start with this simple exercise to engage the youth in your program in organizing the Best Summer Ever for themselves and their peers.
Innovation Wyrkshop: Mobile Maker Crates Available for Summer Learning
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Innovation Wyrkshop, the largest makerspace at the University of Wyoming, is bringing the making to you this summer! Their Mobile Maker Crates are packed with equipment that have been specifically designed to make career and technical education available to every community across Wyoming. Wyrkshop provides curriculum and teaching guides. For more information and to reserve one of the Maker Crates for your summer program, contact Mobile Makerspace Project Coordinator Emily Leinen, eschmid@uwyo.edu.
Mizzen by Mott: Summer Camp
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Break out the marshmallows. Dig out the campfire songs. Summer’s just around the corner and so is Mizzen Summer Camp! Designed for out-of-school time practitioners, Mizzen Summer Camp is a must-have digital resource for summer camp and program leaders to supercharge student learning with new lessons on STEM, the arts, music, physical fitness, and youth entrepreneurship.
Outside for 5 Summer Program Resources
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Outdoor learning can help children increase attention, be more motivated to learn, and control impulses more effectively. The Wyoming Alliance for Environmental Education (WyAEE) invites educators to pledge to get Outside for 5 this summer. It’s easy to participate by incorporating an outdoor lesson or activity at least 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Find resources and testimonials from educators across the country on their website, including Tanya McCoy from the Tongue River Valley Community Center!
Summer Activity Guide from WYAA
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The Summer Activity Guide is a suite of fun and engaging activities and challenges that are perfect for groups or individuals. Summers are for fun and engaged learning. The Summer Activity Guides were developed to help engage youth with supportive adults in a range of places. The suite activities and challenges will help young people learn and thrive this summer.
WyomingPBS and Science Kids: NatureWY
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Wyoming PBS partnered with Science Kids in Sheridan to create Nature WY, a digital educational series focused on outdoor science and nature and developed for children 6-8 years old and can be used for all learners! Each episode has an activity guide for use at home and a lesson plan aligned to state and common core standards. Topics in the first season include watersheds, macroinvertebrates, catching insects, becoming a keen observer using all your senses, and insect habitats. The videos are available on this page, at YouTube.com/wyomingpbs, and on wyoming.pbslearningmedia.org.
Summer is a Great Time for Free Play
bit.ly/WYQC-Free-Play
WY Quality Counts reminds us that summer is a great time for free play! Let children’s imaginations run free and watch them learn through play. With no rules or restrictions, they’ll build independence and problem-solving skills while having fun.
Mark Your Calendar for Summer Learning
National Summer Learning Association Helps Make Connections
National Summer Learning Week: July 15-19, 2024
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National Summer Learning Week is a celebration dedicated to elevating the importance of keeping kids learning, safe, and healthy every summer, and ensuring they return to school ready to succeed in the year. Visit the website to find helpful resources, insights on our new themes, and ways you can join the celebration on social media!
Mission: We bridge the gap between Wyoming’s out-of-school programs and the communities they uplift, fueling them with resources, support and opportunities that inspire lifelong learning, growth and connection.
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