Summer Success Starts Here!
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HMH® will support you every step of the way with easy-to-use summer programs, world-class professional development, and expert funding guidance. Contact your Local Account Executive to find out how HMH can help you today!
You can also browse our summer learning solutions online here. What type of solution are you looking for?
Geared toward students who need a little help to curb summer learning loss, leaving them ready to continue where they left off last year. |
Designed for at-risk and low-performing students with the intended purpose of improving performance, accelerating growth, and preventing grade level retention. |
Perfect for advanced students or volunteer-based summer learning, with fun and engaging options to extend learning this summer. |
Summer Learning Tips and Resources
Get the Facts about Summer Learning Loss!
Download this informative infographic on Summer Learning Loss or visit our Summer School Resources board on Pinterest® where you can find inspiration for Summer School and more free resources for the classroom! |
7 tips on how to secure funding for Summer School!
- Is your current program for preventing summer learning loss effective? What kinds of data do you need to collect and analyze in order to demonstrate the need for the program? Identify areas of previous success and design plans for improvement.
- Who in your community can help make your summer learning program stronger? Advertise to parents! The tide is turning and more parents are tuned into the value of summer learning. Over half of all respondents in a recent survey by America After 3 PM indicate a desire for their child to participate in a summer learning program.
- Have you considered partnering with local community and faith-based organizations? Research who in your community may be able to help defray costs—from providing locations and staff to offering additional enrichment programming for volunteer-based summer learning.
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What are your current funding options? Consider funds provided by the Federal government. For a list of Federal grants that may already be available in your school district, download the Summer School Funding Quick Guide.
- Do you need a grant? For a quick look at competitive grants available to schools in your state, visit our free Grant Database. As you identify potential grants, focus on due dates, determine who is eligible for those funds, and consider how closely the application goals match the goals of your summer program.
- Have you considered fundraising? There are a number of options available to schools. Crowdfunding, the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet, is a relatively new phenomenon gaining steam in some communities.
- Next year, start early enough to plan for, and take advantage of, available funding. September is the best time to take stock, after the completion of summer school, and start thinking about next summer. Official planning should begin around January to ensure adequate time to develop or refine a summer school program.
5 Ways to Energize the Summer School Classroom
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- Quick writes
Have students write a reflection at the end of each lesson for two to five minutes or at the beginning of the lesson to show what they know. Students can create a rubric to score these quick writes, giving them ownership of the learning. - Field trips
These aren’t the field trips where you must load up a bus and drive for miles, these are inexpensive, or free! Take the class outside into the “field” or playground. Get out of the hot, stifling classroom and enjoy the summer day. Students can measure out 1 square foot of “field” and learn about perspective. They can describe what they see from the perspective of a small beetle or ant, a rabbit or gopher, and then of course as themselves.
If heading outside is just too hot, take a virtual field trip of Le Louvre (virtual tours at www.louvre.fr/en). Students will experience a 360-degree panoramic view of many of the museum’s halls. Don’t worry if you only have one device or laptop in your room—use the field trip in a small group center and you’ve got the start of a blended classroom. Maybe a trip to The New Seven Wonders of the World or Monument Valley is more to their liking. Here are 10 more Virtual Field Trips you can try! - Get involved with the community
Community service or service learning is easily incorporated into any grade level or subject area. Students gain essential problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills—and bonus—they feel proud to help others in the community. Ask the students what problems they see at the school or in the community. Research various solutions to the problems and decide the action to take. Students can create an action plan and timeline to implement their ideas and plan. To find where service is needed, visit the CNCS and search in your area. - Get up and move!
Active bodies equal active minds! Summertime is a great time to get active. Organized activities help students get active while having fun. Check out www.letsmove.gov for some great ideas on getting up and getting a move on! - Use technology more often
With a smaller class size, summer school is a great time to grab the computer cart or tablet card and try out some digital photography in a lesson or photo story (and use free online photo editing at www.pixlr.com) or have your students respond to a prompt on Padlet. Students could create their own Pinterest® site curating what they have found on a topic being studied. Spend an hour a day having students code, and you can learn right along with them! (http://code.org/)
Written by: Debb Oliver, Ed.D.
For tips on summer learning at home this year, download our 5 summer literacy Tips for Parents!
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