Stop summer slide!

If you're a parent of a school age child, you're probably all too familiar with the scenario where your child is reading above his or her grade level at the end of the school year, only to return to school the next fall having "slid" back down a level over the summer.

Now there's a way to stop the summer slide, thanks to some enhancements on the "Find a Book" Web site from the WorldCat partner, MetaMetrics. This site can help suggest books your kids may like, at their appropriate reading level.

The "Find a Book" Web site uses the popular Lexile Framework® for Reading. Readers can either enter their Lexile measure, or their grade and if they find reading materials difficult or easy. Once they find the books they're interested in, they can connect to their local library through WorldCat.org and check availability.

The Find a Book Web site now offers the option to "Look up at a local library"
which connects to WorldCat.org.

Once you're in WorldCat.org, of course, you can create a list, add ratings, get automatic citations for an item or do all the social networking activities you're used to doing.

Background on summer reading slide
The "Find a Book" Web site is based, in part, on the research of James Sangil Kim, Ed.D., assistant professor of education at Harvard University. Dr. Kim's studies on summer "loss" or "slide," when many students' reading skills diminish over the summer months away from school, suggests that students who read a minimum of eight high-interest books at their Lexile level over the summer can achieve similar gains in reading growth as students who attend summer school.

Durham Public Schools in North Carolina have implemented a Lexile program based on Dr. Kim's research with success. Watch a 4-minute video about how the program boosted their summer reading success.