Summer reading is in full swing, and thousands of students are discovering new favorite books and logging minutes in Beanstack. But what happens when the pool towels dry and backpacks come out of storage?
The summer slide is real, and research from NWEA confirms that consistent summer learning is key to preventing it. But to truly sustain growth, we need to carry that reading momentum into the school year.
Post-summer literacy starts at the beginning of the year and continues with thoughtful and practical steps using the Beanstack platform. We’ve compiled tips to keep the reading momentum going all year.
Reflect, Reward, and Reset
You can keep the momentum with your school summer reading challenge by creating buy-in based on your students' accomplishments. Think about any big goal you’ve accomplished; you’re more likely to keep up with the work if you see your progress pay off over time. Here’s how to do it using Beanstack.
1. Reflect on current reading data
You can use the information you’ve already compiled through Beanstack to provide your students and school community with real-time reading data on their progress. The best way to show your students is to keep it simple. Choose a few of the following data points:
- Total minutes read broken down by individual, class, grade, or school
- Top books and badges earned
- Lexile levels to measure reading difficulty
- Stats that demonstrate change over time, like showing growth with reading minutes
Beanstack allows you to create data visualizations from hundreds of report options, which are perfect for emailing parents to keep them in the loop.
2. Reward students
The beginning of the school year is hectic for educators. New routines, classrooms, and peers make it even more important to ground students in familiar, motivating reading habits.
It’s important to reward students for their summer reading as soon as summer is over. Timely recognition reinforces their reading motivation to keep setting and reaching new reading goals. Whether it’s individual shoutouts or group rewards, a little recognition goes a long way in sustaining their reading momentum.
For a group reward, offer a celebration or event for students who have achieved their goal. A simple example is allowing students to bring their lunch outside and have a reading picnic. The reward of not eating in the cafeteria will be exciting for most students on a beautiful day, and it’s a great way to celebrate the new school year.
Individual rewards can add up for schools, but there are plenty of low-cost or free ideas that you can use to motivate students. Some examples of low-cost and high-motivation rewards for individuals include:
- Extra recess time
- Classroom DJ for brain breaks
- Pick your group or seat
- Homework pass
- Preferred parking for older students
We’ve compiled a list of no-cost reading challenge rewards for even more inspiration.
3. Reset goals
Once you’ve taken the time to analyze goals, you can see areas that you want to grow as a school community. You will also see what students respond best to in terms of motivation. Taking these data points, you can plan reasonable goals that excite students.
You can present your new goals soon after celebrating summer reading achievement to play off the momentum. You might kick things off with a schoolwide assembly that spotlights top readers and introduces a fall reading challenge, or set classroom goals with visual trackers to keep progress front and center. You can also invite students to set personal reading goals—by minutes, books, or genres—and use Beanstack to track their progress and celebrate milestones.
Transition to a School-Year Reading Routine
Keep kids reading by embedding reading routines into your classroom. The premise is simple: 10–20 minutes of choice reading daily. Incorporating reading at the same time each day will make it a dependable part of your students' routine.
Reading routines help grow reading habits for kids regardless of age, improve reader stamina, and create a true love of reading.. As students settle into routine, they will be on the lookout for new books and discuss reading organically with their classmates.
To nurture the reading culture in your classroom, you can spark conversation with students about their reading by looking at their progress on the Beanstack reading app. Simply pull students aside, talk to them about their books, and help them make new selections to keep them engaged with choice reading.
Bring the discussions to the whole class with a weekly book discussion so students can see their peers’ love of reading. It’s also a great way for other students to get book recommendations. Discussions build community in the classroom when students can openly share their interests.
Use Reading Challenges to Keep Things Fresh
With routines in place, you can keep things engaging and exciting by layering in reading challenges that tap into students’ natural drive to compete and connect. According to Beanstack data, challenge participants read 61 minutes daily on average. That’s 46% more minutes than users not participating in reading challenges. Incorporating a fall reading challenge is one way to keep interest high with your classroom’s reading routine because students are naturally competitive.
You can use reading challenges to encourage more variety in your students’ reading choices. Set up challenges such as “Graphic Novel November,” “Mystery May,” or “Poetry Power Week.” Competitions are fully customizable within Beanstack’s platform.
Students love the competition aspect of Beanstack and often use the leaderboard and stats to spark friendly competition. You can challenge other classes or schools. If you’re going for larger-scale reading goals, challenge a crosstown rival school ahead of a big game.
Give Kids Choice and Voice
Beanstack gives students a choice in their books and includes formats like audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels, and more. Plus, Beanstack empowers students to have a say about their reading topics, leading to more student buy-in.
At Salisbury Central School in Connecticut, fifth graders created their own reading challenge. Students completed two student-created challenges: “Literary Trailblazer” and “Paw-some Pages.” Thirty-eight students participated, averaging over 1,900 reading minutes each for the challenges.
“Our students are overwhelmingly motivated and inspired by Beanstack, and this activity empowers them to take ownership of their reading goals—transforming the platform into something that feels truly theirs,” said Jen Segalla, Salisbury library media specialist.
Additionally, as students take ownership over their reading, they can leave reviews on Beanstack and recommend books to their peers.
Keep Grownups in the Loop with Beanstack Insights
Families and caregivers are your best allies for solidifying consistent reading with your students. Parents often want to stay involved with reading at home but need guidance. They may know their children's interests, but they struggle to find books that are at the appropriate level for students.
You can generate Beanstack reports to educate caregivers on where their child is in their reading journey and about goals they can pursue at home. Parents can stay engaged with the family account features.
Beanstack makes reading time more flexible and enjoyable, encouraging caregivers to support reading at home. You can reinforce family involvement by creating Reading Roundups in the Beanstack app to celebrate progress and highlight new challenges.
Extend Reading into Real Life
Beanstack’s core principles involve getting students to read more by making the books they want more accessible. Keep that fire burning beyond the books. Give families ideas about ways to extend their reading interests into real life. Include simple tips in parent newsletters, such as:
- If your child is interested in reading a sports book, then take the time to watch a game together.
- If your child is reading a book set in a different country, choose a recipe to cook from that country.
- If your child is reading historical fiction, consider visiting a site from that period.
Encourage your families to keep learning by reinforcing their interests. Teachers can include activity badges through Beanstack related to writing, drawing, or project-based extensions in the classroom.
Simple bell ringers can add depth to your students’ outside reading reflections. An example of a writing prompt would be, “Pick a song that your protagonist would listen to on repeat. Explain specific elements from the song and how you see the character reflected in the song.”
Set New Goals Together
As students reach goals from summer and beyond, keep setting new goals together. You will better know your students’ reading abilities and interests as the year progresses. You can collaboratively set goals to keep kids reading.
It’s even more effective if you can set larger goals as a school system or community. In a recent article, Beanstack CEO Felix Brandon Lloyd explains how he sees Beanstack positively affecting communities. He uses the examples of the Charleston County School District (CCSD) in South Carolina and Pasco County Schools in Florida, which set district goals of 15 million minutes for a school year.
Lloyd says, “In CCSD, they saw a 90% school participation rate in the first semester alone. Meanwhile, halfway through their challenge in Pasco County, readers surpassed their initial goal, setting an even loftier one to finish the school year strong.”
When schools set collective reading goals, the community gets involved, and students are more motivated. Beanstack even allows you to create custom badges that relate more to your unique goals and reading challenges. Features like the custom badges and leaderboards motivate students because they provide peer competition.
Christy James, district librarian for CCSD, used our Three-Step Motivation Playbook to achieve her steep reading goals for her district:
- Set a collective goal for the district, school, or class
- Use friendly competition to achieve that goal
- Provide recognition and incentives along the way
“It’s crucial that students start seeing themselves as readers—and Beanstack lets them do just that,” said James.
Reading is a Year-Round Adventure
The end of summer is the perfect time to set new goals, energize students, and spark lifelong reading habits. With Beanstack, reading becomes fun, personalized, and impactful every season.
Ready to launch your next reading challenge? Request a demo today and see how Beanstack helps schools keep students motivated all year.