Have you ever wished upon a shooting star? Well, cross your fingers that you have clear skies tonight to celebrate this special day.
Over here at Scholastic we’re over-the-moon (yes, pun intended) about Meteor Watch Day as it fits so perfectly with our Reading Under the Stars theme (powered by EVEREADY) for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge.
Check out the numerous free reading resources you can use to for this magical evening.
- Download our handy Star Guide: Learn about the 12 major constellations and how to spot them in the night sky.
- Watch Leland Melvin, a NASA astronaut and reading enthusiast, share fun facts about constellations. (Just click on a constellation and a video will appear!)
- Throw a Reading Under the Stars party with your family tonight!
- Grab some Reading Under the Stars books. Titles range from space exploration, planets and stars to camping, the great outdoors and as spooky campfire reads
In addition, Pascal Lee, author of MISSION: Mars and planetary scientist top 5 tips to get kids reading about science this summer.
- Appeal to reluctant readers.Choose books that combine information and illustration. I was a reluctant reader as a kid, but books with diagrams and infographics captured my interest for space travel, machines, and, of course, dinosaurs.
- Find books that appeal to both boys and girls. Select books that feature boy and girls, or men and women, working together to achieve something great, like a space mission with a diverse crew.
- Make it interactive! Go wild with ideas. You can build a campground in your backyard and read under the stars. Bring their favorite book to a museum and read along at an exhibit. Read a non-fiction space book and then go watch a sci-fi movie. Turn them into movie critics. Let them figure out what makes sense in those movies, as this develops critical thinking.
- Lead by example. Push yourself to explore science and other topics in the news. Read aloud the article and talk about it with your child to increase their understanding. If your kid reads a non-fiction science book, read the grown-up version and discuss. Follow scientific organizations on social media. Make it a “fun fact” of the day to get kids interested in reading more about science this summer.
- Make a science scrapbook. When I was a kid, I had a lot of fun putting together scrapbooks on my favorite science subjects (e.g. space missions, time travel, and hibernation). Find articles and pictures in print and online directly related to the book your child is reading. Make it their “passport to the stars.”
Happy #SummerReading everyone!
Ed Sweeney
