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BULLETIN

For our final read-aloud this summer, author, literacy advocate, and Superbowl champion Malcolm Mitchell shares his book, My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World, illustrated by Michael Robertson. Listen and watch along as Malcolm tells the tale of a boy named Henley on a journey to find a story he loves, and encourages us to find our own very favorite, very inspiring books. 

After Malcolm shares the story, you will hear from editor Andrea Davis Pinkney, who discusses what it means to be an editor and her experience working with Malcolm. You can watch the video by CLICKING HERE, or on the images above! 

Summer Dance Party
5-10 minutes

 

Directions 

Do each movement for 30 seconds:

1. Free Dance

2. Pretend you have a hula hoop and keep that hula hoop up

3. Wiggle while standing

4. Spin to the left, then spin to the right with airplane arms

5. Two foot hop and backward swim with your arms

6. Repeat

Download additional free resources from BOKS to help your kids stay active and have fun this summer. From activities, crafts, and recipes, to yoga and mindfulness, BOKS will have your kids moving & learning each day.

Sơn Đoòng is the world's largest cave, located in Vietnam. The 2-5 million-year-old "mountain river cave" has some of the tallest stalagmites in the world, lets in sunlight that encourages the growth of vegetation, and is so massive, it could fit an entire New York City block inside of its caverns - including a few 40-story skyscrapers! 

You can traverse through it all, as well as learn more about its incredible history, by checking out National Geographic's interactive virtual tour. CLICK HERE to start ExploreIN! 

Building straw bridges is a fun way to strengthen kids’ STEM skills. Using simple household items, students can design and test their very own load bearing bridge. This encourages students to learn about how bridges are built, and how engineers use science, math, and more to ensure that they remain strong and sturdy. 

You can find an outline of the experiment by CLICKING HERE. For our middle school students who are expanding their knowledge of these concepts, and need to take the experiment a few steps further, CLICK HERE.

As we finish our final newsletter in this Summer LearnIN series, we wanted to talk about gratitude. Not only do we want the opportunity to express our thanks to you for joining us on this learning journey, we also wanted to share how impactful gratitude can be in a young person's life! 

Practicing gratitude regularly has enormous benefits - like strengthening relationships, reducing stress and anxiety, and increasing self-esteem and resilience. So how can you incorporate it into your daily life with your family? Here are a few tips to try from Mindful Little Minds

1. Share one thing you are grateful for just before bed each day, or start a gratitude journal to write them down. 

2. Help others! Have your kids find causes they feel passionate about and are interested in, and allow them to contribute in their own unique way. 

3. Notice, celebrate, and encourage the kind things that your children are doing on a daily basis - like sharing a toy with their sibling.

4. Create a family gratitude jar! Whenever you or your kids feel grateful for something or someone in your lives, write it down and pop it into the jar. Then you can come together as a family and read the notes.

You can find more suggestions from Mindful Little Minds by CLICKING HERE

 

It's been such a pleasure to learn, explore, invent, and create alongside you this summer! All seven of our Summer LearnIN newsletters will remain in our archives HERE, in case there are any you would like to revisit. Thank you for joining us, and for being part of the Mission family!

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