FIFA WORLD CUP is the ULTIMATE Learning Extension

Some of the other learning extensions of the SUMMER WORD CUP™ 2026 Summer Reading Experience will be:

Mini lessons on soccer rules and positions,

Country spotlights (maps, languages, food, flags, and players),

In-person and digital trivia related to the books read; and

Youth-initiated journalism/broadcasting: partnering with local newspapers, the evening news and/or other publications/outlets to get the “youth’s take” on World Cup in their city (this also exposes them to sports journalism and broadcasting).

What early literacy skills does
WORD CUP SUPPORT?

Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a significant part of SUMMER WORD CUP™. Reading about sports-related topics encourages information retention and sparks imagination. These are two core elements of truly understanding what you read. We aim to produce the same feeling boys experience when playing a sport through reading and learning about it. To support this, we reinforce reading comprehension through a range of competitive World Cup and soccer games and activities, including book-based trivia, and short quizzes designed to check for understanding and recall.

FLUENCY

We encourage participants to recite our SUMMER WORD CUP™ Affirmations each day, up to 5-10 times per day. This creates consistent opportunities for repeated reading. Through this structure, boys build fluency by engaging with familiar, meaningful text on a daily basis. When words create worlds, repetition will build reality.

Fluency is further supported through Sir Brandon’s reading videos, shared via YouTube, allowing boys to hear, follow along, and practice. This approach strengthens not only reading ability, but also confidence, cadence, and expression. We believe repetition is one of the most influential drivers of fluent reading, and we intentionally build it into every part of the experience.

PHONICS

We make it a point to highlight words from each text—especially those with three or more syllables—and teach boys how to break them down and sound them out. Over time, boys become more comfortable identifying these words in future texts and more eager to recognize and attempt words they once perceived as difficult. This builds both confidence and willingness to engage with more complex language. As a result, they become more familiar with pronunciation, meaning, and usage, strengthening their overall reading ability. We believe strong word recognition is essential to reading confidence and long-term literacy growth.

NEW LANGUAGE + WRITING

By using soccer as a way to introduce new language during the 39 days of World Cup, we meet and teach boys at a place of excitement and curiosity. Then we connect that energy to reading. Not as a task, but as part of the game. Language becomes part of how they understand players, tell stories, follow matches, and express what they see and feel.

Self-Expression

As a literacy skill in our WORD CUP™ Summer Reading Experience, self-expression is about boys learning how to take what they read, see, and feel—and put it into words with confidence. It shows up in how they speak about a story, form opinions, and communicate their thinking both out loud and through writing. As a result they expand their vocabulary, strengthen their voice, and become more comfortable expressing who they are and what they believe. Over time, the focus shifts from finding the “right” answer to owning their voice.