Welcome to the the INDEX of the children's literacy and reading news round-ups and between-the-roundup news feeds, brought to you by Jen Robinson's Book Page and the Reading Tub.
Each week, Jen and Terry cull through various sources - from emails to Twitter - to find news and analysis that will help us better understand the underpinnings of learning to read and help young readers and readers-in-need grow confident in this all-important skill.
We will continue to host the roundups on their blogs. This blog gives us a single repository for putting all the data together.
This is an archive edition of the end-of-July Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup, republished here by the authors. You can see the original edition at Rasco from RIF. Welcome to the bimonthly children’s literacy and reading news round-up brought to you by Jen Robinson’s Book Page and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub. As a reminder, while Jen, Mheir and Baby Bookworm are settling into routines, I (Rasco from RIF) am “filling in” for Jen, so here’s a *wave* to Jen and Baby Bookworm!
We knew book five was going to be a PURPLE cover and its release would be November 9. This week we have learned the fifth book will be titled The Ugly Truth. But we don’t know what is ugly or what is true about the Diary of A Wimpy Kid and author Jeff Kinney says that will remain a mystery until the November release of an initial printing of 5 million copies! Kinney is currently working with producers on the second Wimpy Kid movie due in March 2011.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the Pulitzer Prize winning novelby Harper Lee celebrated its 50th anniversary in mid-July with many commentaries written about the book, its contested place in history, its real meaning(s) and its elusive author. I have made no secret of the fact it is a book with a special place in my life, one that is an integral part of “me.”
Josie Leavitt struck a chord when she posted on Shelf Talker a piece titled: DON’T GOT NO BOOKS AT HOME. It was a stark reminder of a truth those of us in the kidlit world work to alleviate daily; the comments were also a reminder of the great work going on across this country and indeed around the world, a motivator for us all to “keep on keeping on”! A posting by Gordon Campbell , President of the United Way of NYC, titled “Reading & the 3rd Grade: How to Keep Kids on the Right Track” received wide coverage after appearing in The Huffington Post the latter part of July; it is always encouraging and motivating for me to see persons like Gordon writing forcefully about this issue.
The questions about poverty and its effects on children and their families is brought up to date across several facets of daily living with the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s July release of The 2010 KIDS COUNT Data Book. Ten key indicators are covered by the report which has interactive features to help you learn about a particular state, across states and national findings. The ten factors are critical enough to our children’s well being I repeat them here as a reminder to all of us of their importance.
We discuss often the plight of inner-city, our most urban children but often forget the status of a significant number of rural children, a fact discussed in alarming terms in a recent posting FOR CHILDREN FARMWORKERS, LIVES OF POVERTY AND DANGER. I point this out in a literacy round up as these are children certainly needing more advocate voices for their education.
July found eye opening articles about the number of digital or “e-books” being sold in relation to paper books, the significant and ever growing rise in numbers for e-books. I was reading an article about a project Permanence Matters Initiative when the following sentence jumped from the page as I realized it summarizes my own personal feelings about this issue of “p-books” and “e-books”: While we realize that much of the publishing industry is moving their attention to e-books, we still believe there is an important place for print books in the future of publishing, and want people to recognize that e- and p- books are not an either/or proposition, but rather an “and.” Did you see Jeff Bezos’ interview where he predicts Kindle e-book sales will surpass paperback sales sometime in the next 9-12 months? And he talks with the reporter interviewing him about interactive features within e-books. This issue is also covered in a New York Times article “E-Books Fly Beyond Mere Text” by Julie Bosman. I was recently introduced to a blog TeachPaperless; and while the entry I reference today – Hey Teachers: This Is How I Learn – was posted in June, it has significance with its commentary in young students’ own words as to why “interactive” makes sense to them. And The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) issued a report in July “eBook Feasibility Study for Public Libraries” which has some interesting observations and recommendations sure to be debated within and without the library walls.
I must admit I was rather surprised to read recently that parents and educators in Russia were protesting and even holding hunger strikes over the lack of preschools in their country; frankly, I don’t believe we have seen the concern in America reach that level. Very interesting…I now want to know more about their preschool programming.
Congratulations to the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) on the excellent TIME cover article: The Case Against Summer Vacation. As Ron Fairchild, CEO of NSLA, noted in his announcement email about the article “Editor-at-large David Von Drehle thoughtfully researched the issue, and reached out to experience some of the innovative solutions our field is creating to make summer learning interesting and engaging for young people.” You can also listen to TIME managing editor, Richard Stengel, talk about the cover story. I have been a bit concerned personally that some people commenting on the article simply read the title and have not carefully read the real attributes of effective programming; I hope more people will study this article as it is a critical issue that cries out to our communities for action. One positive step is for each community to send a delegation to the NSLA annual conference; I can attest to the quality of programming and specific information presented that will lead an organization and/or community to action that is meaningful for the children in need.
In the READING TUB Terry reminded us of her love for historical fiction and shared an excellent post of Trevor Cairney’s Making History Come Alive with Literature: The Importance of Historical Fiction. What a treat to “find” posts I have missed at their publication date! Terry also shared information on COMIC BOOK LITERACY, an independent documentary film showcasing the use of comic books to promote literacy; the trailer for the film has me ready to be in the viewing audience given my support of comic books for hooking many a student on reading!
It promises to be another hot day, this last day of July. I’m stretching out on the couch with books today, only wishing additionally for a reading nook like this one shown at WE HEART BOOKS, great spot for an aging back!
Happy Reading!
Carol
This is the archive edition of the monthly roundup of resources for promoting reading and connecting kids with books. The original can be found at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, a Reading Tub blog. Welcome to the dog days … the last stretch of fun before we start using the “S” word on a regular basis. Actually, I have a new moniker for the “S” word …. stretch yourself. [Okay, two words!]
Susan Stephenson sent me a link to Elif Shafak’s Ted Global 2010 presentation that is part memoir, part storyteller, and completely thought provoking. Using her life as an example, she explains that in this global community there are great risks of too many people thinking alike … and that writing and fiction (thinking beyond ourselves and the familiar) is the key to keeping independent thought alive. It is most definitely worth 20 minutes of your time.
Just in time for school, Barnes and Noble tool is releasing Nook Study, a computer application to help you read, annotate, and organize your school-related stuff. You don’t have to own a Nook eReader to use the tools, and you will still have access to 500,000 free eBooks. What I found interesting in the press release that it was “designed by students, for students.”
Creative Literacy for Kids
Have you seen Wacky Web Tales? We have talked about Mad-lib type story generators, but I love this one. It’s built for kids grades 3 and up … and even includes a story called Burp! Thanks to Mary Ann Dames at Reading, Writing & Recipes for the link.
Literacy and Reading Tools for Parents
On the Reading Recovery site (sponsored by the US Department of Education), you’ll find a space filled with videos and ideas about Making it Easy to Learn. Because it is the Department of Ed, the tone is speaking more toward teachers, but the information is really transparent between classroom and home. In fact, the material may be more useful to parents, as it helps you understand the component parts of learning to read.
Literacy and Reading Tools for Educators
TOON Books is working to make its blog “a forum for parents, librarians, and educators interested in sharing their thoughts relating to all kinds of issues dealing with kids, books, and early readers. We hope to get Mommy and Daddy bloggers involved in all of our discussions. TOON Books will pay a nominal fee ($25) for every published post. Sharon Hrycewicz of the Downers Grove Library in Downers Grove, Illinois wrote a thoughtful guide to shelving TOON Books, enumerating the various options and explaining the pros and cons of each one. If you are interested in contributing to our blog, contact Julie at Julie@toon-books.com.
Kathy Shrock, MLS, has everything you need to know – complete with suggestions – on using Twitter in an educational setting. Her site Twittercure is loaded with links and videos with everything from Twitter 101 to suggestions on ways to engage kids with this microblogging tool. Tweet!
From WorldCat: “WorldCat has teamed up with MetaMetrics to offer “Find a Book” to help connect readers with books appropriate for their reading level, using the popular Lexile Framework® for Reading…Once they find the books they’re interested in, they connect to your library through WorldCat.org and check availability.”
Have you seen Picture Books in ELT (English Language Training) yet? It is really cool, in her intro to the blog Sandie Mourão explains why she loves picture books: “My intention is to discuss picture books, in particular the pictures in them! Why? Because, in ELT we tend to select picture books because they contain words our students might know.” You can meet Sandie and other educators, authors, librarians, teachers, etal in the Kidlitosphere Yahoo Group. That’s how I found out about Picture Books in ELT.
This is an archive edition of the mid-July 2010 Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup, republished here by the authors. You can see the original edition at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub.
In our house, summer is both flying by and crawling along at a snail’s pace. We have tons to do and the weekend is here before you know it, but the list of fun things we want to do never seems to get any shorter.
It seems that news about literacy and reading is in that same time warp. Given the number of items in my reader, that stereotypical perception that things are “slower” in the summer is a tall tale! Admittedly, I haven’t been particularly vigilant, but I’ve crossed enough trending topics and other discussions to know there is plenty going on. I know there are tons of great items awaiting me in my reader, but right now, even with my strict filters in place, the best I can do is follow up on the occasional Google Alert. So here goes …
Events
Unfortunately, one of the trending events for the summer has been library cuts and closings. Over at Book Browse you will find a great list of statistics on why libraries are important and why they are the most economically viable entity in a community. Once you get past the statistics, though, editor Davina Morgan-Witts includes a comment from Book Browse’s Facebook page. In a nutshell: people have been calling the library to tell the librarians they are a waste of taxpayers money. I wanted to apologize to the librarians in NJ on the behalf of these people. They OBVIOUSLY have too much time on their hands if they can muster that much vitriol to call the library. I would suggest they go to the library, borrow some books, and fill their days by reading books if they need something to do!
Can you believe it has been 10 years already? The Library of Congress has just announced the theme for its 10th Annual National Book Festival: A Decade of Words and Wonder. The President and First lady Michelle Obama will serve as Honorary Chairs for what is always an incredible celebration of books and reading. As always the “stars” that appear cover many audiences, from children to adult. Check out this short list from among the 70 authors now slated to appear: international best-selling author Ken Follett; Rae Armantrout, winnervof this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; National Book Award winner Julia Glass; Pat Mora, one of the nation’s most beloved writers for children; and Elizabeth Kostova, author of the worldwide sensations “The Historian” and “The Swan Thieves.” Mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, to attend this FREE event that runs from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the National Mall.
Literacy Programs and Research
This via The Inside Story, The Reading Connection (TRC) newsletter: Kids, parents, staff and volunteers at Carpenter’s Shelter, Independence Place and Sullivan House began an expanded Read-Aloud program as soon as school ended for the summer. The summer program, called “We Are Readers,” includes tons of new books, projects and special guests, all chosen with the aim of increasing kids’ background knowledge, one of the essential ingredients for literacy.
I am guessing this has already been around the web a time or two, but my thanks to Susan Stephenson of the Book Chook for sending it to me. The video is filled with stats, but I particularly liked how the Buck team showed what happens when we change the odds and improve education. Combine this documentary project with the InfoWhelm and Information Fluency video and wow! The landscape of “educating kids” has changed significantly.
In the July edition of literacy tools and resources, I mentioned that one of my new favorite blogs is From the Mixed up Files… If you haven’t been over to visit, hurry, you’re missing a lot of great stuff. Sydney recently wrote a post where she shared what her dormant readers say they look for in a book. Check out Reluctant Readers Speak Up.
A great complement to Sydney’s article is this one from the National Literacy Trust (UK) blog. A Book of their Own offers research and more to explain why it is so important for kids to own their own books. This isn’t a surprise to most of us, as we have seen tidbits from the NLT’s study and the University of Nevada report (also mentioned in the article); still, every time I see this statement, it stops me in my tracks:
The report also found that young people who did not own their own books were nearly twice as likely to agree with negative statements about reading, for example “reading is more for girls than boys”, “reading is hard” and ”I only read when I have to.”
If you need further affirmation of the power of books, read Fiona Ingram’s personal story about adopting her 11-year old daughter. In an interview with A Word Please, Fiona talks about her daughter’s growth from scoring 17% on her English tests to now reaching 75% and complaining that she needs to do better to be a writer. You may recall that we interviewed Fiona, a South African author, about a year ago. It is great to hear the next chapter in her story. Some of you may already know this, but I found this Telegraph (UK) article about the links between gardening and “formal” learning fascinating. There were the obvious points about cross-program learning (science, ecology, life skills) and personal growth (self esteem), but the ripple effect on literacy and problem solving caught me by surprise.
Thorn & Oak Metaphysical is not a blog I would normally stop by, but there is an interesting essay about Invented Spelling. The discussion is not about “texting language,” but the problems of not helping kids learn to spell things correctly.
Unwrapping Literacy
At eHow.com, Michelle Matthews has a nice article with some Literacy Games. “If you ask almost any kid, they will tell you that they don’t like homework. Studying isn’t fun. Games, on the other hand, are awesome.” Several of her suggestions I knew about (Boggle Junior, road trips), but I loved the idea of Deal-a-Word. (via eHealthJunction.com)
How cool is this? Don’t worry, you don’t have to understand Japanese to love this Bullet Train Library. It seems only appropriate to start and end with the library this week!
This is an ARCHIVE EDITION of the Roundup of New Resources published each month at the Reading Tub. This is syndicate for the Book(re)Marks blog to build an archive of literacy and reading tools, resources, ideas, and news. You can see the original edition here.
I’m going to kick off the July edition with a newly discovered blog: From the Mixed Up Files … of Middle Grade Authors. Don’t you love the name? Maybe I do because it closely resembles the name of one of my all-time favorite books. From the inaugural post: “Named in honor of the iconic middle-grade book by E. L. Konigsburg, this group blog and website is dedicated to bringing attention to middle-grade books and the people who write them. And we hope to have a little fun along the way, too. (For the truly curious, you can read more about us on our About Us page. You can also view our Contributing Member Bios. )” Thanks Gregory K … Middle Grade Fabooness indeed!
Here’s a resource everyone can enjoy: a list of Printz read-alikes. This year, the Michael L. Printz Award, administered by YALSA and sponsored by Booklist, celebrated its tenth year. The Printz Medal is presented to a book that “exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.” I love read-alike lists and this is a great way to help kids with read-alikes for non-series books. (source: Booklist Online via American Libraries Direct)
Mary Burkey, a member of the Kidlitosphere Yahoo! Group, shared lots of great information about SYNC, “an online community that seeks to build the audience for audiobooks among readers 13 and up.” Beginning July 1 (and running through September 1), SYNC will give away 2 FREE downloads each week. They will pare a popular Young Adult with a Classic title that appears on Summer Reading lists. SYNC is hosted byAudiobook Community, a new social networking site for the discovery of audiobooks. Don’t you love that banner?
I thought I was doing Okay with accounts for LibraryThing, Goodreads, and Shelfari. Then Susan Stephenson (The Book Chook) sent me an article with Ten Websites for Book Lovers … and there at least another ten recommendations in the comments! How can you not love that people love to talk about books? [How did I not know Amazon owned Shelfari?]
An inevitable, integral piece of 21st century literacies is the Worldwide Web. At iKeepSafe.org, you will find lots of information about keeping kids safe, and links to resources (like Comcast’s award-winning documentary on cyberbullying). There are resource centers for parents, kids, and educators. (via Seb Schmoller on Friendfeed)
Creative Literacy for Kids
BookAdventure has a kid-oriented book search tool that helps them narrow down potential books of interest by looking at grade, what level they like to read, and up to five genres. Thanks to School Library Journal for the link.
BookChooser on the Reading Matters website offers a similar function. I like how it lets you pick the elements using a scale. For example, if you want very low scary, medium funny and high animal interest, The Rescuers will be on your list. The presentation on this site is a little “cleaner,” so older kids might prefer this one to the brightly colored, fun-font BookAdventure.
Kidzui turns Firefox into a fun, kid-safe browser and online playground for kids 3-12. Over a million kids games, YouTube videos, and websites are approved by parents and teachers. KidZui also organizes content in a kid-friendly way. (via rockyourfirefox.com)
Moving Picture Books is a multi-layered website that helps kids with reading. You can read along, have the book read to you (with word highlights) and also answer “ponderables” about the story. Kids will find stories they recognize (Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed) and characters they love, including many of their Sesame Street friends. There is a free download available, but this is largely a subscription service. (via my brother)
WebRangers is the (US) National Park Service’s online Junior Ranger program for youth of all ages. Students can play more than 50 games and learn about our national parks, monuments and historic sites. They can also investigate the newest WebRangers Activity, Investigating Global Connections, and share park stories and pictures with other WebRangers around the world in My Community. Herea re the links: WebRangers in English and WebRangers en Espanol. (source: Delta Publishing Company/Raven Tree Press ELL Newsletter)
Literacy and Reading Tools for Parents
Little Learners -Vanessa Rough, the blogger behind Silly Eagle Books, started a new blog on a site called Georgia.com. Vanessa will continue to share craft and learning activities to do with kids, but unlike Silly Eagle, she’ll branch beyond pairing the theme to a book. From Vanessa: “my goal is that it be a resource for parents who want to encourage a life-long love of learning in their children.” If you are interested in having a project or activity featured, you can contact Vanessa.
When it comes to 21st century literacies and using technology in the classroom, there are few better than Franki Sibberson, who partners with Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading. She recently spoke about a tech learning event at a friend’s home, and not only described her experience, but also packed the post with lots of links. The list of 100 Best Teaching Tools (most of them free) on EduDemic is da bom! And I am oh-so-jealous that Franki is getting an iPad! I just love Mary Lee’s monthly mosaics … and this one has my favorite flower in it (daisy!). This month there’s a bonus … Mary Lee also has a mosaic of sky images.
I am still well behind the eight ball but hoping to get back to bigger blocks of time in the office next week. There is a lot of catching up to do, and I miss not hanging out in some of my favorite virtual spots.
This is an archive edition of the end-of-June Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup, republished here by the authors. You can see the original edition at Rasco from RIF.
Welcome to the bimonthly children’s literacy and reading news round-up brought to you by Jen Robinson’s Book Page and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub. As you know Jen and her husband Mheir have a new Baby Bookworm. During this time when Jen, Mheir and Baby Bookworm are settling into routines, I am “filling in” for Jen. As Terry noted in the mid-June Roundup, Jen periodically sneaks a peak at what’s going on in the Kidlitosphere … so just in case she’s reading, here’s a *wave* to you, Jen!
THE big event in late June was the American Library Association’s convention in Washington, DC or ALA for short. If you missed the convention or any part of it, a wonderful summary has been distributed by ALA in a Special Post-Annual Conference issue of AL Direct. I was one of those who missed the majority of the conference due to other RIF business and then through airline delays, I did not make it back for the Newbery/Caldecott banquet which you can enjoy through Betsy Bird’s eyes and ears and “the tats.” As I left town again on Tuesday the 29th I saw a sea of red shirts coming from the Hill; I asked one librarian to allow me to take a picture of her back! I had spent Monday morning and a good part of the afternoon on the exhibit floor meeting authors whom I have come to know through twitter, what fun! Once I have hit “send” on this roundup I am looking forward to reading much more from the AL Direct summary; first up will be the sections on Better services to the underserved (Cognotes, June 29, p 8); Strategies for reaching Latino Youth (Cognotes, June 28, p 8, 10); Bookmobiles on parade (of course!); and the always fascinating Book Cart Drill!
The federal Institute of Education Sciences announced during June it is awarding $100 million in grants to researchers for a new Reading for Understanding project for students preschool through high school ages.
An article receiving attention on a number of blogs was the report in which a professor – Thomas Newkirk – at the University of New Hampshire makes a case for “slowing down (reading) as a way to gain more meaning and pleasure out of the written word.”
There were several pieces throughout this month highlighted online on SCIENCE. The first at CELEBRATE SCIENCE, a blog by Melissa Stewart, was a posting titled Behind the Books: Integrating Science and Language Arts. The following quote hit me between the eyes: According to a recent study, nearly 86 percent of scientists who reported loving their jobs could trace their interest in science to someone they knew or an experience they had when they were 7 to 10 years old. This finding demonstrates the critical importance of solid science instruction for elementary students.
Other “science” articles I commend to you are a book list for summer reading from Reading Rockets;Girls Solve STEM Mysteries at Spy School; and one from the New York Times that caught many people by surprise and had a record number of “tweets” I do believe: Many Schools Teach Engineering in Early Grades! (image by Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)
Do you know a teen between 13 and 18 making a difference by volunteering in your community? Is there a young person you know who has impacted the lives of others? Check out the Nestlé Very Best In Youth program. I have attended some of the ceremonies for this program which are actually several days of these outstanding young people and their parents meeting together – truly inspiring!
As June moved forward, there were more and more articles about summer reading which led into a great Summer Learning Day sponsored by The National Summer Learning Association. Of note were book lists like the Bank St. Best Children’s Books of the Year released the first time for free online and Shelf Talker’s updated roundup of 2010 kid/YA book receiving starred reviews as of June 17, 2010. Many children attend summer camps and it was interesting to note an article this month from the American Camp Association outlining what summer camps can and should do to promote continued summer learning. Summer is a great time to promote young artists as outlined by Imagination Soup and writers with the “story box” concept outlined by The Book Chook. Summer 2010 is the first summer a reading program has been instituted by the Defense Department with the hope military children will be further inspired to read. Finally, Tiger Tales spent the month of June focusing on How Children Play Around the World…I like the idea of promoting “play” during the summer! I am looking forward to learning more about the program track on “The Promise of Play” from posts from this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival.
The summer months can be great fun for many of our children, but for too many children the summer months mean “hunger, fear, disengagement and regression.” I was disturbed to read in the newest report from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report (2010) that fewer children received the services of feeding programs in the summer of 2009 than previously; and this followed a school year where free and reduced meal participation had increased. Hungry children cannot enjoy nor concentrate on reading, it’s that simple. Be sure to read the suggestions for change in the summer feeding program and also think about how your community is addressing this basic need for children. I invite you to read my Rasco from RIF column “What about Rhonda, Ted and their friends?” regarding the children in our communities most at risk of reading and academic failure. Don’t forget, it is not too early to be making plans to attend the excellent annual conference produced by The National Summer Learning Association; this year’s program “Summer Changes Everything” will be held in Indianapolis November 9 and 10.
When you travel do you include exploring children’s bookstores as I do? We Heart Books asked readers to share favorites from around the world and has had three columns to date on the subject. I personally feel fortunate to have finally had the opportunity to visit Books of Wonder in New York City this past week when Reading Is Fundamental kicked off our annual Book a Brighter Future campaign with Macy’s. I hope you will shop at Macy’s during July and in so doing, help bring more books and literacy resources to children in your area and throughout the country; thank you in advance!
This is the archive edition of the Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup for mid-June 2010. You can see the original here.
Welcome to the sixth edition of the new bimonthly children’s literacy and reading news round-up brought to you by Jen Robinson’s Book Page and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub. As Jen had mentioned in March, she and her husband Mheir were expecting their new Baby Bookworm to arrive this month. With Baby Bookworm now home, Jen is still enjoying the best of both worlds … as a mom and a reader. She periodically sneaks a peak at what’s going on in the Kidlitosphere … so just in case she’s reading, here’s what’s going on!
Roundups aren’t quite the same without Jen, so I was particularly tickled when I saw the @JensBookPage Tweet about the Coolest Bookstore, with a link to this Mercury News article about teacher Nan Caldwell and the bookstore run by her second graders. (thanks @Franki22 aka Franki Sibberson)
Events
With Father’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d round up some links where dads talk about reading with their kids. I WAS going to draw your attention to a cool MEME I discovered a couple Fridays ago, but now I can’t find it. [Hate when that happens!]
Because we tend to think about here-and-now, you may have missed this March 2007 post about why dads should read to their children at Be a Good Dad. I love all of Good Dad’s points, but this one seems especially apropos for Father’s Day: “The physical closeness of story time and the cuddling are going to bring you closer to your kids. You will end up tickling them more often. You will end up hugging them more often. You will stroke their hair more often. That’s called bonding and your kids will love you for it.”
As the great folks at Colorín Colorado point out, “there is nothing like reading a favorite story with Dad or Grandpa!” They even offer a Father’s Day booklist, with stories from a number of different cultures on their website. [They also have a new bilingual soccer booklist in honor of the World Cup.] [Image credit:ArtFavor on OpenClipArt.org]
Summer is already here for some of us and just around the corner for the rest. There is a lot of chatter on the Web about the summer reading (link to my own post at Booklights). Why? Because we want the best for the kids in our lives, and reading can help them get there. Here are some spots to find some really great suggestions.
Also from the Big Fresh – Keep Tweens and Teens reading all summer by hooking them on a new series. Ruth Shagoury at the Lit for Kids website shares a book list of favorite new Young Adult series
At Best Book I Have Not Read, Kristine shares a chart she found that explains what it takes for a reader to move up to the next level. As she points out, the take-away is that you can you can improve your ability just by reading a book. Her reading level chart is definitely worth a look … and could come in handy for kids who like to “compete” with themselves.
I don’t know about you, but I was shocked to learn (via Liz B @ Tea Cozy) that Ireland has just named its first Children’sLlaureate (Laureate na nÓg). The video is fabulous, and Siobhan Parkinson will grab you with any number of observations. I loved this one: My wish as laureate would be that every child in the country would have access to a nice, bright, warm, cheerful, comfortable library where they can go and find the books that are going to open their minds and bring them off to wonderful imaginary places. That sense of excitement and that sense of joy over books I want every child to talk about and not all children do get that.
First Book and the family of Cheerios cereals have teamed up with Jon Scieszka, author of Junkyard Fort and the former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, to help distribute 100,000 books to children in need across the country. By answering the trivia questions featured in the challenge, you can help select the states that will receive new books for local kids. Visit www.firstbook.org/scieszka today to be a part of the 100,000 Book Giveaway!
Here’s another Giveaway … From now until 24 September 2010, teachers can sign up at www.pictureliteracy.com for a chance to win a graphic novel prize package. The grand prize is a $1,000 package, second place is a $300 package, and two runner ups will each receive a $100 package. Each package comprises award-winning children’s graphic novels and titles designed to motivate reluctant readers. Every signup is an entry, so schools may enter multiple times. Learn more at PictureLiteracy.com.
According to this June 11, 2010 Angola Press announcement, nearly 5,000 citizens in Caxito (Northern Bengo Province) attended literacy lessons this year. “In 2009 8,460 people were enrolled, 4,014 of whom ended the academic year with good result, being 1,066 men and 2,948 women.” Pretty impressive.
The headline for a new (UK) National Literacy Trust study is that children as young as seven are more likely to own a mobile phone than a book. The meat of the article, though, points to other more valuable data. Ninety-three percent of the 17,000 students (ages 6 to 16) had books of their own AND believed that reading was important to succeed in life. For those who didn’t own books, only 80 percent saw reading as important to life success. Please do read Sarah Harris’ article in The UK Daily Mail, as she contrasts the NLT effort with recent US and Australian studies.
The research shows that kids who have two, three, four strong teachers in a row will eventually excel, no matter what their background, while kids who have even two weak teachers in a row will never recover.
There is another interesting analysis of the teacher-student relationship in the recent edition of Science Centric. This time, the study looked at how a teachers’ confidence in their teaching abilities affected children’s learning progression in language and literacy skills. After 30 weeks …
students whose teachers had high self-efficacy showed gains in one measure of early literary skills called print awareness, in which students were asked questions like ‘Show me just one letter on this page.’
children only showed gains in vocabulary knowledge skills when they had a classroom that offered emotional support in addition to having a teacher with high self-efficacy.
Can a child be too young to learn to read? Sarah Ebner recently posed this question in an article for the Times (UK) Online. In Wales, children follow a play-based curriculum until they are seven. Because of the findings of a recent study (could not find it online), the debate about the impact of early schooling – particularly as it relates to learning to read – is heating up. As you might imagine, there are well-entrenched positions on both sides. This is a perfect article to read alongside a BBC broadcast (video) about why Finland’s schools get the best results.
The Metropolitan Nashville District school system decided that rather than try to force students to fit their model, they are changing their model to fit the students’ needs. After looking at a 72 percent graduation rate (2008), Superintendent Jesse Register went behind the numbers to see what was going on. What he found were English-language learners, young parents, or teens being raised by single parents; and most were working full or part time to help make ends meet. Last year, he established the Academy at Opry Hills, a nontraditional high school built around a modified structure that meets these kids’ needs in a way that keeps them in school through graduation. You can read more in Dakarai I. Aaarons’ article in Education Week.
Un-Wrapping Literacy
I sure could use your help coming up with a real title for this section (hint! hint!)
I love the 60 Second Parent channel on YouTube. Whatever the topic, the advice is not only practical, it is action-oriented. This video is about reading aloud with your child. Be sure to check out the kinds of things to read (hint: it’s more than just books).
Do you (or your kids) love Stanley Lambchop? Christianne shares the story (and photos) of Flat E at Little Page Turners. Flat E is a twist on the Flat Stanley stories by Jeff Brown that have been the basis of social studies projects for decades. Are you up for some new adventures? With summer here, I could totally see a Fractured Flat Stanley MEME. Are you in?
Note: Book titles and cover images link to Amazon.com, with which the Reading Tub has an affiliate relationship. The Reading Tub may earn income from purchases through those links, though you are under no obligation to buy the book or use the link.
This is an archive edition of the end-of-July Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup, republished here by the authors. You can see the original edition at 
