Group items tagged

Summer vacation is just around the corner and teachers and librarians are freaking out. It has nothing to do with lost books or late report cards. It has everything to do with reading. After spending months working to get students into the habit of reading, myself and many of my colleagues are concerned that much of that hard work (on both sides) will be undone by two months of (much needed) summer distractions. To help students keep reading in the summer, I've been showcasing several websites with my K-6 students to encourage to keep those reading skills sharp. Below is a list of five of the best websites to help kids keep up their reading this summer.

Do you enjoy reading books from and about different cultures?  Would you like to have an incentive to read more culturally diverse books?  Either way, the PaperTigers Reading the World Challenge is the one for you!

Nonfiction texts allow children to experience the wonder of the world. Facts come alive when books about animals, people, or objects are read to children. Nonfiction texts build on children's interests and increase vocabulary and background knowledge. When we help our students become proficient readers of nonfiction texts, we help them become successful at school and in the "real world." Research shows that about 85% of what adults read on a daily basis is nonfiction. Teachers have a great responsibility in teaching students to tackle this genre. READ ON to check out resources for teaching nonfiction reading concepts, including posters, links to great Web sites and articles, printables, an exciting new way to make current events interactive, and much more!

Highlighting the need to improve literacy rates and provide access to educational opportunities for all children, LitWorld will host the third annual World Read Aloud Day on March 7, 2012. Last year, World Read Aloud Day united 200,000 people in 60 countries. Show your public support for this important literacy initiative and promote reading in local and global communities by participating in World Read Aloud Day. Suggested activities and other resources are available on LitWorld's website.

"Extreme Speed Booking" The idea behind the site is to introduce students to a variety of books and form classroom book groups. How does Extreme Speed Booking work? A whole lot like speed dating. :) Students spend a little time with each book and then rate them accordingly with "I want to read more", "Interesting", "Not for me", or "I've already read". Students can also make a note of how interested they are in reading the book (maybe a 1-10 scale)? This process introduces students to a variety of books, genres and authors. Students may come across titles and authors they wouldn't otherwise find. It also helps teachers form classroom book groups that are of high-interest and investment to students because they had input.

World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child's right to a safe education and access to books and technology.

The Battle Commander and the Commentator read furiously throughout 2011, reread, looked at what others were admiring, read more, argued, reread, agreed, disagreed, read some more, and by early December (in order to give time for our SLJ man-behind-the-curtain to begin recruiting judges) came up with our contenders. Then we had to keep it a secret from all of you for weeks and weeks!  So here we are mighty chuffed (using last year's winner's lovely term) at last to be announcing this year's list. (The brackets can be viewed here with a downloadable version available here.)

Poems About Books and Reading

Fantastic read aloud chapter books-- starring Mighty Girls...

Having completed four years worth of "Best of" lists for picture books, I was finally inspired to compile a list of the  best middle-grade and chapter books I have read in the last year. Maybe I didn't want to be forced to pick any favorites, or maybe this was the first year that I felt like I had actually read enough newly published books in a given year to compile a fair list. Either way, although I remain dedicated to working through that massive pile of older books that I want to share with my readers, I am very excited about this list and passionate about all of the books that made it on to this list. If you were to encounter me in my workplace and ask me about any of these titles, I would gush, most likely somewhat embarrassingly, about any or all of them, if you gave me enough time. 

Reluctant readers are those who, for whatever reason, do not like to read.
Reluctant readers are typically students who are disengaged, struggling readers, many of which are not realizing success in any aspect of their school career. Educators encounter struggling readers in the classroom every day. These students need to be engaged in reading and must be helped to develop the skills required to not only be successful in school, but to become lifelong readers and learners. All students will require advanced literacy skills regardless of their post secondary pathway, and reluctant and struggling readers need extra support in achieving this end.

From the website's About page: "Read It Later lets you save what you find on the web to watch and read on any device, at anytime. It's been called 'a DVR for the web' by the New York Times, Business Week, Time, TechCrunch and more." You can access saved items online or offline, mark them as "read," and more. Use it with smart phones like iPhone and Android versions, with Internet browsers like Firefox and Safari, and applications like Flipboard and TweetBot.

Poem read aloud- Hate Poem - laugh through the hatred.

Great source for summer reading: Jokes, Silly Stories, Creature Creator, How to draw... etc: This program is a joint initiative between TD Bank Group, Toronto Public Library and Library and Archives Canada. Every year a theme is selected from suggestions made across the country. Supporting materials for the program are developed by a team of children's librarians from Toronto Public Library with the francophone component developed by librarians from Ottawa, Quebec City and Montreal.

Some of the text below applies to the 2013 event, but the site's URL stays the same year to year. "World Book Night 2013 is a celebration of literacy by publishers, bookstores, libraries and individuals who love books and reading. On World Book Night 2013, 25,000 'book givers' will each give away 20 copies of a specially-printed, not-for-resale WBN edition of book they have read and loved (from a list of 25-30 titles selected by librarians and booksellers) to complete strangers - people who may never have owned a book of their own. To promote this literacy event, libraries and bookstores - as organizational participants in the event - form a nationwide advocacy and distribution network." Last year was the inaugural event, which happens on April 23rd. If you want your library to participate as a distribution center, fill out the attached application by October 1, 2012. Specific responsibilities of official participants are outlined in the application. The deadline on the form indicates September 1st, but according to discussions on ALAConnect, it was extended by a month. Sign up for the mailing list to learn when applications go online annually: http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/component/forme/?fid=3

Read aloud book lists. Young.

Dav Pilkey, the creator of the Captain Underpants series, explains how Reading Gives You Superpowers! http://www.pilkey.com and http://www.scholastic.com/captainunderpants

"One of the realities some school librarians face in their jobs is pressure by administrators and classroom teachers to label and arrange library collections according to reading levels. Student browsing behaviors can be profoundly altered with the addition of external reading level labels. ..." Do you agree or disagree?

Who at Ridgewood would like a sign like this outside their room? :) Debbie

What a perfect idea for getting the discussion going about what everyone is reading!

"Enter a book you like and the site will analyse our database of real readers' favorite books (more than 75,000 different titles so far, and more than a million reader recommendations) to provide book recommendations and suggestions for what to read next."