TubTalk

Happy New Year! It feels good (if not a little overwhelming) to be back in the office. Catherine was very excited to head back to school this morning. She thought that since it is a new year, then she must be in a new grade. Oh, to have a first grader's sense of time! Like the rest of us, she is charged by that internal clock that says "it's time for a fresh start."

As I mentioned in my New Year's resolutions post, bloggers within the Lit-blogosphere are energized and posting lots of fresh ideas for reading, reviewing, and blogging about books in 2009. In the kidlitosphere (since I follow that most closely), great things come from the conversations on our blogs. I created a Mr. Linky at the resolutions post as an informal way to pull some of that energy together. So please stop by and add your post.

While we were away enjoying some time with our families, Jen Robinson and I were still collecting news and ideas. The good news is that reading and literacy news was fairly minimal until late last week. Some of the items may be from December, but we kept them because they have a "timeless" quality. So here's the first Reading Round-up for 2009.

Book Your Resolutions - Over at Literacy Learning, Timothy Shanahan offers his recommended "resolutions" for the incoming Secretary of Education. If you're looking for something on a little bit smaller scale, and haven't quite decided on your reading or book goals for the year, you may find some inspiration here:

• Book Challenges - Visit Shelly Burns at Write for a Reader. She has a post with three book challenges. Over at A Wrung Sponge, Cloudscome invites us to the Diversity Rocks! challenge. She's got everything you need to know in this post.
• Book Groups - If you're not up for or into challenges, but want to talkA Year of Reading. Mary Lee posted an invitation about a NING group she and Franki have joined. The English Companion group/ring talks about elementary read alouds.
• Raising Readers - Over at 5 Minutes for Books, Jennifer's post about Read Kiddo Read, reminds us that we need to continue to promote reading at home, despite our kids' changing interests. Hopefully the next item (too long to include here) will help you with this resolution.

For about a month now (maybe a little more), Jen Robinson and I have been sharing the fun of putting together the previous week's news, literacy, and reading tidbits. When you read this week's Children's LIteracy Roundup at Jen's, it is very easy to see how it's become a two-woman job!  Be sure to scroll through for these items.

• Jen found some more items that relate to recent rants about gender-based reading patterns.
• There are a number of great initiatives to connect infants/toddlers with books. Be sure to read the Latrobe Valley Express article about the certificate for a Young Reader's Program bag to be redeemed ... at the LIBRARY!  Very cool!

Last but not least, be sure to read about the recent study in Ireland found that Irish children who are more physically active not only are happier, but have a higher levels of reading literacy. Jen's question is a good one: Do you think that they're happier because they have high levels of reading literacy? "Big muscle" activity is so important to helping kids focus and learn. Twenty minutes of playing hard can give you a non-fidgety, engaged learner for 45 minutes! Now, if f the NFL's Play 60 and the WNBA/NBA's Read to Achieve programs would combine forces, we'd probably get the kids REALLY pumped about reading.

Although we'll still have plenty of time for blogging, we'll be taking a break from the Roundups to enjoy some time with family and friends (and sneak in a couple books). We'll kick off the 2009 Roundups here on 5 January.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays. We have just about counted up the first twelve. Boy, they're going fast. As you probably noticed in Jen's December 1 Children's Literacy Roundup, we started to see a shift in how the book and literacy communities framed their discussions of reading and literacy. Little less just-the-facts-ma'am, a little more holiday cheer. It continued this week, as we have seen more emphasis on ways to share a love of reading.

Events In the Blogosphere & In Your Community

If you're thinking about giving books as gifts, you'll find great, very thoughtful ideas all around the lit blogosphere. Colleen Mondor is rounding up lots of our book recommendations for holiday shopping at Chasing Ray. Over at Chicken Spaghetti, Susan is keeping us in the know with all of the "Best of" lists. Get a running start with this post. If you're still short of ideas,  MotherReader has more than 100 ideas, broken into nice 21-item bits. So go here, here, here, here, and here. Sarah's posts at the Reading Zone about books for Twighlight-obsessed tweens and struggling readers aren't to be missed. Over at Interesting Nonfiction for Kids, Kathleen Krull is happy to offer nonfiction suggestions for readers on your list.

Okay, so that's lots of new books. What about those barely-been-used books we've been reading, reviewing, and collecting all year? Donate them! Gently used books are the perfect item to re-gift ... especially children's books, because they can help a child grow as a reader. Here are some book events that may be of interest. If you have an event or know of one, be sure to tell us about it in the comments.

• 10 December, Beverly Hilton - Trader Vic's Lounch. Everybody Wins! Los Angeles, a literacy non-profit, is sponsoring its Holiday of Hope Book Drive. Read this post on the Everybody Wins! USA blog to learn more.
• Until 22 December, Charleston, SC. The Steinberg Law Firm is accepting new and gently used books to donate to Trident Learning's literacy centers. You can read this article on the Charleston and Islands News website to learn more.
• Until December 12, Baltimore, MD Two local organizations that support youth are selling personalized books to promote reading and fellowship. Learn more in this announcement at www.blackauthors.ning.com.
• Whitney M. Young Jr., Health Services, Albany, NY. In addition to medical-based services for families, this organization also runs pediatric literacy program. The organization needs new or gently used books for children. Read Tom Keyser's article for the Time Union (online) for more details.
• Brandie Ahlgren let us know in this post (with sneak peeks) at the City Dog Magazine blog that $1.00 from every sale of the 2009 City Dog calendar goes to Reading with Rover, a nonprofit for literacy that combines, dogs, kids, and reading. 
• Ernie Garcia wrote an article about a program in Yonkers (NY) that gave 9,000 books to kids Kindergarten to third grade. The package also included materials for parents about the importance of reading. They are raising money to buy more books. You can read more details in his article on LuHud.com. We found this via  yourstreet.com

All Wrapped Up Wrapping an empty display case didn't start out as an event, but it has gotten everyone (read: kids) talking. Head over to Bookends to see Cindy Dobrez' post about the Holiday-wrapped display case and see how it's creating buzz. Very clever.

New Places to Visit

Easy Readers Blog - Anastasia Suen, author, educator, Cybils Easy Reader panel organizer, and blogger extraordinaire (6 blogs!), has created a blog just for Easy Readers. Visit Easy to Read to find books for developing readers. You'll LOVE her blogroll categories! She helps you with fiction v. nonfiction, as well as grouping them by reader type:  early, emergent, and transitional. Be sure to stop by Kid Tested, Librarian Approved for Maureen's interview with Anastasia.

News, Views, and Interesting Tidbits

A Gift from MrsP.com Both Jen and I have talked about MrsP.com, a website for children that celebrates reading and books, in previous Literacy Roundups. Here's something new: Stop by the site to hear Mrs. P. read a version of O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi. From their publicist to Jen: "We hope that the story brings a message of hope during this recession-heavy holiday season. Children can access the book by simply going to the site and clicking on the small pile of books at Mrs. P’s feet. Understanding the importance of reading and children, I thought you might be interested in this information." Note: If you're starting from scratch, it takes a couple of steps to get from the homepage to Mrs. P. reading by the fire with her pile of books.

In her Friday Afternoon Visits: December 5 edition, Jen pulled together some wonderful discussions and ideas about how we select books, gender issues and books, and reading with kids over at Jen Robinson's Book Page. Several of the posts she mentioned are especially valuable when it comes to transforming emerging readers into highly successful ones. They're worth repeating...

• LiteraBuss has some advice about how to quickly determine the reading level of a book when you don't have explicit "I Can Read" levels on the cover. The post mentions the "5 Finger Rule" (and variants) which we talked about here. Here's the bottom line: "All the book levels in the world won't do you any good if that child can't pick up the book and read it." The LiteraBuss discussion of measuring fluency (speed) v. comprehension is interesting, particularly when you read it in conjunction with this OpEd piece in the Savannah Morning News.  Author Michael Moore (no, not the director, a professor at Georgia Southern) cites a Reading First study that says "kids know phonics, but not meanings."
• Everyone loves to have stories read aloud, and it is a great way to engage kids in reading. Head over to the Reading Zone, to see Sarah's ideas for books for Tweens
• Over at The Well-Read Child, author Maxwell Eaton presents 10 Tips for the Parents of Ricky the Reluctant Reader. He use comic strip form to set out each point. [That is so Alexander Pope ... which, I know, no reluctant reader would get, but it is always cool.]
• In a guest post on the First Book blog, Tina Chovanec, manager of Reading Rockets.org, recommends pairing the book with a promise (or two): a promise to read together, a promise to learn together, a promise to your child's teacher, and a promise to make the world a better place. You can read all the details (and shout-outs to great bloggers like Miss Rumphius and the PBS bookfinder) here.
• In her newest Book Whisperer post for Education Week, Donalynn Miller uses the Twilight book/movie relationship to remind us that we're selecting books the kids will like. Listen to their preferences, don't superimpose yours. Two great points (connected by elipses): "If we want to encourage students to read, we must validate some of their less-than highbrow reading choices when they do ... Teenagers arguing the merits of a book on a Friday night—how can we not celebrate that?"

Write On! Anabel Marsh reminds us that the National Year of Reading is coming to an end.  Read her National Year of Reading - December post at Anabel's Children's Literature blog to get ideas that match this month's theme: Write the Future.

• Look no further than Sarah's post at the Reading Zone to learn about how writing influences a student. She cites a National Survey of Student Engagement study about how writing leads to deeper learning. Here's a quote from the USA Today article: "The NSSE report found [that] students engage in a variety of positive activities. They are more likely to analyze, synthesize and integrate ideas from various sources. They grapple more with course ideas both in and out of the classroom. And they report greater personal, social, practical and academic development."
• Be sure to stop by A Year of Reading , to read Franki and Mary Lee's post about the future of reading. They introduce us to some of the tech-oriented literacy blogs they've been following, and give us their thoughts on 21st Century literacies. "We love books and children's literature. And it will always be the anchor of our work. But we can't be comfortable being literacy teachers today without expanding our notion of what it means to be literate in the 21st Century and to learn from experts who have a different set of expertise." Mary Lee posted an update yesterday.
• Looking for a reading-writing gift? Then read Tricia's post about Gifts for Readers and Writers at the Miss Rumphius Effect.

Open for Discussion Tim Shanahan had an interesting post on his Literacy Learning blog that looks at what he thinks are the gaps in President-elect Obama's education plan. The value of the post is in the facts that it brings out about the state of literacy and education. Here's one: "For the first time in U.S. educational history, increases in numbers of years of schooling have not led to gains in literacy attainment." To add to the discussion, you can read about John Corcoran's new book The Bridge to Literacy at this post on the International Reading Association blog. Maybe they should check out Susan Israel's upcoming book about Vocabulary Lists and activities for the Pre-K to 2 classroom. We found the library card at the University of Nevada (Reno) library.

Book Safety Over at Literacy and Reading News, Brian Scott has an article about how poor literacy levels are a safety hazard for Canadian workers. He cites analysis from a Canadian Board study which concludes that "four in 10 Canadians in the working-age population do not have the literacy skills needed to perform most jobs well."

Holiday Boredom We haven't even wrapped gifts yet, but someone out the International Reading Association blog is already anticipating holiday boredom. In this post last week, Louise Ash suggests we keep ReadWriteThink.org in mind when the kids start searching for something to do.

Recent Grant Awards

• The National Center for Family Literacy has received a $300,000 grant from the MetLife Foundation. The grant will give the NCFL a chance to "explore, enrich and create partnerships between family literacy efforts and community colleges. The goal of this new project, made possible by MetLife Foundation, is to help provide a smooth transition for students from literacy programs to higher education." There are plenty of statistics on how graduating high school students are not ready for college and need to take remedial reading classes. We read the announcement on the NCFL blog.
• Spread the Word - Nevada received a $10,000 grant from the Mattel Children's Foundation. From the press release: "[This grant will allow us]to continue the mission of adopting elementary schools in the Clark County School District deemed at-risk, in order to serve the disadvantaged children and their families in southern Nevada. After the adoption, new and gently used books donated by individuals, community organizations, local businesses, and corporations are distributed to the at-risk youth. At this time, sixteen elementary schools benefit from monthly book distributions." Read the full press release here.

Yum! Yum! The last word this week goes to Natacha Poech. The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance blog had a post about finding just-the-right book for kids. Natacha, a librarian and bookbuyer offers advice on selecting books. This says it all: "Think of books in terms of chocolate mousse and a Hershey Kiss. There are moments for both!”

Have a great reading week ... and if you've got reading or book ideas, we'd love to hear them. Just leave a comment.

Regular readers know that Jen Robinson and I are blog-pooling to produce the weekly literacy news and reading round-ups. Yesterday, Jen posted an incredibly comprehensive Children's Literacy Round-Up, with blurbs that link you to litearcy studies, reading ideas, new resources, and award-wining programs. Here are two of the things I learned this week. In the spirit of the holiday, be sure to read ...

• Jen's summary of a post about audiobooks that she found at Let the Wild Rumpus Start. If you know a reluctant  or struggling reader and are afraid to select books, pairing a book with an audio recording might make a perfect gift.
• The quote from a UK-commissioned study that concludes that 30 minutes of one-on-one lteracy time can help "students with serious reading difficulties" make two years' worth of gains in five months. Wow! Thirty minutes is a gift for a lifetime!

My thanks to Jen ... We'd love to know what you think, so be sure to leave a comment at Jen Robinson's Book Page.

It is nice to see that even with Thanksgiving just around the corner and the mad-dash to the holidays upon us, the world of reading, books, and literacy is still very busy. It has been another "bountiful" week for Jen and me as we gathered newsworthy, interesting, and fun items. The  news Round-up is here this week, but be sure to stop by Jen Robinson's Book Page, too. Jen will have her Growing Bookworms newsletter, afternoon visits, and reviews. Check out the review of Tennyson, which Jen describes as "one of the best reads of the year."

Events & New Places - Virtual and Otherwise

Webinar: Libraries and the Bilingual Child, Monday, 8 December 2008 Webjunction is sponsoring this forum to answer the questions "how can librarians honor and respect parents’ efforts to keep the home language alive while their child acquires a second language, and why does this matter?" We saw this at the L2 [Libary Learning] blog. You can go to the event post to link to the Web conference room.

Read More Blogs Thanks to MotherReader and Lee Wind's 21 Days to Community Comment Challenge, I am becoming a more engaged blogger. I still stop by some favorite places, but I'm also stretching myself and exploring new ones. The Comment Challenge Participants post makes it easy to find new places to visit. Many bloggers link to other posts, so you can expand that way, too. This week I found ...

• Book Chook. Susan Stephenson, who created the Book Chook blog, is a Kindergarten teacher. Her blog "shares snippets from the wonderful world and words of kids’ literacy and literature." I could tell you what a chook is, but why spoil the surprise? Head on over.
• Nancy Arruda and Kim Baise, the queens of Bees Knees Reads, introduced me to Books Together, "a blog for kids and their grownups." I'm not sure why I hadn't seen it before, but it is in the reader now.
• Thanks to Shelly Burns' Wednesday Wanterings at Write for a Reader, Deborah Sloan's The Picnic Basket is on the list. The tagline says it all: "a delicious blog for librarians, teachers, and other gluttons for good books--all you can read (and write) about forthcoming children’s literature!"

Family Literacy Survey At the NCFL Literacy Now blog, Meg Ivey posted a survey about Verizon's ThinkFinity Literacy Network. Take the survey by 1 December 2008 and you are entered to win a $100 gift certificate from Better World Books. The ThinkFinity Literacy Network site offers teachers, librarians, parents, and students access to free online tools: lesson plans, homework help, interactive activities.

New Children's Choice Award for YA Literature Michael Sweet, teacher and founder of Learning for a Cause, has created the Pearson Prize for Young Adult Literature. It is a chance for authors and publishers to get their books to students -- and schools to build their YA libraries with quality material. The deadline for entry is 1 May 2009. This is no entry fee, you just have to send two copies of your book. Visit the Pearson Prize website to learn more about the award and application process. Learning for a Cause is currently accepting entries for a 2009 Poetry Anthology. Deadline: 31 December 2008.

Studies, Ideas, and Other News

Barbie has educational value? Victoria Carrington's blog has a fascinating "5 minute interview" with Professor Jackie Marsh. Together, Mdes. Carrington and Marsh are involved in research that is looking at "young children's use of popular culture, media and new technologies and their literacy practices both in- and out-of-school." It is clear from the interview and posts on Professor Marsh's Digital Beginnings blog that the research looks at the ideas in very new ways. For those already addicted to technology, the Second Life website is your next thing. It's beyond me, but you can probably get those avatars to tweet.

Weapons of Knowledge Baltimore County schools are about to benefit from a joint effort by US military contractors Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to develop high-tech simulations to boost or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. You can read a blurb of Andrew Trotter's article for free. Subscribers to Education Week can see the full article Schools Enlisting Defense Industry to boost STEM

• Brian Scott (Literacy and Reading News blog) also has an interesting article about technology in a Georgia classroom in his post Creativity and Technology Transform Georgia Students' Writing Skills. Scott talks about a grant used to bring a specific learning platform into the classroom, and the teacher offers some specific details on what it's done for her students.

Lost - Not Anymore Technology connects us in ways that some of us thought could only happen on The Jetsons . Today's kids are living Elroy Jetson's life. Here's proof ...

• PBS Kids Island is a new tool that is part of PBS' Raising Readers effort. There are parent/teacher/caregiver sections that let you preview games, view reading tips, and get curriculum ideas for your classroom. Check out Raising Readers: Preparing Preschoolers for Success, an online professional development course.  I like that you can track your child's progress, but admit that I was a little disappointed to read "preschool" on the promo page. You can read John Micklos' post "PBS launches new online learning tool" for Reading Today Daily, the International Reading Association blog for a quick summary.
  
• Like the PBS site, The Literacy Project, has something for everyone. It is a collaborative effort of the Literacy Campaign (LitCam ), Google, and UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning. From the homepage, you can find books and literacy blogs, link to literacy videos, read "scholarly articles," create or join book groups, and learn about innovative projects from around the world.
• Finding something creative is as simple as Brain Burps, author Katie Davis' blog. On Freebie Fridays you can download a free "coloring or activity page, sometimes stickers, sometimes t-shirt iron-ons, and sometimes bookmarks."
• For the next 30 days, you can read The Princess Diaries online. Thanks to Sarah at the Reading Zone for telling us about this in her Busy as a Bee post. It's all about reading, right? Not holiday sales?!
• Franki at A Year of Reading has just returned from the NCTE and (already) has a post with links to some of the folks who have posted about the event. Also check out Mary Lee's post Poetry Saturday: Disconnected, that embodies the irony of a conference about technology (Shift Happens: Teaching in the 21st Century) with no WiFi access.

More Reading Research There has been a flurry of reports analyzing the impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on various aspects of learning. Education Week has devoted a complete issue to analysis and commentary in its NCLB Alert. Here are some items of interest that go beyond the NCLB discussions.

• The Center for Public Education released its new report, From beginner to stellar: Five tips on developing skilled readers. The report itself focuses on the core elements: stages of reading development, components of skillful reading, teacher preparation, how well students are reading, early diagnosis, and what the research means for schools. What makes the report valuable are all the online tools that go with it. There are lots of very practical reading ideas, and handouts for phonic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension with "recommendations for effective instruction." We found this through John Micklos's post for Reading Today Daily.
• Unfortunately, there is a trade-off between academic development and unstructured playtime. Read Linda Jacobson's article Playtime Valuable - and Under Seige, Experts Warn in this week's edition of Education Week. The article quotes authors Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Michael Thompson, a psychology professor and pyschologist, respectively, as saying kids need free play not only to learn collaboration but also to develop their critical thinking skills.
• Brian Scott interviews Jan Hasbrouk, PhD, a nationally-recognized education consultant and trainer, about the importance and keys to reading fluency for students. Read Tackling Reading Fluency Issues at the Literacy and Reading News blog. Some things aren't new (if you suspect a problem, find out the source), but she has done some work to help evaluators differentiate and assess types of fluency.
• Donalyn Miller has a very interesting piece in her Book Whisperer column this week. "Lowering the Bar" offers her observations about the forgotten readers. They aren't the struggling readers, these are the kids who devour books. She points to recent studies that suggest strong readers are not a priority for schools trying to raise test scores. Her conclusion: "While strong national support exists for fostering the talents of gifted math and science students, it seems we need an educational movement that develops the talents of verbally-gifted people." 
• Maria Gold wrote a Washington Post article about the results of a Congressionally-mandated study of the Reading First Program. The study found that overall, students who use the Reading First program "scored no better on comprehension tests than students in similar schools that do not get the funding." There is some good news: "First-graders in Reading First classrooms were better able to decode, or recognize, printed words than students in schools without the program. Decoding is a key step in learning to read." Kathleen Kennedy Manzos also has an in-depth article in this week's edition of Education Week. Go to No Effect on Comprehension Seen from 'Reading First' and you'll also get links to additional coverage.
• A study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) concludes that academic achievement and developing social skills are not mutually exclusive priorities in preschool classrooms. For the study, researchers compared students in two types of Head Start classrooms. One classroom followed the traditional curriculum; the other used an enhanced curriculum that included "social and emotional learning and pre-reading skills." We read Brian Scott's article New Program Teaches Preschoolers Reading Skills, Getting Along with Others at the Literacy and Reading News blog. If you want the full scoop, you can read the NIH press release. The study itself is available in the current issue of Child Development.

Sing, Sing a Song At Literacy and Reading News, Brian Scott wrote The Connection Between Preschool Literacy and Music Introduction. Although there is a product promotion at the end, most of the article focuses on the research/literature review described by Assistant Professor Jonathan Bolduc of the University of Ottowa. According to Professor Bolduc, "children who participate in musical and first-language interdisciplinary programs develop phonological awareness, word recognition, and invented spelling abilities more efficiently than their classmates who do not participate in such programs."

• If you're looking to integrate music into your storytime, check out the Musicians Shows by State blog. According to the blog's mid-November post: "most children's musicians offer shows according to themes such as animals, multi-cultural, holidays, transportation, self-esteem, drug awareness, environment, bugs, marine life, literacy, music history, history, seasons, special needs, character building, etc."

Let's Get Happy In this  post, Louise Ash (Reading Today Daily) links us to a Reuters article about a University of Maryland study about TV watching, reading, and long-term happiness. After studying 34 years of data collected from 45,000 participants, researchers conclude that people who read more (and watch less TV) are happier. TV brings you short-term enjoyment, but "it is more likely to lead to overall unhappiness." Wow. We can be happy AND save electricity at the same time.

Yeah, Dad In her most recent Literacy Voices Round-up, Meg Ivey not only highlights Jen's Reviews That Made Me Want the Book Column, she links us to Lindsey Gemme's article for Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, Inc. (online). Gemme introduces us to three of 130 imprisoned dads who read to their kids via digitally-recorded CDs. "Fathers Bridging the Miles" is a program sponsored by  Read-to-Me, an international literacy nonprofit based in Hawaii. It was hard to pick just one quote that captured the spirit of the article. So I have two.

• Randy Konohia , serving his sixth year of a 10-year sentence, admits that before entering the Read-to-Me program, he wasn't a big fan of books. But since his own children, between 6 and 9 years, have been getting the books and his recordings, he himself has gotten more enthusiastic about reading..."For a guy that don't read, and now I'm reading, it's making me broader, too.'
• Borges has been participating in Fathers Bridging the Miles for just over a year. And with three kids, he's taken full advantage of the program, having read almost 80 books so far. "My wife had to buy a new bookshelf, just for all the books I send them," he laughs.

Booking through School MotherReader let us know that Book is the New Cool, with an excerpt from a Times Online article.

• If you're a regular listener at Just One More Books, then you probably listened to the episode with Andrea and Mark's conversation, about read-a-thons. The podcast is great, and so are the comments. Andrea commented that her daughter LOVES to read with younger kids and that this seems so much more worthwhile than a contest. Comments continue to come in. Heidi Estrin's comment earlier this week captured it: "Selling kids on reading can be so easy, really - all it takes is a good amount of reading time spent with one or more enthusiastic adults -- so it's strange that we dream up all these complicated schemes to achieve those ends when it's really not necessary."
• Also, Jeanne Jackson Devoe has some interesting observations in her article "Taking a Reading on Literacy" for the Times of Trenton (NJ) (online). Louise Ash's post Think of boys as readers, says Journalist is what called our attention to the article.

Football Hero The National Federation for the Blind announced that Hall-of-Fame Quarterback (and Fox NFL Sunday Co-host) Terry Bradshaw is going to be the National Ambassador for Braille Readers.  In a press release, the NFB says that Bradshaw will promote the "Braille Readers are Leaders campaign, a national initiative to promote the importance of reading and writing Braille for blind children and adults." We saw this in Louise Ash's post for Reading Today Daily.

The Last Word Over at the Well-read Child, Tanya has a wonderful post about reading wordless picture books out loud. In her words: "I have found that, with a little thinking ahead and attention to detail, you can draw listeners in to the book and make the story last longer than the time it takes to flip through the pages." You can find wordless picture book ideas in Tanya's post, and also in Reading Wordless Books at Eva's Book Addiction.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

clipart courtesy of KarenWhimsy.com

Go figure ... I have the Reading Round-up ready to go first thing this morning and LiveJournal kept timing out. Happy  Monday!

Given the amount of stressful, down-right awful noise filling the airwaves,  you might think the only news is bad news. Well, I am a glass-is-half-full kinda girl, so today we are sending some good news your way. Updated to fix typos ... they were getting to me.
In the spirit of Halloween ...

I'm including my daughter's painting of The Wild Thing from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  Out of the blue, this weekend, she wanted to paint. And she surprised us with this one.

Okay, now we're back to a "normal" week ... at least until tomorrow. We had a teacher workday yesterday, so it was a long weekend. Catherine was very disappointed to learn that the kids got to stay home and the teachers were in school. "Don't they get days off, too?"

Over the coming weeks, I am probably going to transition this to a bi-weekly post. It's getting to be that busy time of the year. "Maintaining balance" is one of my goals for the year, so with only two months to go, I better get started.

UPCOMING EVENTS & CONTESTS

 

Now ‘Til 10 November 2008 Class of 2K8 is sponsoring a contest that gives school librarians a chance to win books, gift certificates, or a 2K8 author visit. We read about it at Elizabeth Bird’s Press Release Fun post at A Fuse #8 Production. You can also go to the Class of 2K8 website.

1 November 2008 The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC) is hosting 13th Annual Multicultural Children's Book Festival. From the website: “bring the entire family to meet your favorite authors, listen to celebrity book readings, and enjoy performances, participatory workshops, illustration demonstrations, and more.” This is a FREE event that starts at Noon and ends at 6 PM.

19 November 2008 City National Bank is now accepting applications from educators for grants to support its Reading is the Way Up program that funds literacy-based projects at elementary, middle and high schools in California, New York, and Nevada. The Literacy Grant Application is available online, and must be submitted by 19 November 2008. You can read more about Reading is the Way Up in Brian Scott’s post for Literacy and Reading News

“Nevermore” after 21 November 2008. On 19 January 2009, Edgar Allen Poe will be 200 years old. To commemorate the event, READ magazine (a Weekly Reader literary publication for middle and high school students) is sponsoring an Edgar Allan Poe Video contest! The deadline for entry is 21 November 2008. You can get all the details in this article on TeacherTube.

BOOK DRIVES

Filling the Shelves Jim Davidson of the Log Cabin Democrat (Conway, AR) wrote a neat article about a local book drive. They are collecting gently used children’s book for their annual Bookcase for Every Child project. At the first drive in 2005, they collected more than 6,000 books. As the article reminds us “statistics tell us that 61 PERCENT of low-income families in our nation do not have any books at all for their children to read.” You can read the article to get details about creating your own project, or to contact the organizers.

The Buzz from New Orleans The Hornets (NBA pro team) has partnered with Read to Achieve, a nonprofit for literacy. Here’s the skinny, as published on the Hornets 247.com website. “In conjunction with Read to Achieve, the Hornets created a life-size Bookmobile bus that travels year-round with over 2,000 children's books to encourage reading and literacy. During the 2007-08 season, the Bookmobile made 73 total appearances, passing out more than 35,000 books to local children.” Click here to read the article.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

A Late Halloween Volunteers are needed to help out with Family Literacy Fun Day, Cambridge City Hall (Cambridge, MA) on 1 November 2008. There are lots of ways to help, and adults are needed to take turns wearing costumes of different children’s book characters. Get more details at the EventBrite.com website.

“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen …” Reach Out and Read Kansas City is seeking volunteers who “love books and have the gift of gab” to represent the organization at Reach Out and Read KC events in the Kansas City metro area. You can creadthe complete announcement at the VolunteerSolutions.org website.

OTHER NEWS

I will keep the News Section light this week, as Jen Robinson has a lot of great stuff in her Children’s Literacy Round-Up: October 19, so there’s no need to repeat.

Need Glasses? The 2008 Cybils Nominations are in, and now the panelists begin their work of winnowing the collection down to the finalists over the next two months. We have LOTS of reading to do. You can read a category-by-category list in this post over at the Cybils blog. I’m very excited to be part of the Easy Readers Panel. In the next few days I’ll be posting links to books we’ve reviewed (across all categories) over at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub.

Kid Picks Tuesday Today's carnival at 5 Minutes for Books is a round-up of blog posts about the books we’re reading with kids. Kid Picks is an easy, centralized way to find new books to share with your favorite audience.

Achoo! (Salud) Linda Jacobson had an article in last week’s Education Week about a new study that looked at school absence and student progress. Her article, Absences in Early Grades Tied to Learning Lags presents findings of a new study by the National Center for Children in Poverty (Columbia University). Here’s a stat: “Among poor children, chronic absence in kindergarten predicted the lowest levels of educational achievement at the end of 5th grade.” For more detailed analysis, read Present, Engaged and Accounted For. You can also participate in Chronic Absenteeism in Our Nation’s Schools, a live chat, on 27 October 2008 3 to 4 PM (EDT).

Priceless! Through a Google Alert, I found a new blog. Literacy is Priceless is a blog for Reading Teachers. It offers “reading tips and links to free K-6 literacy resources on the Web.”

New Twist on Old News Yesterday, John Micklos posted Libraries Thrive as Economy Falters at Reading Today Daily (IRA blog). The post summarizes a Boston Globe article about increased library use. Earlier this spring, we covered the same subject in several June 2008 Reading Round-ups.

Have a good week everybody. My condolences to the Red Sox fans...

It has been one of those weeks. I feel like I am just about caught up after being gone last week doing other volunteer stuff. While I was away, the collection of items for the Round-up has spiraled out of control.  In the interest of being somewhat timely with news, I'm going to take what I have already earmarked and move forward ... 

EVENTS AND CONTESTS

The 2008 Keene State College Children's Book Festival will be held 1 November 2008 in Keene, NH. You can visit the college website or go to the Wild Rose Reader for Elaine Magliaro's post about the event. She has all the details and everything is nicely organized to get you what you want to know.

There will be a 2009 Storytubes National Contest, probably next spring. The contest rules have not been finalized, but organizers add "there will be similarities." Here are the details of last year's contest. Students first through sixth grade compete for a prize of $500 in books for themselves and $1000 in books for their school library. Students create an online Video book review in up t to two four categories: Hair-raising Tales; From or For the Heart; Heroes and Heroines; and Facts, Fads, and Phenoms. We read about the contest at the Best Books I Have Not Read blog.

The 2008-2009 Weekly Reader Student Publishing Contest has been announced. Students grades 3 to 6 can submit an original nonfiction work, between 500 and 2,500 words. The work can be a memoir, essay, or story about a news event. Student publications are also eligible. There are six $500 prizes (three for student nonfiction writing; three for student publications). Go to the Weekly Reader website to learn more. Contest ends 6 March 2009. You can also get a summary in John Micklos' post in Reading Today Daily (International Reading Association blog).

Fortune Magazine and Technorati are sponsoring the 2008 Blogger Challenge to raise funds for public schools. Teachers post project requests at DonorsChoose.org, and bloggers select the most compelling project and urge their readers to donate to the projects. Brian Scott has all the details in Top Bloggers Compete in Support of Public Schools (Literacy and Reading News blog).

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

The Reading Connection (Arlington, VA) will hold Fall Volunteer Orientations on Tuesday 21 October 2008 and 20 November 2008. TRC is a nonprofit "committed to improving the lives of at-risk children through creating and sustaining a literacy-rich environment." Volunteers are needed to help with Reading Aloud to the children.

READING & KIDS

To find books kids are talking about, stop by  the Reading Zone. In a post earlier this week, Sarah told us about five Hot Books in her classroom. These are middle-grade readers her students are reading and recommending to each other.

If you're reading with young kids, you will want to read Jill's post Tips for Reading with Babies at The Well-Read Child. You might also want to visit 5 Minutes for Books. In a post about Book Recommendations, Jennifer is asks readers about how they select books for themselves or their kids.

In an Original Content post, Gail Gauthier asks "You Know Any Fake Readers?" That's how we learned about the Book Whisperer's column in Teacher Magazine. Donalyn Miller's article, Fake It 'Til You Make It vividly describes how kids mask their lack of reading skills, and, in doing that, offers teachers clues on patterns to avoid.

Timing is everything, and these posts complement the sad news of fake readers. They offer some solid, practical ideas for not only encouraging but assisting readers.

• Literate Lives has a wonderful post about ways to guide transitional readers. Katie D talks about her classroom routine and how she uses the first 30 minutes of each day for "beginning the day with books." What particularly struck me were the four questions she asks herself as she thinks about her transitional readers:  "What kind of stamina do these readers have? What do they like to read? What do they know about choosing a book? What easy texts do they have available for fluent practice?"
• Thanks also to Karen at Literate Lives for the lead to Lisa Koch's article "My Son Clark Kent" on the Choice Literacy website.
•  
• Head over to ReadKiddoRead.com, a website with book recommendations that are sorted not only by age, but by type: illustrated books, transitional books, pageturners, and advanced reads. This is a website complement to James Patterson's Pageturner awards. We found the link in Have You Seen This? a post in Traci's Book Bag.
• In the Reading Zone, Sarah tackles the question of how to help struggling readers who tend to gravitate to books that are too challenging for them. Helping Struggling Readers Find the Perfect Book is now on my must read list for parents!

I laughed out loud when I saw  Louise Ash's post Multitasking Teens May Lose Focus in today's Reading Today Daily (International Reading Association blog). You can read or listen (7 min; 35 sec) to Jon Hamilton's original article at the NPR website.

Ironically, Ms. Ash also links to an article about a University of California study of middle-aged and older adults that concludes "searching the world wide web exercised the mind far more than reading and was similar to completing crosswords and puzzles." You can read about the study in The Telegraph (UK) online.

This past week I discovered the Jean Little Library blog. I think this is one I'm going to come back to a lot. Jennifer (a children's librarian) has created a craftwiki to organize her collection of road-tested crafts that have storytimes to match.

In Literacy and Reading News, Brian Scott has a post about a new tool that will help teachers Write Better Literacy Lesson Plans faster. An ESL teacher created LessonWriter, a new FREE website "to assist teachers by analyzing readings and creating lesson plans for teachers." It sounds like a really remarkable tool: flexible, adaptable, scalable.  Visit the LessonWriter website for more details.

Happy Monday! It has been yet another busy week in the realm of children's books and literacy. If you are not already a regular reader of Jen Robinson’s Book Page, you’ll want to go over to read her latest Children’s Literacy Round-up. She front-loads her 5 October post with a wonderful collection of stories with items about and links to a couple new websites. I tried to keep our overlap to a minimum, so you’ll definitely want to stop by and see Jen.

Literacy, Blog and Community Service Events

What are You Waiting For? The nominations window is now open for the 2008 Cybils. There are just 9 days left to tell us your favorite book for children and young adults this past year. We published a post with a description of the Cybils and the list of categories, with summaries, last week. Remember: you can vote for one title in each of nine categories. That's still up to nine votes.

You Have My Vote! Colleen Mondor and Lee Wind are coordinating One Shot, a chance for bloggers to post about why voting is important. Here’s how it works: on November 3, 2008, you write a post about why you think voting is important this year. You’ll need to let Colleen or Lee know you’re participating so they can collect all the posts. This is NOT a debate, partisan event, or your chance to root for or bash candidates. This is an opportunity to share your story, views, ideas, on why voting matters.

[cue music] Chicago, Chicago! The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) has posted its program for the 2009 ALSC at the ALA Annual Conference. On July 10, 2009, there is a one day, pre-conference event – appropriately announced amid Banned Book Week –for “Meeting the Challenge: Practical Tips and Inspiring Tales on Intellectual Freedom.” I found the first lead in Carin B’s post on CCBC-Net listserv.

Have Book, Will Share There are a number of ongoing efforts to get books to kids who need them. If you’re doing some fall shelf cleaning, here are some ways you can help those stories live on.

• Go Hokies! We may be ‘Hoos fans, but we’re non-partisan readers. Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech football coach) created Herma’s Readers in honor of his mother, a teacher for more than 30 years. Herma’s Readers is a “non-profit designed to introduce the power of reading to youngsters Kindergarten to grade 3.” According to a sidebar in Sunday’s Daily Progress (Charlottesville), Walmart stores in Southwestern Virginia are the collection sites for Herma’s Readers. Customers can donate children’s books by placing them in a specially marked collection bin. Walmart has partnered with Coca-Cola to donate 100 books for every Hokie touchdown this season. According to the Herma’s Readers website the Hokies have 13 touchdowns so far this year … that’s 1,300 books. If you are a Tech coach, athlete or dignitary, you can sign up to be a reader.

• Ad(d) a Book The American Advertising Federation is sponsoring a national book drive. From 27 October to 18 November the AAF is encouraging college and corporate members to donate a new children’s book for Kindergarten to third grade. Books in Spanish are also encouraged. “The new public service project demonstrates the advertising industry's comprehensive understanding of corporate responsibility and the value and vital importance of education.” We read about it courtesy of the AAF’s Houston Chapter.

General News and Other Fun Facts

Standing O More than 300,000 readers have registered at the Read for the Record website and participated in last week’s big event. These are preliminary numbers, because people can continue to add their event to the total count. What a great start! We read the summary in Brian Scott’s post America's Children Break Reading World Record, at the Literacy and Reading News blog.

What about the Other 10%? Research over the past 15 years suggests that 90% of a child’s brain develops by the age of five. Therefore, we need to take every opportunity to emphasize how important it is for parents to read with their infants and toddlers. Mackenzie Ryan’s article in the Statesman Journal (29 September 2008) describes the literacy-related efforts in Marion County (Oregon). You can also read Tim Toomey’s personal experience visiting a Reach Out and Read Center in Cambridge (MA), in a post at Tim Toomey’s Community Blog.

Boo! If you are reading with kids and haven’t bookmarked Wild Rose Reader, what are you waiting for? Elaine Magliaro has already published her Halloween: Book Reviews and Book Lists post. Ghosts, goblins, and general-all-round spookiness can be just the thing to jump-start a child’s interest in story-telling and reading. Its okay, you can still read Halloween stories in January (we won’t tell).

Is It Really Genetic? According to tests conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford (UK), a common genetic variant may affect a person’s ability to read. The variant, carried by more than one in seven people, is already linked to dyslexia. One of the researchers quoted in the original BBC article emphasized that the gene is related to reading ability, not IQ, and that “some people were able to compensate and go on to successful careers even though they carried the gene variation.” The findings are published in the current edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry. We read Louise Ash’s summary in Reading Today Daily (International Reading Association blog). You can also read the BBC (online) article.

Exercise Your Mind: give me 20 pages Wow, there IS a value to reading on the treadmill! We heard about Dr. Robin Reesal’s article in the Calgary Herald about the mental health benefits of reading on Jen Robinson’s Literacy Round-up. Print it and take it to the gym with you! Then go over to Katie’s Literacy Blog, where you will find links to websites with online research in bibliotherapy and critical literacy.

Multi-Dimensional Reading In Freedom to Read, Lucie deLaBruere’s post at the Infinite Thinking Machine, she says “We need literacy specialists offering professional development in schools to also include strategies that integrate reading digital media.” Read her post to find lots of links on ways to connect reading and technology to enhance literacy time. She’s also got a link to teacher workshops by reading specialist, Julie Coiro. Stop by the Webster Parish Library Blog, to see there newly created Early Literacy Station, which incorporates computer software into the reading experience for pre- and emerging readers. Here's the library post.

Fun with Books Thanks to Lisa Von Drasek’s Resource Roundup on theTeaching Pre-K to 8  site, I found Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature website. I’ll let Carol tell you what she’s got: “This is a collection of reviews of great books for kids, ideas of ways to use them in the classroom and collections of books and activities about particular subjects, curriculum areas, themes and professional topics.”

[untitled] Kathleen Bernice Lawrence wrote an article you need to read. Her piece, Deaf Adults Have Lifetime Literacy Needs in the Times & Transcript (online, New Brunswick, CA), reminds us about how important communication skills are for ALL of us; that the process begins when we are young; and that we particularly need to keep in mind ways to connect with visual learners.

Free Audio Books Audible Kids is offering audio books you can download for free. This is Audible Kids’ way of promoting literacy through a partnership with Reading is Fundamental. There are nine titles that you will recognize immediately, including Rapunzel, Rikki-Tikki Tavi, The Gift of the Magi, and the Emperors New Clothes. You do need to create a free account in order to download the free audio books, but you are not asked for your credit card number or mailing address. We found this at the Brawlers blog.

Joey’s Books Thanks to Sally Murphy and Sally  Murphy's Writing for Children’s Blog for introducing us to newkidsbooksinoz, a new blog by Australian author Christopher Cheng, who also serves as a literacy ambassador for National Literacy and Numeracy Week. Each post is filled with “Australian kids books” for readers young and old, complete with a book cover image and story summary. Her post, Three Wonderful Book Blog, also includes the Cybils and Notes from the Slush Pile.

Oh, Bananas! We are always on the lookout for book reviews by kids, and somehow I missed Charlotte’s post about her son’s book blog. Go to Pickled Bananas to read his book reviews. We subscribe to Charlotte’s Library, and somehow I missed this nugget, tucked in her post about Miscellaneous Stuff. We are always excited to see peer-to-peer blogs, especially when it comes to boys and books.  This is top bananas!

Happy Monday! First it has been great catching up with all the happenings in the Second Annual Kidlitosphere Conference last weekend in Portland, Oregon.  Given the number of posts rolling in this morning, it looks like everyone had a terrific time and safe journeys home. If you want to have one-stop reading, head over to the  Portland Kidlit blog, where everyone is adding posts and pictures from the weekend.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program ...

Literacy Events, Activities, and Book Drives

Banned Book Week Every year, we observe (and remind ourselves about) the opportunities reading gives us in an event called Banned Book Week. It is always the last week of September, and it starts this week.  I've seen lots of posts already, but my favorite is this one by Little Willow I Read Banned Books:  Celebrating Intellectual Freedom and Literacy. You need to head over to the post and ask yourself Have I ever said that?

Grab Your Corduroys! This Thursday, October 2, is Read for the Record. It is an annual event (this is the third one) to promote literacy by having the greatest number of people read the same book on the same day. More than 400,000 underserved youth will read/listen to Don Freeman's Corduroy.  You can get lots of links to events around the country in this post at Christine Louise Hohlbaum’s Mama’s Musings blog.  You can also register to participate on the Read for the Record website.

 

More for your TBR Pile Over at the Hidden Side of a Leaf, you can find the official clock counting down the days/minutes/seconds until Buy a Friend a Book Week, which kicks of 1 October 2008. Dewey has already announced her giveaway in this BAFAB Week post. You’ll also find all the details about how to participate, too.

Ready? Action! On Wednesday, 8 October 2008 2:PM to 3:PM (EDT), School Library Journal is hosting a FREE webcast, sponsored by Capstone Press. The event features a panel to talk about “best practices to engage struggling and reluctant readers, discover multi-level reading resources for classroom and school library integration, and pick up techniques and programming ideas that will encourage the use of fiction and nonfiction.” The panelists are the people who know the most about reading, media center services, and children’s literacy: school librarians, educators, and publisher reps from Captsone and Arch Books. Go to the SLJ Event webpage to learn more or register. Our thanks to Denise Johnson and the Joy of Literature blog for the lead.

Read Aloud Event Here in the Commonwealth, Read Aloud to a Child Week is  19 to 23 October 2008. If, in this age of shortened attention spans, you don’t have the time or energy to read Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook, then

• Jump over to Small Town Insights blog and read K. Moore’s post The Benefits of Reading Aloud to Children; and
• Head to Becky’s Young Readers blog to see her post Sara Dobie Shares Tips on Reading, which covers audiences from infants and toddlers to independent readers.

In Need of Books YA Author Devyn Burton is sponsoring a book drive to get YA books to local hospitals in lower east Michigan (Lenawee County). Her goal is to give these hospitals a book transfusion of much-needed YA material. I’ll let her explain. “I created Book Transfusion because I am the teen who is stuck in the hospital, awaiting a blood transfusion, dreading surgery, trying to avoid the painful shots … [T]eens in the hospital had two options A) color and do crafts meant for a six year old or B) 'suck it up' like an adult watch TV all day.” Devyon needs all books – or donations – by 10 October 2008. Click here to learn more about Book Transfusion. Our thanks to Cynthia Leitich Smith and her Cynsational News & Giveaway post for the info on this event.

A Little Jazz, A Little Blues Blue Cypress Books will host the One Book One New Orleans event where residents ages 16 and up are encouraged to all read the same book at the same time. Everyone will be reading Tom Piazza’s City of Refuge for the 18 October 2008 event at Blue Cypress Books. The event begins at 2:00 PM. We read about it in this untitled post on the Blue Cypress Books blog.

Read-a-Thon in Quebec The Quebec Division of the Multiple Schlerosis Society has sent its invitations to elementary and secondary schools for the 31^st Read-a-Thon. Last year, more than 5,000 at 86 schools read 34,000 books and raised more than $131,000. This year, the winning school can win $300 in books from Scholastic. Schools can participate anytime from November 2008 to April 2009. You can read more details in Brian Scott’s post for the Literacy and Reading News blog or go to the Read-a-thon website.

Literacy Grant – December Deadline Go to grantsandfunding.net to read the announcement about the Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year Award. US teachers can apply for the award, and the winner receives a $7,500 grant for their program.

Ah-Ha! It’s an award! The official name is the Frances Mottey Beck Middle School “Ah-Ha” Reading Award. It is a new award this year, and its purpose is to recognize “a middle-school educator or team of educators who has designed an effective, replicable program for advancing reading/literacy.” Recipients receive a $2000 cash award. Go here for the application (the deadline is 10 February 2009).

News, Updates & Other Tidbits

An Apple a Day Last week, Donna contacted me about her new Website, Meet Me at the Corner, a non-profit that hosts the Big Apple Book Club. What I loved about the site is that it offers video reviews and interviews by kids … and also has a video on how to write a review.

The Cat in the Hat Over at the Printable Coloring Pages blog, you’ll find this post that lists seven free, printable coloring pages with the Cat in the Hat as the theme. There are links to just-plain-fun pages, as well as printable coloring pages for literacy and phonics skills.

TTYL In the current edition of The View from Here (online) magazine, Mike French posts the first of a two-part interview with Nikki Heath, the 2008 School Librarian of the Year (UK). She offers some great insights on YA books, their audience, and how to keep them reading. Here’s the link to Part 1: Young Adult Reading (and Writing) Guidance: An Interview with Nikki Heath.

When Good Things Happen to Great Teachers You may remember we posted a plug for I.N.K.’s Book Blast Giveaway in our 8 August Reading Round-Up. Well, the winner is … Lelac Almagor, English 7 Teacher at KIPP DC: AIM Academy. Linda Salzman included about the winning entry in her Winner’s post on I.N.K. Inspirational reading and a video link of her class, too.

Flexible Reading In the current edition of the Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook (online), Donalyn Miller has an article that talks about how one-size-fits-all reading lists. Her article, One Size Does Not Fit All, offers some ideas for engaging readers when you’re “stuck” using a curriculum-mandated list.

Very cool, eh? There are 153 nominees for the 2009 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, described as “the most lucrative award in children’s literature.” Bryan Doyle (YA novelist in Ottawa, Canada), Marie-Louise Gay (writer-illustrator in Montreal), and Read to Me! Read to Me! a literacy program in Nova Scotia, Canada are among the nominees. I couldn’t find a website for Read to Me! Read to Me!, but you can read the summary article in the Canadian Press (online) Two Canadian writers and a Nova Scotia literacy program up for rich children’s ....

She Gets My Vote – No, not her. I am voting for Anne-Marie at My Readable Feast. We don’t need to infuse a political agenda in the process of getting kids to understand our history and the political process. In her post Election 2008: More Books for Kids on Politics and American History, Anne-Marie makes it easy for you to find books and activities that will engage kids in exploring the republic, with liberty and justice for all.

Something to Give I’ve been holding on to Sherry’s post about the 10 Day Give. I read about it at Semicolon last week. It has a simple purpose: “The 10 Day Give is a challenge that is designed to help us get our minds off of ourselves and start thinking about how we can help others…There really are hundreds of opportunities that we overlook each day. My goal is to just grab hold of one of them each day.” The Challenge doesn’t start until 10 October, so you even have some time to look around and think about things you might be able to do. Why not stop in the library and volunteer to read a book with a child?

You’ll Want to Underline This In the midst of trying to find Read to Me! the literacy program, I found a software program, also called Read to Me. This is a software download for IE that can read your webpage for you. What I LOVE about the idea is that it underlines the words as you go, which has great read-along value. You can choose male or female voices, and modify the highlighting pattern, too. You can download a free, 30-day trial from Steve Foxover Software. What I DON’T LOVE is that I can’t find pricing information.

Too Cool for School On the 21^st Century Connections website, there is an article by Allyson Parks about how Technology Affects New Forms of Writing. Here’s the pitch: “A recent article from Cleveland-based wkyc.com reports that the Westlake City School District in Westlake, Ohio, is having success at improving children's literacy skills through the use of blogging and podcasting.” Students are TAUGHT to create blogs and podcasts of their curriculum-based reading. How cool is that? We found the lead in this post the MHRIC WDUG blog.

• You might also want to read 21^st Century Skills, Education and Competitiveness, a new report by the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills. We found the lead for this in Dakarai I Aaron’s article for Education Week.

Inspired Writing Late Friday afternoon, Brian Scott wrote a post on the Literacy and Reading News blog saying a New Kidspiration Lesson Plan Book Helps Teachers Use Visual Learning. The post has a press release feel to it, so it is full of little grabbers, like this one: “Elementary teachers can help students start as early as kindergarten to learn the importance and process of writing well.” Although billed as a tool to help elementary school teachers in the classroom, it is available as a single-copy purchase, too. Go to the e Kidspiration website to see Chapter 4, “Forms of Writing.”

The More Things Change … It isn’t often that a report remains accurate for 25 years. A Nation at Risk, is one of those rare reports. Education Week has two articles that both contrast/compare current issues with that landmark study.

• Catherine Gewertz writes that the key finding of the study is as relevant now as it was “back then.” Read Interest in Expanding Hours for Students to Master Academic, Social, and Workplace Skills is Mounting.

• Debra Viadero has a fascinating article about how school interruptions (like snow days) affect learing. One researcher showed “in a year with five lost school days, which is the average number for Maryland, the number of 3rd graders who met state proficiency targets was 3 percent lower than in years with no school closings.” Read Research Yields Clues on the Effect of Extra Time for Learning.

I Can’t Hear You! The Center for the Book (Library of Congress) and the Read it Loud! Foundation have announced a new literacy program, called (what else) Read it Loud! The goal is to inspire 5 million parents and caregivers to read daily to their children by 2014. You can read the blurb in John Micklos’ post for Reading Today Daily (IRA blog) or visit the Read it Loud! website. Sidebar: Many moons ago I created a group over at Goodreads call Read it LOUD. The goal is to chat about books that are fun, exciting, and engaging read-alouds. We’d love to hear your favorite!

Happy Autumn! It was a glorious weekend here, and the blue skies and crisp mornings just begged us to go apple picking. So we did! In full disclosure, the lure was also hot-out-of-the-fryer apple cider donuts, too! 

Mark Your Calendar

Put Me In Coach! In Reading Today Daily (International Reading Association blog), John Micklos has a post about a Literacy Coaching Summit in the US. This is the first time such an event has been held, and it is planned for April 3-4, 2009 at Texas A&M (Corpus Christi). One topic bound to be mentioned is the results of a Rand Corporation study about the value of reading coaches in Florida middle schools. These coaches are intended to be school-based “master teachers” who provide on-site support, preferably in the classroom. While coaches have been widely used, it is uncommon to use them in middle schools. Here is a tidbit from the study: “middle school coaches were particularly effective when they spent time with individual teachers reviewing student data and devising strategies for meeting student needs.” You can read Kathleen Kennedy Manzo’s article Middle School Coaches Found to Build Teacher’s Skills in the September 11, 2007 online edition of Education Week to get more details.

te necesitamos (We Need You) DC Learn is a non-profit family services and literacy organization in Washington, DC. They need volunteers to translate a website from English to Spanish. Read the VolunteerMatch.org posting to get more details.

News, Tidbits and New Finds

A Novel Algorithm in Sunday’s Washington Post Magazine, Gene Weingarten’s Below the Beltway column caught my eye. This one is titled “Illiterature: Can a Computer Judge Fiction.” Weingarten’s essay opens with this: Zirdland.com, a software company, is seeking manuscripts to test a “software system that can electronically analyze the quality and commercial viability of a work of fiction and prompt changes that will make it better.” Go to the Zirdland News page to get more about the beta test of their software. 

Hump Day Every Wednesday, you can find SoCalVal’s Weblink Wednesday post at her Homeschooling with Encouragement blog. Thanks to a Google Alert, we found out we were the Weblink. That let us to two new places.

• SoCalVal runs Weblink Education, a website “designed to help provide helpful information on all educational subjects through weblinks.” UPDATED to include link to website.
• In her Weblink Wednesday post, Sonshine told us about the EasyTestMaker website. This is a free, online test generator that helps you create questions that range from fill in the blank and matching to short answer and multiple sections. You can read more at the Glimpse of Sunshine blog.

A Picture is worth … The American Library Association has posted its new, basic standards for the “21^st Century learner.” Yes, you can read them on the ALA website, but I personally recommend Cloudscome’s Wordle version … much more effective, and far more 21^st Century!

Failure Rates: Failing our Kids I found three distinct articles talking about high school students. The bottom line is nothing new: kids need to finish high school.

• John Micklos’ post Diplomas are key to economic success (Reading Today Daily, IRA blog, 18 September 2008) draws on analysis by the Alliance for Excellent Education. The Alliance just published a report, Dropouts, Diplomas and Dollars: U.S. High Schools and the Nation’s Economy.
  

• Christina A. Samuels has an article in the September 3, 2008 edition of Education Week that focuses on the high school drop-out rates of students with behavioral problems; 32% of emotionally disturbed students graduated from high school in 2002, and 56% of those students dropped out. The graduation/drop-out rates haven’t changed in ten years. The problem is significant enough that a group of seven universities have received a (collective) $9.6 million, 5-year grant from the US Department of Education to assess the problem. You can read her article, “Behavior Disorders in Teens are Focus of New R&D Effort” in the online edition of Education Week. LehighUniversity, JamesMadisonUniversity, and the University of Missouri (Columbia), will pilot a number of programs for the first two years of the grant.  Once pilot studies have been finished, researchers from the University of Maryland (College Park), University of Kansas (Lawrence), University of Louisville, and Miami University of Ohio will roll out the strategies to about 500 students.

• When I first saw Debra Viadero’s article Returning Dropouts Said to Face Too Tough a Road to Graduation (Education Week Online 17 August 2008) , I thought about my cousin who, after having a baby, was ridiculed by her teachers (yes, more than one) for even trying to come back to graduate. A study by the Regional Educationsl Laboratory at WestEd looks at the push-and-pull factors that influence these students’ decisions. The study, Reenrollment of High School Dropouts in a Large Urban School District, slices and dices the drop-out/reenrollment data a number of ways: gender, grade, ethnicity, and language ability.

Become a Teacher A new survey by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation finds that 42 percent of college-educated Americans (ages 24 to 60) would consider becoming a teacher. The deterrent is the same as it has always been: the salary. Maybe we could mail them a poster of Al Roker and his favorite teacher. TeachersCount.org has an ongoing public service campaign, “Behind Every Famous Person Is a Fabulous Teacher.” Visit the Teachers Count website to learn more about the campaign, get posters, and last but not least … find out how to become a teacher. We found the survey results in John Micklos’ post Celebrating the Impact of Teachers (Reading Today Daily, 17 September 2008)

Brrrr! Thanks to Meredyth Kezar for her post in the Late Literacy blog for introducing us to a new blog, the Joy of Children’s Literature and a new (at least to us) online magazine. Beyond Polar Bears and Penguins is an “online polar and literacy magazine” for elementary teachers (Kindergarten to fifth grade)

Yum, Yum! Last week, if you ate out in Seattle, you had the opportunity to support Page Ahead, a non-profit that distributes books to readers-in-need throughout WashingtonState. By partnering with restaurants, the organization’s Dish Up Literacy! Campaign raises funds when you eat out. You can also visit Page Ahead to get ideas on how to help promote reading.

Still Superbowl Champs I am a New York Giants fan (by marriage), so when I saw the link to Justin Tuck’s R.U.S.H. for Literacy in Jen Robinson’s Children’s Literacy Round-up: September 22, I had to (pun intended) rush over. Sixth- and Seventh-grade students from four Title I middle schools in New York City are participating in a reading challenge, where they read one book a month during football season. They are also required to write a book report, which will be submitted for review and judged by a panel that includes Tuck and his wife.

Learning is Universal In a post this morning at Reading Today Daily (IRA blog), John Micklos summarizes an article about working with learning-disabled (LD) students. A report by the National Center for Learning Disabilities suggests that “[b]y making broad changes to how information is presented to all students and the ways in which all students are able to show what they know, the horizons for students with LD will be expanded from a "student deficit" approach to a "student success" approach. You can read the article, Universal Design for Learning on the NCLD website and/or participate in a talk on the subject 24 September 2008 at 1:00 PM (EDT).

Kumon, not Cumin Brian Scott has a fascinating post called Kumon – Teaching Children to Learn (Literacy and Reading News, 18 September 2008) I loved how he opened the article: “The fad of creating super-genius children may be out, but concerned parenting will always be in.” At Kumon learning centers, visit twice a week and work on lessons in reading in math. Unlike school, where their papers are corrected and the kids move on to new material anyway, at Kumon, the kids will continue to work through a lesson until they do it without error. There is no set schedule, so the kids learn at their own pace. There is a Jr. Kumin for preschoolers and kindergarteners … that sort of hints of a desire for super-genius, no?

Education Grants In June, Sylvan Dell announced its new educational resource grant to promote math and science. We mentioned it in a previous round-up. So far, 1,000 schools have applied in this program to grant one elementary school in every US district “a free, one-year site license, providing unlimited access to all 35 Sylvan Dell eBooks, featuring flipviewer technology with selectable English and Spanish text and audio.” The first 25 private schools in a district can also apply and receive a grant.  Here’s the online application. We read about the update in John Micklos’ post at Reading Today Daily (IRA blog, 19 September 2008)

 Thanks for Sharing I just love great finds!  So here are my thanks ...

• to Franki at A Year of Reading for letting us know the Literacy Connection has a new website. Stop by to check out this page, with ideas about the “many natural, everyday opportunities parents have to talk, tell stories and share books with their children.” You can learn about the Literacy Connection workshops in Franki’s post.
• to Katherine at A Girl Walked Into a Bookstore for telling us about HistoricalNovels.info. You’ll find information on 3,500 historical fiction novels, sorted by time and place. Fifty of the books have been reviewed, and more are planned.
  

Great Kids, Great Books Tomorrow, the Kids Picks Carnival for September kicks off at 5 Minutes for Books. This is a chance for everyone to share the books they’ve been reading – and which their kids loved – in the previous month. Mr. Linky is set up so that bloggers tell you the ages of the children so you don’t have to go to every connection to find reviews of books you’ll want to share with your kids.

Happy Monday ... even if my Colts did lose! If that's the worst thing, I'll be happy. The computer guy is on his way to see if my computer problem is the hard drive or the registry! So I better get moving ...

Sharing a Story As part of the celebration of our 5^th anniversary, the Reading Tub, Inc. will be creating a directory for people to donate books that can be shared with children. That is what we're all about, after all.

• If you are a teacher, school librarian, public librarian, or KNOW a teacher, school librarian, or public librarian, let them know I am creating a space on the website for their wish lists. These are the books you would like to have if you had the budget to buy them.
  

• Just last night, I read Brian Scott's post at Literacy and Reading News about the Gold Star Registry. It's a place where teachers can create a registry (aka wish list) with resources they'd like to have for their classroom, from bulletin board sets and banners to free-time reading books and tools in Spanish. If you set up a registry, we're happy to include it.
  
• Use this form to add your name and needs to our searchable directory. The only requirement is that you have a FORMAL Wishlist that is publicly accessible.

Between the Lions The New York Public Library's Book Fest 2008 will be held  on Saturday, 1 November. This year, the NYPL's new Offices of Children’s Programs, Young Adult Programs and   Education Outreach in the Department of Education, Programs  and  Exhibitions  joins with School Library Journal to host the event. For more information and to register online, go to the Book Fest page on the NYPL website.

Sunshine on Literacy Last year, Florida Governor Charlie Crist proclaimed that September is Literacy Month in Florida. To commemorate the second anniversary, the Florida Parks & Rec folks have joined in the fun. This week you can visit WakullaSpringsState Park or OchlockoneeRiverState Park for free …but you need to bring a library card, library book, or a new or gently used family book. You can read more at the Wakulla County website.

Living La Vida Loco In the 24 August 2008 edition of the Los Angeles Times, Sonja Bolle published her interview with Ambassador John Scieska, who offered his perspective on what it takes to get kids to read. With his usual flare and sense of humor, Scieska suggests that we need to think in broad terms about what constitutes reading, particularly in a digital age. If you can't get enough of the Stinky Cheese Man, you might also check out Brian Scott's post How Many Medals Would Boys Win if Reading Were an Olympic Sport, which is full of Scieska quotes about boys and reading, and has a link to Scieska's Guys Read website.

Ask Your Librarian I keep seeing articles that (in essence) say that somehow, some way, we need to get kids engaged in fun reading, even during the school year. One way to do that is to let them relax by listening to you read. I liked the list of favorite read-alouds, broken into three categories: picture book, fiction, and non-fiction. It is all part of the Kids @ Your Library Campaign® Toolkit.  Thanks to Nancy Snyder, Children's Services Manager, Public Library of Charlotte and MecklenbergCounty, for letting us know about this on CCBC-Net.

Let the Library Come to You Like Sara at Read Write Believe, I had no idea that there was such a thing as a Digital Bookmobile. Leave it to the bibliophiles in Fairfax County (my old home town) to come up with something that invites people to learn more about books in a non-paper format (eBooks, audio books, digital books). The bookmobile will be in Centreville this weekend, but you can go to the Burke Centre Library on 9 September to learn how to download audiobooks and podcasts to MP3 players. You can learn more by visiting the Fairfax County library website.

Buzz-Buzz, Ring-Ring, You've Got Mail Sarah Houghton-Jan (San Jose Public Library) wrote a wonderful article about information overload. Her emphasis is really on overload for librarians, who are information gurus/fanatics by passion and trade. When I read her tips, I immediately thought of students. Why not teach them some of these strategies now? You can read Being Wired or Being Tired: 10 Ways to Cope With Information Overload in the July 2008 edition of Ariadne (UK) We found the lead in Louise Ash's post for Reading Today Daily.

Answer: Because I can't Drive Myself The question: Why don't kids go to the library more often? "Because my parents don't take me" was the number one reason in six focus groups (2^nd to 4^th graders) that were part of a survey to explore how kids view the library. See the summary here. You might also check out the new Voice of Literacy podcast series. These are going to be biweekly broadcasts on literacy research. You can listen on the site and download them from iTunes, too. In the inaugural broadcast, Julie Coiro discusses the skills middle-school readers need for effective reading online. You can read John Micklos' summary at Reading Today Daily, or go to the Voice of Literacy website to learn more.

Shhh! Donalyn Miller wrote a nice piece in her Book Whisperer column (Teacher Magazine) about how her student's reacted to the classroom library at this year's Meet the Teacher night in her 6^th grade classroom.  First this: "One student entered my room and headed straight for the bookshelves, pulling out titles, stroking covers, flitting from bin to bin. It was as if she was reunited with old friends."  Then this: "One former student introduced me to his brother, who will be in my class this year, then shyly asked me if he could check out a book. We go forward, but we go back, too."  You can also read her 3-part series Creating Readers, which answers readers' questions about transforming "dormant" readers into rabid readers. Pair this article with The Rush of a New School Year at BookMoot and you'll be truly energized. Thanks to Franki at A Year of Reading for the lead in Great Post for School Librarians.

FIVE Stars Thanks to a Google Alert, I found this great post about matching celebrities with children's books as a way to promote literacy, multiculturalism, or both.  Notice I didn't say ask a celebrity to WRITE a children's book.  [For that, stop by A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy to read Liz B's rant/dialogue.] With just a commitment of 8 hours, a celebrity could receive, read, and then record a children's story (in any language). The publisher then takes that recording and builds a promotional platform. The publisher ALSO goes to a community organization that promotes literacy to help promote the product. Yes, the lawyers would have to get involved for copyright and all that, but still, it is a neat idea, no? We found the post at the Arts and Entertainment blog.

Way to Go! Courtesy of Jen Robinson's Children's Literacy Round-Up: September 4, I found Dodie Owen's article, A Captive Audience – Bringing Books to Teens in Detention (School Library Journal, 9/3/2008). Essentially, volunteers lead a bookclub at the Mecklenburg County Gatling DetentionCenter (Huntersville, NC). The boys read and talk about books (some of which they select) and they get to keep them.  This quote by one of the volunteers particularly struck a chord: "For some it is the first book they have ever owned. Some of them now have quite a personal library!”

It Takes a Village Tuesdays are Community Day at 5 Minutes for Books. On any given Tuesday, you can join Jennifer D and her team for a children's-book-related carnival. This week (September 9^th, join the discussion of Children's Classics – Picture Books. Read the Join Our Community post to see the full schedule and learn how to participate. Jennifer is also looking for someone to help create buttons for the two new carnivals: Kids' Picks and I Read It!

A-B-C-D-E-F-G Are you singing the alphabet song yet? Great! Head over to join ABC Storytime, MotherReader's new weekly preschool program where each week she will post books , rhymes, and songs that focus on a letter of the alphabet (in order, of course). This one gets an A. To save you time, here's B.

One, Two, Ten Tips for You Look in  Carma's Window to read her 10 Tips to a Terrific Picture Book. She has reprinted author Emma Walton Hamilton's article about crafting a terrific picture book. Although the emphasis is on writing a book, many of the tips also apply when you are picking a book to read. For example, look for books with short sentences. Kids neither have the attention span nor vocabulary for long, wordy sentences.             

La-Di-Dee, La-Di-Dum Sorry, I was daydreaming, er, I mean thinking. Turns out, daydreaming is important. At Educating Alice, I found this post, which excerpts Daydream Achiever, Jonah Lehrer's article in the Boston Globe (8/31/2008). Here's my quote:  '[Scientists have] demonstrated that daydreaming is a fundamental feature of the human mind - so fundamental, in fact, that it’s often referred to as our “default” mode of thought." We encourage it in preschoolers and call it using their imagination. Then, they go to school and we tell them to turn it off so they can focus. [Reminds me of hugging: when they're toddlers, we encourage them to hug friends and tell them it is so sweet. Then Kindergarten comes and we tell them to keep their hands to themselves.]

Get Real First, let me say I'm not a reality-TV kind of gal. But one of the candidates in this cycle of America's Next Top Model used to babysit a neighbor's kids, and she hosted a party for "opening night."  I had to laugh when a recent Harvard graduate – an English and American Lit major – could not name five authors, English or American. She just stood there, mouth agape, as Tyra started listing books for her. Call of the Wild got shrugged shoulders, as in don't know that one. E gad.

An Apple and a Book Recent studies suggest that eating apples improves one's health (and waistline). So why not munch on an apply while reading? Why? Because the most effective way to promote a child's health is to raise the literacy level of his mom.  Here's a quote "43% of people with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty and that illiteracy is a major barrier to employment for 47% of people receiving public assistance. Further, illiteracy is self-perpetuating: half the children born to illiterate parents will grow up to be illiterate adults." Although the emphasis of Brian Scott's article is on a local literacy organization, he has invaluable information about why we need to help parents AND kids. See the post at Literacy and Reading News.

New Resource This week, I found the Learning Ladders Society blog and a post about teaching strategies that can help children with diagnoses on the autism spectrum (FWIW– ADD is an autism spectrum diagnosis). The list emphasizes the importance of literacy, as communication is one of the "speed bumps" for autistic children. Children build vocabulary, comprehension, and (depending on the story) social skills lessons that can help them succeed. What I particularly liked about the article is that it goes beyond the stereotypical sensory/communication-averse child and also recognizes the sensory seeking child. 

Phew! Made it with no crashes!

 

Happy Labor Day! Putting together the Round-ups is a labor of love, so it is only fitting that we publish today. It's also the first day of September. Ah, autumn will be here soon. Bye-bye greasy sunscreen. I guess because everyone is wearing their back-to-school outfits that we seem to be heavy on the education-related news this week.

Among this morning's Google Alerts were several references to Mem Fox's speech where she characterizes childcare (really infant care) as a form of abuse. I'm sure it will continue to grow in fervor, but if you want an early look, here is the post at the Australian Politics  blog (you'll need to scroll down). 

FIrst up ...

What's in Your Wallet? September is Library Card Sign-up Month. The library card – the only card where you can borrow against it and NEVER run up debt … in fact, the more you borrow, the richer you are. Priceless. 

Dates to Remember

PBJ& B(ooks)  Smuckers, Jif and Scholastic have come together for a reading contest. Write a 200-word essay that explains "why you want to feed your family's need to read" and you could win a Scholastic Library for your family (up to $3,000) and a $3,000 Scholastic library for your school. The contest opened 24 August 2008 and ends 30 November 2008.

 Oh, No! It's an Invasion of Washington! Thanks to Sarah at Read, Write, Believe for the complete rundown of the authors coming to the 2008 National Book Festival. This year, the authors will be signing books on 27 September 2008.

 Community Programs

 And the Award Goes to …. Yes, I think the Cybils are a community program. Follow along and you will learn about some terrific books. If you are a children's book lover, you should be thrilled to know that there is a new category this year: Easy Readers. If you are actively blog about children's and/or young adult books, and think you might want to be a judge, the official call has opened. Before you decide, first go here to learn more about the requirements. I am particularly excited about the new Easy Reader category (with Anastasia Suen at the helm). Like Jen Robinson and Gail Gauthier, I think books for this group are pivotal for turning kids into lifelong readers.

Brotherly Love: Reading Coaches Philadelphia Reads, a literacy non-profit, is looking for reading coaches. Volunteers will spend at least one a week working in school or as part of after school programs for three months. Philadelphia Reads is hosting three training workshops in September and October. We saw this on KYW News Radio's website. You can click here to get more details and contact information.

Michigan Reads! There is a nice, detailed post at the Michigan State University Library's blog about Michigan Reads! One State, One Children's Book Program. The Librarian of Michigan invites adults and children to read Raccoon Tune by Nancy Shaw. She will be traveling the state reading her books as part of the 2008 Michigan Reads! Author tour. To learn more about Michigan Reads, visit their website.

Bravo! On 1 September, Pittsburg (CA) City Hall opens a new Children's Reading Center. The idea is that toddlers can read while Mom and Dad pay bills. The Reading Center is a literacy project that introduces children to books but also offers resources to improve adult literacy. We found the post of the Contra Costa newspaper article on the Government Innovators Network, Harvard University

New Word: Librainium Isn't that just the coolest word? So much packed into 10 letters. The Early Literacy Libranium™ in the children's room at the Wheeler Taft Abbett, Sr. Branch Library (Pima County Public Library System, Tucson, AZ). It is sorta sad, though, that you have to trademark it.

NEWS & OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

You Go, Girl! I'm a big proponent of ensuring that a child's "reading diet" includes a nice balance of fiction AND nonfiction books. For whatever reason, reading nonfiction comes with a stigma, but as Jill points out in her post at the Well-Read Child, a well-crafted nonfiction book may be just the thing for engaging reluctant readers. She opens with a nice description of why kids may not like reading; continues by offering tips on how to start a conversation to talk about reading; and tips for selecting nonfiction titles. Reaching Out to Reluctant Readers with Non-Fiction has everything you want, including some recommended books. Be sure to check out Anna M. Lewis' post Play – Interesting Non-Fiction Books About and for Kids, which also has some suggested titles, over at I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids).

You Go, Dude. School Library Journal has a nice article by Michael Sullivan about boys and reading. He starts out with "If we want to transform boys into lifelong readers, we need to discover what makes them tick. Equally important, we need to have a better grasp of the kind of reading that attracts them." He concludes (after a number of concrete suggestions and examples): "Although boys often do not become successful readers, the cost is too high to allow this trend to continue. It's time to give boys more options, to respect their preferences. Boys can become readers: I've seen it with my own eyes." We found this reading the Friday Afternoon Visit on Jen Robinson's Book Page.

[Untitled] Autism is a subject near and dear to my heart. So when Jen Robinson had a link to Kelly Parrot's article about storytimes for autistic children, I headed straight over to the ALSC blog to read it. Although Parrot talks about reading in a library setting, the same points work for reading at home or in a classroom. Thanks, Jen. You can read her Friday Afternoon Visits: Labor Day Weekend Edition on Jen Robinson's Book Page. You can also read about bumpybooks, a multi-sensory book series to help kids get a head start on reading, in Brian Scott's post at Literacy and Reading News. Scott mentions children and dyslexia, but I would also add children with diagnosis on the autism spectrum. Sensory seekers need to be able to actively participate in reading to help focus their attention.

Roses are red, Violets … There is a neat article on the School Library Association (UK) website about poetry and kids. A 2006/2007 Ofsted (UK equivalent of Department of Education) report – Poetry in Schools – found that kids enjoy poetry, but their teachers don't know enough about it to teach it well. In a UK Literary Association report called "Teachers as Readers," only 10% of the teachers surveyed could name six good poets; and 59% could name one, two or no poets. This is in the United Kingdom … bastion of poesy for centuries. So Scholastic has stepped in. Literacy Time PLUS, a Scholastic magazine, has named Paul Cookson Poet-in-Residence. Cookson is helping the LTP group build three workshops to be conducted in elementary  schools with limited resources. You can click here to download the full Ofsted Report (Ofsted = Office of Standards in Education)

Out of the Mouths of Babes Children born to moms at St. Joseph Hospital or Southern New Hampshire Medical Center can thank the Friends of the Nashua Public Library (NH) for their first books. The organization runs Books 2 Babies, a pre-literacy effort to introduce children to books as early as possible in hopes of starting a child's lifelong love of reading and learning. We saw the article in the Today's Reading News section of the Reading Rockets website.  You can also read the complete Nashua Telegraph (NH) article.

Speaking of babies … E. McGrew has an informative post at the Library Gremlin Talks Shop blog. She posts about her experience at the recent Ohio Library Conference, but the session that was "hands down the best program" was Literacy and the Teen Parent. In a nutshell: a high school has started a program where teen mothers come on their own time (lunch) to sit and read with their children. There is other great info about the conference, too.

[Q: Pomp and Circumstance]   Over at the EdWeek Maps Website you can find a new tool that lets you review and download detailed reports on the high school graduation rates of every school district in the United States. This is a project of the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.  In other news, Education Week is hosting an open house, where you can get access to all of their articles free. Just go to www.edweek.org. The Open House begins on September 1, a holiday. Argh!

Map This What would REALLY be useful is if someone would overlay the high school graduation rate data (mentioned above) with surveys of time spent on homework. The results of a survey by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, 21 percent of high school students report spending more than 10 hours a week on homework. This is a 9 percent increase since the 2005 survey. A nearly 10 percent jump in two years? With so much more time on homework, does it surprise you to learn that SAT scores for the Class of 2008 haven't changed? You can read more about the survey and teen stress over grades in Scott J. Cech's article in Education Week. Cech also wrote SAT Scores Flat as Test-taking Edges Upward (Education Week). Shall we try less homework and more learning time?

Elementary, Mrs. Watson According to an article in Education Week, teachers are re-discovering the link between writing and learning. In her article Writing to Learn, Kathleen Kennedy Manzo tells us about workshops sponsored by the Bay area chapter  of the  National Writing Project. In the article, a teacher explains how writing can help kids think more analytically, which helps with not only communication but also math. The article is full of vignettes, as well as links to studies on the importance of writing, such as The Neglected 'R': The Need for a Writing Revolution. I loved this quote from the Citizens Against Government Waste: "The National Writing Project [duplicates the work of the US Department of Education which] already spends $3 billion annually on programs meant to professionally train teachers to hone their writing skills. Hopefully, these teachers learned how to write in college.” (emphasis mine) Wow! Now I know why teachers have such great handwriting! They didn't have to write until they were 18. As for relying on the US Department of Education … I worked for the government for nearly 20 years. I know what their idea of writing is. The operative word is obfuscate, not educate.

Now for Some Good News The National Network of Partnership Schools (Johns Hopkins University) has just published Promising Partnership Practices 2008. NNPS pulled together the best-of-the-best ideas for projects and activities that educators created and found successful. The data is drawn from 77 schools, 18 districts, five organizations and three state departments of education.  We read about the new book in Louise Ash's article for Reading Today Daily. While we were at the National Networks of Partnership Schools website, we found Family Reading Night, a book that "offers clear and practical ideas to help you plan a successful Family Reading Night and engage parents in students' success."

Reading: On a Scale of 100 to 1200 A couple weeks ago (remember, I've been catching up with my reader), Gail Gauthier wrote an interesting post about Lexile scores at her blog, Original Content. A great discussion follows, with comments and observations from teachers, librarians, and parents. IMHO, labeling a book with a reading level is not unlike labeling a kid (ADD, autistic, etc.). Having a label can be helpful for those who aren't experts in the field and can be useful in building a learning plan, but it can just as easily be a crutch or an excuse. As more and more publishers move to create hi/low books (high interest/low readability) the waters will surely get murkier.

Out-testing the Testers Evaluators at the What Works Clearinghouse (part of the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education) didn't have all the data they needed to assess Open Court Reading and Reading Mastery, both commercially-available reading programs published by SRA/McGraw-Hill. The article Studies of Popular Reading Tests Don't Meet Reviewers' Rigor Test (Curriculum Matters, Education Week) looks as much at the Clearinghouse's effectiveness as it does the programs. The comments help put it all in perspective.

Enjoy  the holiday! We'll see you again next week.

Quick Fixed to adjust unseen font snafu!

Okay, so I've gotten the blog reader down under 150! Woo-hoo!  That doesn't count the starred items I want to go back and savor, but that's how "statistics" work. There are posted numbers, then there are real numbers. As I put the final touches on the Round-up this morning, I was amazed at everything tha't packed in here! Enjoy.

Save the Date

Shopping, Kids & Books – Doesn't Get Any Better Than This TJ Maxx is again collaborating with Save the Children to help at-risk students living in poverty to improve their academic success. Save the Children has a literacy program to "build literacy skills and make lasting change in the lives of children." From 14 August until 12 September, TJ Maxx is giving customers a free bookmark. The bookmark invites them to log onto One for Change and play the Great Book Adventure Game. Each round generates a book donation for Save the Children, and TJ Maxx has pledged to donate up to 10,000 books. Thanks to Tanya and her MommyGoggles blog post for the lead.

Sing, Sing a Song – If you're in New York this weekend, then head to Old Carriage Inn in Brooklyn for Kidlit Karaoke. Learn more in Betsy B's post at Fuse #8.

September Love Do you remember what book hooked you on reading? First Book is giving you a chance to share your memory of that magical moment. Vote on your favorite book by September 15 and you can help send 50,000 new books to low-income children. Vote and make a donation now! Be sure to stop by our Read it LOUD! group at Goodreads to tell us about a book your teacher read to you in school that was one of your favorites. Picture books are often natural read-alouds, but what about chapter books? 

13 September - Princeton Children's Book Festival is the place to be to meet up with some great children's authors and some of the KidLit crew. Thanks to Sarah at The Reading Zone for the lead about the festival. If you're interested in meeting up, then head to Liz B's post at A Chair, a Fire, and a Tea Cozy.

 

You Need Corduroy in October Schools across the country will be participating in Read for the Record on 2 October 2008. The goal is to set a world record for the most people reading the same book on the same day. This year's book is Corduroy. We talked about Read for the Record in a previous Round-up, but you can always go to the Read for the Record website.

Chew on This  The theme for this year's Teen Read Week (12 to 18 October 2008) is Books with Bite @ Your Library. The Young Adults Library Services Association (YALSA) sponsors this annual event. This Year, YALSA, Adlit.org, and Mirrorstone Publishing are co-sponsoring a contest with three criteria: (a) at least one teacher and librarian working together; (b) to use YA literature creative way; and (c) to get teens to read for fun. Learn more at the Adolescent Literature website or the YALSA Teen Read Week website. We found this in John Micklos' post at Reading Today Daily (the IRA blog).

More News and Views

Ahoy, Matey! You may recognize David Eggars as the author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Well, he has taken "genius" to the next level in co-founding 826 Valencia, aka The Pirate Supply Store, in San Francisco. 826 Valencia is an after-school literacy support center filled with all things buccaneer. The Center is part of a network that includes the Superhero Supply Store (Brooklyn, NY), Greenwood Travel Supply Company (Seattle, WA), and the Batcave (Austin, TX). We found this at the Guardian (UK) blog!

Standing O We don't usually include interviews as part of our Round-ups, but this one is just … well, you HAVE to read it yourself.  Jules and Eisha over at 7-Imp have this incredible interview with Jane Yolen. Jane's muse obviously rubbed elbows with Jules & Eisha (have to read the interview to get the reference). Some people tape pictures of athletes in their lockers, some have inspirational quotes … I have this post on the wall over my desk. I'm not over the top on this one. You can see like-minded posts by Jen on Jen Robinson's Book Page and Betsy B at A Fuse #8 Production, among others I'm sure.

Seems Logical A recent magazinesbymail.net website reveals that in the UK, the favorite place to read is in the bedroom. Well, where did we read the most when we were kids? Yep, in bed. Mom and Dad read them to us! Have some fun, conduct your own survey at home … and let the kids pick. We saw the summarized survey results in Brian Scott's Post at Literacy and Reading News.

It's Not What You Say … Last Friday, Brian Scott wrote a post at Literacy and Reading News about how Teachers Can Command Attention in the Classroom. The answer is the second half of an adage we all know well: but how you say it.  Although Scott is talking about using voice to get kids' attention (pauses, varied tone, etc.), the same goes for reading. Read with a monotone voice and you project nothing but boredom and present reading as drudgery. Do the same thing you did with your toddler: make a duck sound like a duck! If you need some ideas, go to Sarah's List of Possible Read-Alouds in the Reading Zone.

Echo (Echo) Yesterday, I wrote a post about Nancy Schnog's op-ed in the Sunday Washington Post. Obviously, I wasn't the only one struck by the message. You can read Colleen Mondor's thoughts at Chasing Ray. While we're at the Post, be sure to read Drawing Power, Bob Thompson's the cover article in yesterday's Style & Arts Section. He covers the rise of the graphic novel (shall I say it?) in graphic detail.

The (school)House More parents are opting to home school their children, largely because they are frustrated by "government schools." The post by Brian Scott (Literacy and Reading News) offers some points of reference for homeschooling kids but largely reads like an op-ed piece (i.e., light on hard data). Still, it is insightful. About 2 weeks ago, Louise Ash had a post explaining that increases in home schooling go beyond the "domain" of rural families and conservative Christians. See her post about home schooling on the rise among African Americans in Reading Today Daily (IRA blog).

The Virtual Read-Aloud! Turn your e-Books, blog postings and websites into an audio file. FREE! I ReadTheWords.com allows you to convert any PDF file, Word document, text file, web page, or RSS feeds into computer generated audio. We learned about it in the Children's Writing Update, an online eZine from The Children's Book Insider, at write4kids.com

More Cool Technology In yesterday's Parade magazine, Warren Buckleitner reviewed the Tag Reading System, a pen-shaped gadget designed for elementary-aged students (4 to 8). "[It] can help with reading, expand vocabulary, and drill facts about science and history. Kids move the "pen" across the pages of special books to hear words or whole sentences read aloud." The review didn't mention that it is a LeapFrog product. It looks like this could be particularly helpful for auditory learners and struggling or remedial readers. The review didn't mention that it is a LeapFrog product 

The Government Did It? Over at the Doing What Works website (sponsored by the US Department of Education), you will find a new workshop: Teaching Reading to English Language Learners. "The workshop is specifically geared to techniques and practices for students in elementary grades." We found the info in Louise Ash's post at Reading Today Daily (the IRA blog).

He-e-e-y! This past week, Milwaukee unveiled a bigger-than-life bronze statue of Henry Winkler, aka "The Fonz." Remember the episode where he got his library card? Now THAT would make a cool statue!

Reading: It is like fishing, but on land When you are lucky enough to have hooked a child on reading (think: upper elementary, middle school), you want to do everything in your power to keep them reading. As much as we'd like them to s-t-r-e-t-c-h and find something new, it's not worth the risk of losing them all over again. Thankfully, you can go to this post at Shelf Space (The Foreword Magazine blog) and help kids find books that are close to what they already like, but new material (aka read-alikes). Go to the post and you'll find links to libraries with lists of read-alikes for a number of popular series.

Turn the Tables As Trevor Cairney points out in his post Questioning: A Key Part of Learning, kids ask lots of questions. It is how they acquire information. He has some tips on what to do with those questions … and how to ask good questions yourself. He has some great examples you can use in reading with your kids, too.

Where's Wendy? She's in the Magic Treehouse! Stop in Wendy's, order a kid's meal, and get an audio book version of a Magic Treehouse book. How can you not love that. I've always thought that Wendy and Pippi Longstocking were long-lost sisters! How 'bout you?

Everyday Reading One of the simplest ways to introduce reading is to point out the words kids encounter everyday. They learn to spell Subway because they know the commercial. Thankfully, they can learn more than branding: Stop signs, open/closed signs on stores, Exit signs on the highway … the opportunities are endless. Sara Mead wrote a great post with Sesame Street video that gives you a day-on-the-street example of what you can do with signage. She also shows you what happens when kids DON'T learn to spell. We found it at the Early Ed Watch blog, published by the New America Foundation.

O, O – Only Oprah! Because she reaches every corner of every world, virtual and real, I didn't think I needed to write a post about Oprah's new reading list for kids.  I am glad to see she partnered with the Association of Library Services for Children (ALSC) to offer parent tips, too. On the Reading List homepage, she has "10 Ways to Make Reading Fun" that are simple ideas parents will jump on. Yes, we say them all the time, but we aren't Oprah! Am I the only one that noticed that it says "10" but there are 11 things listed?

Having sorta-kinda gotten caught up, I was all set to post Shelly Tremaglio's article For the Love of Reading: A Book-loving Teen's Perspective as part of tomorrow's literacy round-up. But an article in today's Washington Post pushed (more like inspired) me to post today.

Why? Because Nancy Schnog's op-ed "Readers Left Behind: We're Teaching Books That Don't Stack Up" (Outlook Section) (a) echoes some of the same thoughts that Shelly shared with us this summer; and (b) Schnog will be online at noon, Monday 25 August 2008  to discuss it. And I wouldn't want you to miss that.

You may remember Shelly was our intern. She was a tremendous asset, as she added some much needed fresh thought to how  some of our processes (we now use online document sharing) and tools (new cross-system reading level chart). Most importantly, she gave us feedback on some of the books we receive, as well as some insight on the challenges kids face in trying to read. She also shared some of her own frustrations. Shelly is a voracious reader and had been reading all summer, but she put off until the last minute (12 days before the start of school) working on the books on her required reading list. I love The Kite Runner, so why do I need to journal about it and answer a bunch of questions? It sucks all of the enjoyment out of it. Shelly's thoughts are echoed in Schnog's op-ed piece. In her piece, Schnog has quotes from students about their experiences in her high school English class. I loved this quip:

"The lesson couldn't be clearer. Until we do a better job of introducing contemporary culture intou our reading lists, matching books to readers and getting our students to buy in to the whole process, literature teachers will continue to help fuel the reading crisis."

Take the time to read Schnog's article. It is a nice starting point (or returning point for those talking about updating reading lists).  If you can't catch the discussion live, you can usually get a 'transcript' later.

It was a great week away, but Wow! My Reader outpaced the inbox almost 3 to 1. We have just 2 days of summer vacation left at our house, so there is a heavy emphasis in the Round-up on school and learning-related topics.  I'll be back in full swing next week. In the meantime, here's a short round-up.

Time is Running Out for these Events ...

S-C-H-O-O-L Swap Over at the Reading Zone, Sarah is hosting a Teacher/Kidlitosphere Swap. Teachers, parents, anyone into kids books and reading is invited to participate. You will be matched with a partner who will send you a package based on the theme (school/back to school)… and you will send them a package based on the theme. The deadline to sign up is 21 August 2008! Sign on before the bell rings.

Run for the Borders For the entire month of August, nealy 1,000 Borders and WaldenBooks bookstores are donating books to a designated local charity. Patrons visiting the store are encouraged to buy a book (from a predetermined list); Borders then donates the book to that charity.  You can read Brian Scott's post at Literacy and Reading News. Great idea, I just wish they'd reach out to some of the local charities  who work one-on-one with at-risk readers.

Reading &  Literacy Tidbits

Back to School - U! If you are interested in specializing in reading or literacy, here are some leads you may find valuable.

• This fall, East Stroudsburg University is offering graduate-level courses in literacy coaching. The goal is to give teachers the tools they need to teach kids reading. "Literacy coaches keep abreast of the latest research and successful practices in reading instruction and then help teachers adjust their classroom plans." We saw the lead for the Pocono Record article at Reading Today Daily (summary by Louise Ash).

• Capella University, a fully-accredited online university, offers a masters degree program with a state-approved specialization in reading and literacy. The article at Literacy and Reading News is a lead for a podcast called Inside Online Education 27, but you can learn more about the degree programs here.

Reading in 3D Over at lodiworks.com you can read a detailed (and somewhat technical) post about Mennell Media and its project to create 3-dimensional, interactive learning resource for science and literacy. You can see a sample of the early learning module at fruitphonics.com. Computer-aided learning can be particularly helpful for ADD and autistic children and help them improve focus beyond the computer.

F = Fine, not Failing According to an analysis by Ohio State University researchers, many of the schools assessed as "failing" would actually earn passing grades. At issue is the methodology, which according to the researchers, is biased.  We read Brian Scott's article Many 'Failing' Schools Aren' Failing at Literacy and Reading News. You can also read Louise Ash's summary about how reading/misreading/misusing educational data can harm good programs and kids, too. See Report Examines Assessment of Young Children in Reading Today Daily.

More ABCs on PBS Beginning in September, PBS will launch Martha Speaks, a new reading program targeting at-risk readers from "poor or immigrant families." The series is drawn from Susan Meddaugh's books about her dog. We saw the article at The Money Times, based on an article in Sunday's Boston Globe. The folks at Money Times need to check on PBS programming more often … they mentioned new programs Super Why and Word World, but they forgot (much beloved in our house) Between the Lions! And opted instead to mention Sesame Street.

Smile! You're Reading In the nation's capital, 36% of the population is considered functionally illiterate. Officials at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education want to change that, so they've launched "A Day in the Life of Reading" project where residents photograph others (family members, neighbors, friends) doing what else? Reading. The photos will be used as a photo essay in a district-wide literacy campaign. The cool thing is that since it is DC, Maryland and Virginia will likely benefit from the campaign, too. We read Brian Scott's post at Literacy and Reading News. Go to this OSSE website to get more details.

Avon Calling Kids at Avon Elementary  School (Avon, Colorado) are starting school in August, 15 days ahead of their peers. Why? So the teachers can prepare kids with low English skills for the coming year. We read the article in the Vail Daily (online) thanks to a lead by Louise Ashe and her post at Reading Today Daily

If you are looking for back-to-school books, be sure to visit Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, our book review blog. I've put together an updated list of books with a back-to-school themes.

Happy Friday! It's been a crazy week with visiting family, getting ready for a beach vacation (which starts tomorrow), and sneaking in a little work here and there. We won't be here next week, but you can always visit Kelly Herold's book and reading round-ups on Big A, little A or Jen's reading and literacy round-ups on Jen Robinson's Book Page I also highly recommend that you visit Anastasia Suen's new blog at Scholastic.

Events & Opportunities to Promote Reading and Literacy

Book a Brighter Future Given the success of "Be One for the books," Macy is again hosting a literacy campaign to raise money to provide books and other educational resources to underserved children. The program is facilitated through Reading is Fundamental. Hopefully, this year's campaign, Book a Brighter Future, can raise as much as the $2.5 million last year. The program ends September 22, 2008. Thanks to Power to Learn for the lead.

Deadline – 15 September 2008 for the Lois Lenski Covey Foundation Grants The Foundation works to support organizations that provide books to children who otherwise would not have access to reading material. Previous grant awards range from $500 to $3,000. Visit the Foundation Website for more details. Thanks to Helene Kramer's post on her Read to Succeed Buffalo for the lead, as well as a link to Grants-alert.com. 

Mother Nature, what were you thinking? Lightning struck the Swans Island (Maine) Library in late July and it burned to the ground. The library lost everything, including historical records. Rock City Books and Coffee in Rockland, Maine is coordinating a book drive, as the library needs all types of books … but especially children's books. You can email Rock City Books for more details. Thanks to Jules at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast (aka 7Imp) for letting us know.

Vote for Reading At barackobama.com you can sign up for Reading for Obama: Children's Read-a-thon. This is a fund-raising event that started 26 July 2008 and ends 26 September 2008. From the website: "The program is simple. Readers raise support for literacy by making a commitment to read and sponsors pledge support for each page or book read." [emphasis mine] If there is a similar campaign for Senator McCain, we'll post it here. We are a non-profit, and our goal is strictly to post information relevant to our mission. This is not intended to offer support for any candidate. (That note is for the IRS, not you!)

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS – School will be here before you know it, and just about anywhere in the country, you can find community-based organizations that sponsor tutoring for struggling students. As I find them, I'll post them here in the round-up, but don't wait for me. Call your neighborhood school or local library.

Go from Seed to Succeed In August and September 2008, Reading Seed (Tucson, AZ) is sponsoring FREE training for volunteer literacy coaches. You can learn more at Volunteer and Become a Reading Coach.

Get Credit for Reading Check out this article in the 28 July 2008 edition of the Missourian. Students at Missouri University spent their work-study time tutoring students for 20 elementary schools, three private schools, the Columbia Public Library, and other venues. We found this through Reading Rockets.

Mr. Jefferson's Virginia One of my favorite TJ quotes is "I cannot live without books." For the past two years, I have volunteered with Book Buddies, a program facilitated by the Charlottesville City Schools. For two hours each week (one hour on each of two days) I worked one-on-one with an at-risk first grader. Words can't describe how much I got from the program! Thanks, Brenda!

 North Dakota: Tutors, Preschool, Teachers Needed In a 7 August 2008 post at Reading Today Daily, Louise Ash has a blurb from an Associated Press article in The Dickinson Press about North Dakota's educational needs.

Items of Interest

[Queue music] Stuck in the Middle Again Over at the ReadingZone you'll find a great list of professional resources (books and websites) for helping kids learn to read and become lifelong readers. These are resources the Reading Zone uses to develop a reading workshop for grades 6 to 8. We read Reading Workshop in the Middle Grades at the Reading Zone.

Reading First Gone, but Hopefully Not Forgotten There is some fascinating (if not frustrating) information in this article about the Reading First program by Kathleen Kennedy Manzo and Alyson Klein. Although there were some serious issues, when you get past the human element (greed, corruption, Congress) and look at the data itself, there are some positives. Perfect? No. Something to work with? Yes. You'll find the article, ‘Reading First’ Funds Headed for Extinction, in the 15 July 2008 online edition of Education Week. If you need more data, see Brian Scott's post Reading, Math Scores Up for US 4^th and 8^th Graders at Literacy and Reading News. Or you can hear what First Lady Laura Bush had to say about Reading First during a visit to Tennessee.

The Tortoise and the Hare: The Classroom Edition In the same edition of Education Week you can read the findings of a study that analyzed the academic progress of 13,000+ full-day and half-day Kindergartners. Full-time students jump ahead of their half-day peers in reading and math during their Kindergarten year, but the half-day students out-paced them from first through fifth grade. You can read the article Full-Day Kindergarten at Education Week online, or read the study itself, published in the July/August edition of Child Development. Brian Scott also has a nice summary post at Literacy and Reading News.

Now Hear This Thanks to Gargoyle for her post with 5 Tips for Parents Who Have a Hard of Hearing Child.(Disaboom). She offers some tips related to the classroom environment, as well as a link to the website Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. We learn language first as listeners, so it is important to be able to communicate with your child … and have them understand you.

Relax, Read a Little More Authors Prue Goodwin and Michael Lockwood come to similar conclusions in their new books: kids need to learn how to enjoy reading for its own sake, not just as a purposeful skill. At Literacy and Reading News, Brian Scott posts a bit from authors' presentations at the United Kingdom Literary Association International Conference, and includes links to their new books: Promoting Reading for Pleasure in the Primary School by Michael Lockwood and Understanding Children's Books by Prue Goodwin.

R²DA (Recommended Reading Daily Allowance) Brian Scott has a great post about the importance of reading with your kids. There are plenty of sound bites, but Kay Emflinger and Kathleen Martin also offer some practical advice for engaging your kids in reading, too. I like the plug for non-fiction for pre-readers! Susan Thomsen has a similar thought in the Mem Fox quote she posted at Chicken Spaghetti. We read Brian's article at Literacy and Reading News.

Gimme a Cheer: Nonfiction – YEAH! Over at A Year of Reading, Franki has posted Great New Fiction for K-1. Pop-out bugs. Cool, and oh, what potential … under your pillow, puppet shows, Halloween, on and on! Do you want to win $250 in nonfiction books? Then go to I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids), offer an idea about an innovative way to use nonfiction this coming school year, and enter the contest!

What's in a Seed? I admit, I saw an article about the Growing Good Kids book awards, last week, but I left it fallow (pun intended). But, then this week I saw Susan's post at Chicken Spaghetti … where the awards bloomed in full color (with covers)! Read the comments and you'll unearth some other great titles. Okay, I'll quit with the analogies.

Mea Culpa Somehow, I missed Kelly Herold's Higher Learning columns at GuysLit Wire. They are fantastic … and a very valuable venue for spotting ways to get and keep boys reading. Bravo!  Thanks to Gail at Original Content for the lead.

Reading Digital If you've got a minute – especially if you're a teacher – you might want to check out Gwen Tarbox's post It's No Joke! over at Book Candy.  Yes, she references the widely circulated NY Times article, but she also has some thoughtful points about traditional books, kids, alternate reading tools, and what they mean for teachers trying to engage kids in reading.

ü       Over at I am My Jewish Mother, Kathleen Stewart offers a humorous (and analogous) look at the same topic in I Used to be Smart

ü       As part of a current discussion in the AdRead Yahoo group about eReaders (kindle, Sony, etc.) we learned about Feedbooks, an online service where you can download "thousands of free e-books."  They are apparently useable on multiple eReader platforms.

ü       Brian Scott had an article about using the web as a teaching medium in his post, Personalized Approach in Delivering Education Electronically (Literacy and Reading News, 3 August 2008)

ü       At Penn State University, three faculty members are part of a major study looking at reading comprehension as it relates to the web-based reading program Intelligent Tutoring for the Structure Strategy (don't get me started on the name) being used in middle schools. Read Louise Ash's recap at Reading Today Daily or the full story at gantdaily.com.

YouTube Can Participate in the PTA From now until August 8, you can submit questions for a National PTA for its special webcast event. Here is the webpage for submitting questions. Here is the webpage to register so you can watch the event. John Micklos posted the announcement on 7 August 2008 at Reading Today Daily.

Graphic Reading They used to be picture books! Over at A Year of Reading, Mary Lee offers a post about a new collection of "early readers in comics form." For those who are concerned that learning to read is overwhelming their child, this may be a nice alternative. Graphic is the way to go, as Louise Ash (Reading Today Daily) reports in her summary about public libraries stocking up on graphic novels. She also links to an NPR piece on the subject.

Reading Is Everywhere Sounds simple, huh? Then why do schools have to "go back" to the idea that reading needs to be "woven" into all aspects of a student's curriculum. Read more in Back to Basics at School, from the 31 July 2008 edition of the Indianapolis Star. We got the lead from Louise Ash's post at Reading Today Daily.

The Literacy Site This is an ad-heavy site that is, at its core, a fundraising portal for children's literacy. Their goal is to raise funds to send books to at-risk readers, children and adults. We found this at Blacky's Burrow Blog.

is that this blog is changing.

I created the blog as a space for me, as the Executive Director, to offer a more personal perspective of literacy and reading. Scrub a Dub Tub is our official blog, and it talks mostly about books and what we're doing as a non-profit organization. This blog was going to be my space ... like the editor's column in the front of a magazine.

Well, it has evolved beyond that and is also now my Op-Ed page. With an expanded focus, What Happens Next  didn't really fit anymore. So now, it's just Tub Talk.  A space to chat about reading and literacy with a more personal touch.

Usually, I don't open a post with questions, but today I am starting with these:

•  Why do we need to use everyday bodily functions to create humor in picture books?
  
• Can anyone tell me why we need sex in books for 10-year-olds?
  

P-L-E-A-S-E don't try to tell me that it's because they see it on TV or hear it from their friends. We are talking about reading a book, not watching YouTube.

Yes, I am getting cranky about this. When I am sorting new arrivals or selecting books to read (or share with other families!), I look at each one on several levels: as a Mom, as book geek, as someone who loves great storytelling, and as literacy advocate. Every week, between 15 and 30 new titles arrive on my desk. They get sorted into two piles. One pile is the number of books I need to load into the data base. The other pile is the collection I need to think about before I place them. Guess which pile is growing the fastest?

Here's my analysis: there are a lot of books that are making themselves unremarkable and indistinguishable because the author drops some non-relevant titillating activity that ends up exposing (pardon the pun) other story weaknesses. Some of these may well be high interest/low-readability, but determining that will take even more time to determine the reading level.

Our summer intern (rising public high school senior, AP classes, broad volunteer resume) has been randomly selecting some middle-grade and YA books for herself, including some from the "maybe" pile. She loves to read and has tried a number of genres. She describes more than a few of them as "Okay," then offers specific details about how the character got lost because of too much "stuff" going on. She also suggests ideas on what would have strengthened the story.

It is not just chapter books, though. We recently read a picture book with my almost-seven-year-old that has a great story: during a family outing, the child character must confront her fears. Great theme, well done. So then why does the author add a character fart (literally – with sound effect text) every couple of pages? It is just not relevant to the story. Yes, we can skip over that when we read the book, but the book comes with a listen-along CD, so now that the seven-year-old has memorized the story, she reminds us about the fart we "forgot."

There are books for young children (generally toddlers and preschoolers) that talk about body functions. This is not one of those books, and it really is no fun having to stop to read and reread those parts. What I have learned is that my child has not absorbed the story, only the "potty talk." [Potty talk: Isn't that an oxymoron? Parents want kids to be mature, so we use the word "potty" with them.]

Don't get me wrong, there are times when body functions (burping, farting, etc.) or even curse words are well-timed, effective plot devices. They can add humor or comic relief. The forbidden can be very effective. Using them can also offer the all-important teaching moment. Can I just say George Carlin, may he rest in peace?

We all love titillation, and what makes us burst out in an oh-I-shouldn't-giggle-at-that changes over time. The bathroom humor at four and five "evolves" into something that results in even more giggles, yuks, "ew, gross" and "I'm telling Mom!" We never really outgrow the need … we just manage it differently.

So where am I going with this rant? Back to the beginning: respect the reader. Books can be enchanting and silly and make you laugh just because. They don't always have to be educational or loaded with VITMs (Very Important Teaching Moments). But neither do they need to be overloaded with bathroom humor.

Don't drop body-function plot devices into a book because you think that is what will make the kid read your book. If it isn't relevant or (dare I say) natural, leave it out. Kids know a trick when they see it. Kids will also  tell you what they think, so ask them what they like to read about.  If you're adding these devices to encourage reluctant and remedial readers, then talk to them. What would keep them turning the pages? How much of the story should emphasize the gross-out factor? Is the laugh more important than a good story? Do they read a story just because it has lots of farts and burps? Ask them. Then ask their parents if they'll buy that book.

Take the opportunity to read what the kidlit and YA bloggers have to say. Which are the books they aren't reviewing and which books do they love? Which books to they recommend for reluctant and remedial readers? Which ones for mature readers? No, they aren't just talking about the books produced by established or award-winning authors or big publishing houses. In this part of the blogosphere there are some phenomenal discussions and powerful voices: the listening audience, emerging reader, skilled reader, educator, parent, and book purchaser.  We read what you produce and we share our thoughts so others can benefit...or not make the mistake we did.

We, your readers, wear many hats: target audience, parent, teacher, librarian, literacy advocate, and consumer. If you want to elevate a child's character, then give us stories that offer kids the chance to grow and explore … not keep their mind in the gutter.