Whether your children are 5 or 15, summer is a great time to read. Less structure and "required" reading from school can leave time to investigate whatever it is that your child is interested in.
Try these:
Can You See What I See? Nature - Read and Seek Book (for early readers)
The Last Golddiggers by Harry Horse (a funny, down under adventure)
The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher, by Bill Harley (flying on a bicycle?)
Firefly Mountain by Patricia Thomas (I love the pictures; it reminds me of hunting fireflies in North Carolina when I was a child)
Rocket Man by Ruth Ashby - a biography about a key player in the space race.
The Desperado Who Stole Baseball by John H. Ritter (for upper elementary and middle school kids). I'm in the middle of this one myself and the story is terrific. Set in the wild west (with an unlikely subject matter of baseball - did you know they played baseball in the wild west?)
Gabriel's Horses by Alison Hart (the first in a Civil War trilogy for middle grade kids.
Pepperland by Mark Delaney - a tragic story with a soul that helps understand how to deal with grief and move on.
One for parents of young children,
Einstein Never Used Flash Cards by Drs. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta M. Golinkoff
and just for fun, Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild! by Mem Fox (ever feel that way?) This book is one of Mem's lesser known books but still delicious!
A NEW ADDITION TO THE POST: I have a new friend who is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English and mom of a son with LD (7th grade). She shared a ton of titles with me and I wanted to pass along a few for you (from lower to higher levels of readability):
King of Shadows by Susan Cooper (anything Susan writes is good)
Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (deals with steroids);
Tangerine by Edward Bloor (harder, and my son says that some kids didn't like it, but we both loved it)
The Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt (harder, absolutely fantastic)
For even more ideas, check out the summer reading lists below:
The International Reading Association's Reader's Choice Award books (chosen by kids!):http://www.reading.org/General/Default.aspx?page=/resources/tools/choices.html&mode=redirect
The Reading Tub's great book reviews - age specific (the reviews have the voices of the authentic readers who wrote them)
Til next week, happy reading! Stop by my website to read about how to help your children with their reading without creating an academic hothouse environment at home: http://www.readingisforeveryone.org/articles.html (scroll down to the Reading Tub to access this article).
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Check Out Activities At Your Local Public Library
Yesterday I was in the tiny town of New Hope, AL and was privileged to see about 85 upper elementary school kids and their parents coming to the library! It was great! They were there as part of the summer reading program and they had dogs at the library!
If you haven't visited a library with your kids recently, you are in for a treat. There are still lots of wonderful books (I'll list a few in a minute) but there are also TONS of activities, morning, noon and night. This year's summer reading theme is "Be Creative @ Your Library". If you are looking for ideas on engaging your children in reading this summer, the librarians are also a great source.
While at the library, let your children see you checking out a book as well. Your example is so strong, even though you might not realize it. You send one of two messages: reading is important and will be a regular part of our lives OR it's not really that important anyway. Which do you want to send?
If your child isn't too excited (YET) about reading, find videos or CDs at the library for them to listen to. Look for themes or corresponding books to read before or after. Talk about the differences between what you saw in the movie and what was in the book. If you read the book first, ask your child to "make a movie in their heads". Teachers call that visualization and it's an important tool for understanding what you read. Try this:
1) Have your child close their eyes while you read a particularly descriptive section or paragraph.
2) Ask them to think about what the room or the scene might look like. What do they smell, hear, think, wonder?
3) If they have trouble with this, do it together. Think out loud and describe beyond the author's words. You'll find that your image and that of your child might be different. That's because each person has unique experiences and "background knowledge" that he or she brings to the "reading table". That colors what we get out of the text.
Keep practicing this. It will engage your child in the reading experience. They can even draw what the words tell them as they listen.
Now, the list I promised - great reads from the public library -- but instead of listing titles, I'm giving you links to my library's suggested reads and those across the country. Enjoy!
http://hpl.lib.al.us/read/ (pick a few for yourself at the top and then scroll down to see the children's books)
http://www.plcmc.org/Bookhive/ - from my home state of North Carolina
http://kids.nypl.org/ - from the New York Public Library
http://www.lapl.org/kidspath/ - LA Public Library
http://www.atyourlibrary.org/familylife - ideas for incorporating reading into family life from the American Library Association.
Until next time, happy reading!
If you haven't visited a library with your kids recently, you are in for a treat. There are still lots of wonderful books (I'll list a few in a minute) but there are also TONS of activities, morning, noon and night. This year's summer reading theme is "Be Creative @ Your Library". If you are looking for ideas on engaging your children in reading this summer, the librarians are also a great source.
While at the library, let your children see you checking out a book as well. Your example is so strong, even though you might not realize it. You send one of two messages: reading is important and will be a regular part of our lives OR it's not really that important anyway. Which do you want to send?
If your child isn't too excited (YET) about reading, find videos or CDs at the library for them to listen to. Look for themes or corresponding books to read before or after. Talk about the differences between what you saw in the movie and what was in the book. If you read the book first, ask your child to "make a movie in their heads". Teachers call that visualization and it's an important tool for understanding what you read. Try this:
1) Have your child close their eyes while you read a particularly descriptive section or paragraph.
2) Ask them to think about what the room or the scene might look like. What do they smell, hear, think, wonder?
3) If they have trouble with this, do it together. Think out loud and describe beyond the author's words. You'll find that your image and that of your child might be different. That's because each person has unique experiences and "background knowledge" that he or she brings to the "reading table". That colors what we get out of the text.
Keep practicing this. It will engage your child in the reading experience. They can even draw what the words tell them as they listen.
Now, the list I promised - great reads from the public library -- but instead of listing titles, I'm giving you links to my library's suggested reads and those across the country. Enjoy!
http://hpl.lib.al.us/read/ (pick a few for yourself at the top and then scroll down to see the children's books)
http://www.plcmc.org/Bookhive/ - from my home state of North Carolina
http://kids.nypl.org/ - from the New York Public Library
http://www.lapl.org/kidspath/ - LA Public Library
http://www.atyourlibrary.org/familylife - ideas for incorporating reading into family life from the American Library Association.
Until next time, happy reading!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
What's Up with the Literacy Ambassador®
I'm starting this blog just as my new website is nearing completion. Today has been a wonderful day, talking with volunteers and early childhood experts about an initiative I'm working on for United Way. You never know where the Literacy Ambassador® will be going next but you can be sure she will be lighting the spark and fanning the flame of literacy at every turn.
Who is the Literacy Ambassador®? Visit my website at www.readingisforeveryone.org to find out! You can also get to know me by reading my tidbits, posted each week:
We've said "read with your child" so much that it has almost lost meaning. Those parents who already do so will continue to respond positively. What about those who don't know how to (but are embarrassed to admit it) or those who have never been read to in their lives?
Instead talk with those families about relationships with their children - that's meaningful to them.
Sitting down with a book and talking together about it (children birth through around age 8 or so) is a great way to start. Once a child is an "independent reader" or too old for the "snuggle and cuddle thing", it has to be about reading something meaningful to that child and that may be instructions on the latest video game, a soccer manual, IM from their friends.
Becoming a competent reader takes time and practice, an over and over again thing so the more we can get kids motivated to read ANYTHING, the better reader they are going to be. I love what Marilyn J. Adams, a reading expert says, "... in our society, their life will depend upon it [meaning reading].
A generation or so ago, reading at a lower level wasn't a big deal. Now, the literacy challenges are more complex, greater than even the adult population today experienced. Kids will be lost without those skills. We've got to make reading a tool for life!
Who is the Literacy Ambassador®? Visit my website at www.readingisforeveryone.org to find out! You can also get to know me by reading my tidbits, posted each week:
We've said "read with your child" so much that it has almost lost meaning. Those parents who already do so will continue to respond positively. What about those who don't know how to (but are embarrassed to admit it) or those who have never been read to in their lives?
Instead talk with those families about relationships with their children - that's meaningful to them.
Sitting down with a book and talking together about it (children birth through around age 8 or so) is a great way to start. Once a child is an "independent reader" or too old for the "snuggle and cuddle thing", it has to be about reading something meaningful to that child and that may be instructions on the latest video game, a soccer manual, IM from their friends.
Becoming a competent reader takes time and practice, an over and over again thing so the more we can get kids motivated to read ANYTHING, the better reader they are going to be. I love what Marilyn J. Adams, a reading expert says, "... in our society, their life will depend upon it [meaning reading].
A generation or so ago, reading at a lower level wasn't a big deal. Now, the literacy challenges are more complex, greater than even the adult population today experienced. Kids will be lost without those skills. We've got to make reading a tool for life!
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