I often tell my students “good readers write and good writers read.” In my opinion, writing and reading are inseparable. The connection between reading and writing is essential to a child’s literacy development. Teachers and parents can nurture a child’s imagination through writing. An article in The Science of Learning affirms the importance of writing…
This week, I am straying from my normal post of children’s literacy issues to talk about book festivals. Many book festivals around the country will host them next month, in September, and the months to follow. Fostering literacy and encouraging the enjoyment of literature in young children and even in adults remains to be an important function…
Closed-caption, subtitled television shows, and movies can assist in supporting literacy skills for early readers, struggling readers, English Language Learners (ELLs), students with learning disabilities, deaf and hard of hearing children and adults. Other formats for closed-caption might include DVDs, music videos, video games, and online streaming or content. Research reveals using closed-caption programming in…
In kindergarten, I took my reading textbook home without permission. My newfound love for reading proved to have been greater than the fear of my teacher finding out my little secret. I also fibbed to my parents and told them my homework assignment existed within the pages of that Dick and Jane Reader. All evening,…
Reading aloud to a child is significant to their development in becoming a fluent reader. It builds a strong reading foundation and background knowledge. In addition, it introduces vocabulary and provides a model for fluency and expression. However, when we think of reading aloud, we often envision reading to young children. It might be interesting…
Many times over the years, as a teacher-librarian, students visited the library and left empty handed. Some students wandered back and forth from the fiction to the non-fiction sections of the library, to the online catalog, and back to the shelves again. When observing the student’s indecisiveness, I would ask the child if I could…
Early in my career as a teacher-librarian, I regretfully encouraged younger students to read only fiction books. I steered them away from non-fiction because I saw informational texts (Common Core term) as uninteresting compared to works of fiction. I also believed that lower grade students would not be able to handle or understand informational texts.…
Since the 2014 publication of my book, Mama, I Want to See God, several people have purchased it for their unborn children or for their infants. In addition to these adult readers supporting me, their major purpose for purchasing my book was two-fold. First, they desired for their unborn children and/or infants to experience…
“Cover to Cover, Coast to Coast,” is the theme for this month’s celebration of Children’s Book Week (May 2-8, 2016). Throughout the year, but especially this week, the goal is to applaud the joy of reading for young people. Started in 1919, Children’s Book Week initiative has become one of the longest-lasting national literacy program…
Greetings and Welcome to the Connecting Readers to the Word: Children’s Bookroom Blog! My blog will officially launch on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. As a retired teacher-librarian, reading, and music teacher, I am an advocate of children’s literacy. According to the 2015 Nation’s Report Card, only 36% of 4th grade students and 38% of 8th…