What are you doing on October 6? How does breaking a world reading record while raising awareness about America’s achievement gap?
Join me and TLA, Inc. as we participate in
Jumpstart’s Read for the Record® presented in partnership with Pearson Foundation. Its a national campaign that mobilizes adults and children to close the early education achievement gap by setting a reading world record.
This annual campaign allows Americans to demand that all children receive the quality early education they deserve. On October 6, 2011, more than 2 million voices will call for an end to America’s early education achievement gap by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney – setting a world record in the process!
Get involved at www.readfortherecord.org to help Jumpstart close the early education achievement gap:
1. Pledge to Read: Submit your official pledge and help us reach more than 2.1 MILLION children.
2. Spread the Word: Use our simple tools to educate your friends and family about America’s early education achievement gap and invite them to read.
You can even become a partner, a facilitator in your community, calling hundreds of folks to read this delicious book on the same day.
For more information visit www.readfortherecord.org
While you're looking at this terrific children's book, perfect for youngsters with lots of rhythm and rhyme and interesting language, check out the
author's website or see her read the book on
YouTube.
Enjoy! When you read this book to your little llama or a group of little ones, tell us about the experience. What is your favorite part? What is your favorite word? How many times does the book include the phrase "llama, llama red pajama"? I've chosen a number between 1 and 32 - if you are that number of post on this blog, you'll get a chance to have the Literacy Ambassador call your little one (or come by if you live in North Alabama) and share her special version of this book delivered in Engaged Interactive Read Aloud technique to your chosen group of children. Join in the fun!
WHAT IS THE SUMMER READING SLUMP?
Most of you reading this blog have probably heard of the "summer reading slump". It's simply the idea that when children are away from reading, especially during the years in which their reading skills are developed, they lose ground in their abilities. They read less and their skills grow weaker. This is true for children just finishing kindergarten and first grade but it is equally true for older kids, even those who have been reading for years.
Think about bodybuilders or people who exercise. Once they stop exercising, their muscles quickly deteriorates or weakens because they aren't using them. It's the same with reading. Use it or lose it (I'm realizing that on the physical level more and more with each passing year --- I can barely hold up this stack of books)!
The counterargument I hear from parents and caregivers most often, in response to this idea of children reading in the summer, is, "don't the children deserve a break?"
That's why I advocate summer reading be on a different channel. Reading doesn't have to look or feel like school work. In the summer more than any other time, it should be fun with lots of free choice and lots of opportunities rather than a structured "you've got to read now" approach. Don't confuse academic activities -- something your child only does in a classroom -- with the many purposes for reading and writing. And every book they read during the summer vaccinates them again losing ground they have gained during the year.
READING AND WRITING AREN'T JUST FOR SCHOOL (Think bigger, broader)
Think about how we as adults use reading and writing as tools every day. We read menus, grocery lists and advertisements, articles and emails on the Internet; we do some reading when we are selecting vacation destinations or planning trips. Reading and writing is all around us. And the reality is that often those who are most successful, who deal with the complexities of the modern world more easily, are those who have strong skills in this area. They can quickly scan through a complex advertisement or document and understand what it's about. On the other hand, if someone isn't a very good reader or writer, it can keep him or her from a job he or she would like to have. Minimal skills can prevent anyone from making informed, quick decisions that could impact one's very life or livelihood.
Again, let's go back to other areas in real life: if a child wants to be a star basketball player like Koby Bryant (or if we have dreams of him doing so), practice is part of the equation. I can't think of a skill that's more important to practice than reading.
RADIO SHOWThis very topic was the subject of a recent radio interview I did with host Pat Montgomery of the
Parents Rule show on July 8th. If you weren't able to join us live, you can listen to a podcast of the show after the fact which I'll post as soon as it is available. One of the topics we d
On this week's Share A Story Shape A Future blogging event sponsored by The Reading Tub, they pose the question:
Who is the person who influenced you most as a reader?
Here she is with her first grandson (someone she also influenced as a reader):
My mom
She's gone now from this earth but she sits on my shoulder every day. I see her putting a bowl on her head and prancing around the kitchen, reciting Robert Louis Stevenson's poem, The Land of Counterpane. I expect it was a meaningful poem since my brother and I both had times of extended illness in which we were confined to bed. It made us giggle and we loved the rhythm and rhyme of the poetry.
I see her pouring over a book, occasionally with those silly black framed glasses from the 1950's on her nose - do you know the ones with the wings? Her two most favorite authors were Phyllis Whitney and Eugenia Price (Momma loved historical fiction). As soon as I was in 5th or 6th grade and was a strong enough reader to attack these novels, she began sharing them with me and we'd have play fights over who would get the newest title first.
Although I cannot remember the first time I heard this phrase, I can still see that dreamy look in her eyes when she would tell me "you can go anywhere in a book" I believed her and I still do.
All her children believed her and their children (Nana's grandchildren) do too. What an incredible legacy this little feisty woman from the coal-mining country of Virginia has passed along, simply because she loved reading and books.
Today, she remains an influence not only in my personal reading (I have a good book or three or four on my bedside stand all the time) but also in my work as The Literacy Ambassador. Her passion for reading and stories and talking and sharing inspire me to this day. They are the reason I am an enthusiastic and passionate speaker, writer and advocate for the fact that "there is a book for every child". I know that without the indelible impression she left, I would not be doing what I am today. She, in fact, is the core of the revolution I am starting with my two new books, Anytime Reading Readiness and Before They Read. To learn more about that revolution, visit Reading is For Everyone
You can also stay in touch on Twitter and Facebook where you'll find me as litambassador and on Linkedin
" I have always loved picture books. Growing up, I stared at my favorite for hours at a time wishing I could visit the magical worlds on its pages. Through drawing, I found a door and was seldom seen without a drawing pad tucked under my arm. When I drew, I lived in the stories that filled my head. Eventually, I put them to paper as well."
~ Elizabeth O. Dulemba ~
Elizabeth O. Dulemba, a.k.a. "e," is an award winning children's book author and illustrator. If you ask her, she will tell you that she was "beamed to this planet with a pencil in her hand. Once she stopped chewing on it, she began to write and draw." Given her interplanetary travels, she knows that paper books don't always travel well and that the future for books may be ... Nope, I'm going to let her tell you!
Day 5: Technology and Reading - What the Future Holds
is hosted by Elizabeth O. Dulemba at
Dulemba.comElizabeth has pulled everything into
one post today. She will also be publishing full-length interviews with her guests over the next few days. As they go live, we'll add the links. If you are interested in the subject, y\You will most definitely want to check out her resource list.
Cathy--you were great on Parents Rule yesterday. Gave the listeners so many great ideas and fun ways to encourage reading. Thanks for what you do!