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Guest Blogger Rachael Walker is the Outreach Consultant for Reading Rockets, a national multimedia initiative which aims to inform and inspire parents, teachers, childcare providers, and others who touch the life of a child by providing comprehensive, accessible information on how to teach kids to read and help those who struggle. Rachael began her career in literacy outreach at Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), has also served as a consultant to the NEA’s Read Across America campaign, and was most recently the Executive Director of Reach Out and Read of Metro DC.

Teaching reading is a hugely complicated task Kind of like rocket science! So what better way to support the efforts of parents and educators to launch young readers than to have a multimedia initiative called Reading Rockets which looks at how young children (preschool through grade 3) learn to read, why so many kids struggle, and what can be done to help.

The Reading Rockets project is comprised of PBS television programs (available on the web, videotape, and DVD), the websites ReadingRockets.org and ColorinColorado.org, and professional development opportunities. Reading Rockets reaches out to local communities through more than 40 national partners, including First Book.

There’s also the folks at WETA (the flagship public television station in our nation’s capital), who along with a group of expert advisors, make the Reading Rockets project fly. Our mission is to provide the best resources on how to prepare and teach children to read – and inspire a joy for reading. We are excited to share some of those resources and the latest and greatest in children’s literacy with you on this blog!

Every month, you’ll hear from me or my colleague, Reading Rockets manager Tina Chovanec. You’ll also get to regularly hear from one of the Reading Rockets sister projects: LDOnline.org, the world’s leading website on learning disabilities and ADHD; AdLit.org, which focuses on helping students from fourth through 12th grades to read and write better; and ColorinColorado.org, a comprehensive bilingual website for Spanish-speaking families and teachers of English language learners.

Right now we’ve all got summer reading on our minds. If you’re looking to help families get ready for summer and to launch kids to fun, enriching summertime experiences, Reading Rockets, AdLit.org and LDOnline have put together “virtual beach bags” of activity ideas and materials to download and distribute.

This summer I’m looking forward to catching up on some of the recently published books for children and teens, like Rick Riordan’s latest Percy Jackson adventure, The Battle of the Labyrinth. And I can’t wait to find out what happens with Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks when they are back on Gardam Street.

What’s on your summer reading list?

Why do I love Halloween? Because you get to wear costumes! Wouldn't it be seriously cool if you could wear a different costume every day? I know the cynical are thinking, don't we already?
Tomorrow starts my online gallery exhibit! The exhibit will include some select paintings and a special treat--newly discovered drawings, like the cool one above. Very exciting. Tell a friend! The gallery will run until the end of November, so stop by often and buy some cool art. :)
Link: http://www.ronniannhall.com/painting.html