Do you know this story? Are worried about it? Have you lived it? Maybe lived through it and have some ideas to share? Then this is your day!
On Tuesday, in her post at
Finding Wonderland, Tanita Davis explained that she saw
Share a Story as an event for the "wee ones." Admittedly, our goal is to encourage people to read early and often ... but we also want to encourage a lifelong love of reading, and we have to get through puberty (and lots of homework) to get there.
So who better to host today's theme -- and share all of the facets of the challenge -- than
Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, the dynamic duo of
A Year of Reading and regular contributors to
Choice Literacy, the "home on the web for
K-12 literacy leaders." (emphasis mine)
Here's how Franki starts us off ...
As a classroom teacher, I have always struggled with reading homework. I know that when reading is assigned, it feels like a chore to me, I don't like it and I go through the motions of reading and I don't want that for my students. But I also know that the amount of reading kids do, makes a difference.
Parents and librarians see the same thing ... we want to keep that passion ignited, but know that this is a mighty steep hill. Franki and Mary Lee have asked some of their blogging colleagues to talk about free v. assigned reading. They are also encouraging you to
share your thoughts so that we can have a really great discussion!
Here's today's lineup.
Wednesday. Already. What a week!
One of the things that makes the tour so special is not just that we share a passion for reading or sharing books with kids, but that we share parts of ourselves. Yesterday, it took three posts (!) for Chris Singer to share stories from dads about the gift of reading at Book Dads. What a wonderful follow-on to Paul W. Hankins' incredibly poignant, beautiful story about a student and a book on Monday. Talk about the power of a book! Both Chris and Paul are back again today, too!
Dawn Little and her guests at the Literacy Toolbox could fill a library with all of their great suggestions (Thanks Jen) for healthy readers (thanks Dawn). Amy Mascott of Teach Mama went a step beyond and showed us how to look beyond the words and images in sharing the gift At Book Loving Boys,Trina O'Gorman helped bring us full circle with her personal story about what happens when the kids get ahead of us.
For these past two days, we've been thinking and looking at literacy through a traditional lens. But change is afoot. There is no reason to think that we can't still keep and perpetuate those special moments of our kids sitting on our lap. But we may be using various media and digital ink.
Danielle Smith and her guests at There's a Book are looking at how those tools play a role in helping us learn to read and how we, as curators, can use them, too. Are they the be-all-to-end-all? Can we completely ignore them? Here's today's lineup. As posts go live, I will be back to link them.
- From Carisa Kluver @ Digital Storytime: With iPad books that look more like toys and entertainment how likely are they to be used as tools for literacy and how does it affect the reader, children
- From Eric Van Raepenbusch @ Happy Birthday Author Blog: Using video to extend the meaning of a book beyond its pages, teach basic skills, entertain, and provide primary sources of information. Eric's post includes examples of all these ideas, plus ideas to produce your own video as a literacy activity. And that’s not all....there are links to the sources of video I have used to write my blog.
- Chris Singer @ Book Dads talks about using the Nook Color with young, beginning readers.
- Pam van Hylckama Vlieg @ Bookalicio.us follows a similar line and talks about using technology to foster a love of reading in the home.
- Holly Slotkin shares her thoughts about using apps/iPhones/iPads/Tablets/etc. @ LitLad.
- Our friend and founding Share a Story contributor Susan Stephenson does what she does best: explores online resources for reading and writing and offers suggestions on ways to engage kids with fun literacy games. Head Down Under to the Book Chook blog.
- Melissa Taylor shares a post about Reading on the Go. From r
Today's Writing @ Reading Prompts focus on the giving the gift of literacy. Our very good friend Mrs. P., is not only sharing her own thoughts about the gift of reading, but has a few other surprises. No, I'm not going to tell you up front!
Sharing the Gift of Reading
by Mrs. P.
A few years ago, a friend gave me a nightgown for my birthday that was so large I wound up using it as an emergency parachute in case I ever had to jump out of my second-floor bedroom. Last Christmas, I received a pair of red socks from my cousin that were so small I wound up using them as ear warmers for my cat.
There is, however, one gift I enjoy receiving even when it doesn’t fit. Sometimes especially when it doesn’t fit. That gift is a book.
Getting a book that doesn’t “fit” can open up your world in ways you never imagined. “Why I never showed the slightest interest in Ancient Egypt,” you think. “Why would someone give me a book about
that?” Then you read it and are transported back to a world so amazing and compelling, you read three more books about it simply because you don’t want to leave.
“Why would someone give
me a book about a racehorse? I’ve rarely gone to the races and have no special interest in horses.” But then you read
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by Laura Hillenbrand and are hypnotized; swept away against your will by the evocative writing and astonishing story.
Sometimes, I enjoy wandering through a library or bookstore and letting serendipity direct me to my next book. And if it’s the last thing I ever thought I’d read, odds are it’s going to be a fulfilling experience.
On my free website,
www.MrsP.com, I sit in a cozy chair by the fire and read classic stories to kids. It’s one of my favorite ways to share the gift of reading. My website features a library with dozens of tales, from the hilarious to the scary. I encourage kids to not just choose the stories that immediately strike their fancy, but to give others a try too. For some reason, those often turn out to be the stories that stick with you – and even change your life.
Or course, I realize it’s not always easy to persuade kids to read
anything if they haven’t developed a love and appreciation of books. To help parents with a child needing a bit of encouragement, and to celebrate Share a Story, Shape a Future, I’ve created a new,
free activity on my website.
It offers fun ideas about how you can – with very little time and money –
create magical, handmade books out of stories created by your child. And when a child sees a story woven out of thin air from her or his imagination turned into a
real book – well, I guarantee, that child will be a lot closer to understanding the power of books and the wonders of reading.
Thank you Mrs. P! You ARE the best reader in show biz!
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The handmade book activity if great. It's easy to find in the activity drop down menu under bookmarks/bookmaking too. I didn't realize the site had so many other free activities, so this article was very helpful! Thanks