This week, my oldest daughter read with her teacher. While she was excited to tell me that she had gone up a reading level, she was most excited to let me know about her teacher’s subjective comments. She let Caroline know that she read with beautiful expression. And then that teacher must have gotten her […]
Read moreYesterday, the girls and I were lucky enough to meet Tad Hills, author of the Duck and Goose books and most recently, How Rocket Learned to Read. Rocket, we learned is modeled after Tad’s real dog which is no surprise. It was interesting, though, to hear how, when Tad decided that the bird in the story would […]
Read moreMy school district uses leveled books which is a method that I stand firmly behind philosophically. Thank goodness. I have fielded question upon question from parents who are frustrated by the system and feel like their children are lagging behind in reading. Leveled reading takes place within a guided reading curriculum. According to Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, authors of […]
Read moreSo… for those of you who are in to tv, imagine being asked to sit on the panel for the Emmy’s? If you like movies, suppose you got to choose this year’s Oscar winners? Well, welcome to my excitement! Since the Cybils began in 2006, I have been following the nominations and the winners closely. The Cybils, […]
Read moreI must admit that I get a little bit star struck by authors. I am so amazed by their talent and the worlds they create in their minds. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to meet Suzanne Collins, the author of the wildly fantastic Hunger Games and instead of the thousands of questions I […]
Read moreThe other night, the girls and I laughed and laughed as we read Kate DiCamillo’s latest book, Bink & Gollie. I am always amazed at DiCamillo’s versatility as an author but that is a post for another day. Today’s post is all about comprehension. Parents talk to me all the time about flashcards, workbooks and […]
Read moreMy oldest started second grade this fall and with this change came more homework. Caroline is awfully tired at the end of the day and while she is an excellent student, doing homework is not high on her list. Each night she must do one sheet of math problems and a word study activity. Following […]
Read moreLong before I actively started blogging here, I read and read and read other’s children’s literacy blogs. One of my favorites is the Book Chook. While the blog itself is fantastic, I am particularly fond of the magazine, Literacy Lava, edited and published by the Book Chook’s owner. The sixth issue of Literacy Lava, a […]
Read moreYesterday morning, I paused outside of my daughter’s door to hear my girls reading. Without the help of a teacher, they were participating in a shared reading of a repetitive text. My seven year old used her decoding skills to target any unfamiliar words while my four year old built her reading confidence and sight word knowledge by reciting […]
Read moreParents often search for computer programs, workbooks and expensive tutoring centers to help their children love books and learn to read. Fortunately, the answer is much closer to home and much more simple. There a million different things I could point out here. For example, simply having books, the real paper kind, in your home can […]
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