My 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 […]
Read moreAs a mom and a literacy consultant, there are few things sweeter than stumbling across a new author. Amy Krause Rosenthal is one of those authors I would love to meet. I just think I would like her as both a person and as a writer. She clearly writes for the child and the adult […]
Read moreEveryday a summary of ‘reading in the news’ is delivered to my in-box courtesy of the fantastic organization, Reading Rockets. Today my eyes jumped to an editorial that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald titled, “A Love of Reading Means Everything to Children.” I knew this writer would be singing my song. While many of […]
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