Connecting Readers and Writers to the Word: Let’s Celebrate!

The plate appears full for the month of October. Let’s carve out some time to observe the below events! Readers and Writers: Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) You may also recognize this celebration as:: Latino Heritage Month, Latinx Heritage Month, or Latine Heritage Month. The theme for 2023: Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress […]

Connecting Readers and Writers to the Word: National Library Week

“There’s More to the Story”Celebrating National Library WeekApril 23-29, 2023 Why celebrate libraries? Not because I retired as a teacher-librarian at the end of last school year. Not because I love libraries. But maybe loving libraries is a great reason to celebrate. Overall, we can observe and recognize our libraries because they hold many stories […]

Children’s Bookroom: INSPIRATION to WRITE

A story exists in each of us. I encourage children and adults to find inspiration to write. Ideas can come from a variety of sources: Pictures Newspaper or magazine articles Sunday school lessons or sermons Events in one’s own life Events in other people’s lives Shared conversations (with permission and without revealing sensitive info that could personally […]

Children’s Bookroom: Readers Theater

Do you have students or children who need a boost of confidence in reading? Readers Theater is a great idea to accomplish this task. I have never observed a child who did not enjoy participating in a Readers Theater performance.  Readers Theater is a presentation in which children perform by reading speaking parts of literature […]

Children’s Bookroom: CREATING YOUR OWN LITERACY EVENT

As parents, teachers, and librarians, it takes a little creativity to encourage and motivate children to read. I would like to provide a few tips to inspire your young readers. Visit the National Day Calendar (http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com) for interesting themes to celebrate. You can locate themes by the day, week, and/or month. For example, yesterday, January […]

Children’s Bookroom: READING TO WRITE

I often tell my students “good readers write and good writers read.” In my opinion, writing and reading are inseparable. The connection between reading and writing is essential to a child’s literacy development. Teachers and parents can nurture a child’s imagination through writing. An article in The Science of Learning affirms the importance of writing […]

Children’s Bookroom: HOOKED ON BOOK SERIES

Is it a struggle to get your child to read? Your child might say, “I just don’t like to read or “Do I have to read?” Of course, there are many possible reasons for this. However, it is not always the obvious, such as your child experiencing reading difficulties. Some children read well, but do […]

Children’s Bookroom: Book Festivals

This week, I am straying from my normal post of children’s literacy issues to talk about book festivals. Many book festivals around the country will host them next month, in September, and the months to follow. Fostering literacy and encouraging the enjoyment of literature in young children and even in adults remains to be an important function […]

Children’s Bookroom: BOOKS TO MOVIES: MOTIVATING CHILDREN TO READ

Do you know of children who do not like movies? I do not. Do you know of children who do not like to read? I do! In fact, over the course of twenty-two years in education, I have run across many children who say they do not like to read. We know there are many contributing […]

Children’s Bookroom: CLOSED-CAPTION TO REINFORCE LITERACY

Closed-caption, subtitled television shows, and movies can assist in supporting literacy skills for early readers, struggling readers, English Language Learners (ELLs), students with learning disabilities, deaf and hard of hearing children and adults. Other formats for closed-caption might include DVDs, music videos, video games, and online streaming or content. Research reveals using closed-caption programming in […]