Adult book club inspires the young

What can an adult book discussion do for young children? More than I'd imagined.

A friend of mine copied me on an email she'd sent out for her first grade son with, of course, a note to the recipients' parents. This 7-year old wanted to share books with his friends much as his mother did with hers.

Rafe wrote that he wanted to "start a book club with you…It will be all kids' books, of course. We can go in order for who picks the book, or we could all decide together, or the moms (or dads) could make suggestions and we could all decide together."
He goes on to suggest a book (Charlie & The Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl because his class had read Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and watched the movie) as well as a time and place (his house where his mom will provide snacks).

Rafe added that "moms and dads are invited if they want to give suggestions about things to talk about."

Children more often than not do what adults do, not necessarily what adults say to do. My friend understands that and is providing her children with a model to build friendship, fun, and learning, around books.

Not only is Rafe inspired to read and talk about books, the book club (which won't meet until next month) has inspired another child to try to read a longer book. Whether he reads it with his parents or independently really doesn't matter as much as the fact that he's willing to become part of a community of readers and talkers and maybe even thinkers.

I'll have to think about books that may be appealing to a young, fledgling book club. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

Apple-picking time

Some have exotic names like Rome Beauty or Fuji. Others suggest fun — think 'Gala.' Still others suggest a tasty treat: red or golden delicious.

But they're apples all. And I for one associate these crunchy delights with fall. Maybe it's because we've gone apple picking each autumn since our son was in preschool.

Recently, I was looking for another local orchard, I came across a mention of Johnny Appleseed, an endlessly interesting character who's credited with sowing apple seeds across the country.

A recent book by Jane Yolen called Johnny Appleseed: The Legend and the Truth (HarperCollins) puts fact and fiction side-by-side in a handsomely illustrated book that calls out to be shared with children from 5 up. (The book is out just in time to help celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday next week.)

I'm also reminded of books that children can be encouraged to explore how, where, and why apples grow. Easy science books like Gail Gibbons' Apples (Holiday House) and How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro (HarperCollins) intrigue children and just may spark interests that go off into other areas (seasons and weather changes, for starters).

From fact to fiction, the change of seasons can signal new activities and good reading.

Next week is the National Book Festival . Stay tuned for more information about some of the luminaries that will appear on the National Mall in DC!

Are word searches a waste of instructional time?

A question came to me via the Ask the Expert service that Reading Rockets provides. With the teacher's permission, I'm including it here to get your opinion.

Question:
We were recently told by an administrator that research shows that crossword puzzles and word search puzzles have no educational value. We have been forbidden to use them in our classes. As teacher of English Language Learners, we have found that both of these are valuable tools to use with our kids. Do you know of any research that would support our position?

My answer:
Your question is an interesting one! I know of no research that supports the use of word searches with students as a means to student achievement. That makes sense to me, though...few skills that translate to reading and writing are developed through their use. I guess one could build an argument that there are some near-point (i.e., copying) skills being used, but the relationship of near-point skills to reading isn't very strong.

Crossword puzzles, however, seem entirely different, especially if students are not provided with a bank of words to use with the puzzle. I think an argument could be made for vocabulary development through their use. You might want to see if your administrator could elaborate on his or her concerns about crossword puzzles.

The teacher's reply:
Here's the thing for us as ESL teachers. We use word searches as a way to reinforce vocabulary students are learning through reading. I work with first graders, so as they search the words, they learn to look for consonant clusters, vowel combinations and the like.

I also feel it does help to develop their visual acuity for recognizing English words. They love the word searches, and even those kids who struggle with language and/or reading love to do them and feel as if they've accomplished something great when they're finished. They like to compete with one another and are excited about working with words. To us, those are pluses.

We, too, think the crossword puzzles are a no-brainer. We also suspect that this was a case of prohibiting everyone from something because a few people are indiscriminately using them as busy work.

My questions to blog readers:
What do you think? Clearly this teacher thinks there are enough benefits to word searches to use them in her classroom. Her reasons are largely motivational, though. Are word searches a good use of educational time?

Books as play

Recently I was looking for a birthday gift for a soon-to-be five year old girl. As I wandered into the toy department of a well known chain store, I was struck by the number of toys that included some kind of electronic noise or light — a gimmick to grab attention.

I heard guitars without strings, came across talking dolls (fuzzy and not), and even digital cameras for the very young. There were animals that talked, clocks that asked questions, and more.

While I understand that entertainment and education are not mutually exclusive, I do wonder these toys leave enough space for a child's creativity and imagination.

The dog days of summer seem to be a particularly relaxed time to share stories or even create them before children and parents gear up for Fall and the start of another school year.

Books can spark child-centered and child-initiated play — and, of course, are very portable playthings.

Have you ever asked a child what they might take on a trip to the pool or beach or how they might travel there? Even if you don't actually go, you may want to share How Will We Get the Beach? (North South Books). This clever and attractive book in both English and Spanish is a guessing game that introduces different modes of transportation, colors, and believe it or not, reasoning. It's great fun to figure out how the mom and baby with all of their prize possessions will get to the beach.

Closer to home, children may want to help with outdoor chores such as mowing and hoeing. Join the adult wolf and his child and try to figure out what the mishap will be in another bilingual (Spanish English) book called Can I Help? (North South Books).

Or imagine what your container of valuable would hold as the boy does in The Treasure Bath (Holt). In this wordless picture book, a boy bathes as he and his mom wait for a cake to bake. The bathtub becomes a fish-filled ocean with a treasure chest complete with soaps and shampoos just right to clean up for bed — and a piece of cake.

And so, for the gift I was looking for I wound up at my local bookstore and got the birthday girl an imaginative gift that didn't even need batteries.

Building comprehension, one corpse at a time

A runaway train. A ticking clock. Two young kids on an adventure they don't even know about. Sound exciting? That's the premise of the first episode of the Exquisite Corpse, a new project sponsored by The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

From the Exquisite Corpse site:

Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud.

Teachers have used a similar strategy in the classroom for years, but I've usually seen it done orally. Kids sit in a circle, begin a tale, and move around the circle adding and shifting the storyline with each student. One lucky student gets to wrap it up with an ending that pulls it all together.

From a reading teacher's perspective, this is great practice. To build a successful story, students have to pay attention, formulate their own storyline, and further the plot by providing information that builds on what they've learned so far. Sounds like great comprehension work to me!

Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, has written the first episode of this Exquisite Corpse, which is "pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here, so go ahead and just start reading!" And that's no joke. Scieszka drops hints about several interesting things that may unfold with the story, including an elephant clown party, real ninjas, fake vampires, a roller-skating baby and more.

There will be a new episode and illustration every two weeks, for a year. The readability seems to be around second or third grade, but the comprehension work can span into many other grade levels.

For teachers, The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and the Butler Center for Children's Literature at Dominican University have developed a companion educational resource center to support the project. For this episode, the resources include a list of other cliffhanger books kids might like, activities for the classroom that focus on synonyms and antonyms, figurative language, a guide to the characters, and some information about the artwork that accompanies episode one.

Here at Reading Rockets, we have our own "Exquisite Prompt," and you can learn more about the prompts, author/illustrator resources, and rules here.

I think we'll be giving the Exquisite Corpse a try around our house. Care to join me?

Children, start your letter writing

It is the time of year when many children sit down to write an important letter addressed to the North Pole. Other children pen thank you notes and party invitations during this busy time of the year. Some say letter writing is a lost art, but it doesn't have to be!

An Introduction to Letter Writing covers activities for many common types of letter writing, including formal and informal letters, thank you notes, letters of complaint, and more. For kids who prefer to work online, or need a more step-by-step approach, try Read, Write, Think's Letter Generator. It's set up to help kids write either a friendly letter or a business letter.

For character-related fun, the Arthur section on the PBS Kids website has a Letter Writer Helper that shows kids the various parts of a "good old-fashioned" letter, an email, a greeting card, and a postcard. Staying within that site, kids can use Letters To to help them write to Arthur, Francine, Sue Ellen, or The Brain.

If you're wondering whether you have realistic expectations about your child's writing, some of the links within this section on Education.com can help you understand what to expect in writing by age and grade.

Whatever the reason for writing, hopefully these resources will help.

Comprehension posters for your classroom

I recently stumbled on a site that promises to consume far too much of my time! But I love the possibilities of Pinterest, a virtual pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the great things you find on the Web in a very visual way. It's free to join, but there's an invitation process you'll see on the site.

People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, share their favorite recipes, and I'm using it this week to share some ideas about reading comprehension. I created this Reading Rockets Pinterest board on comprehension as a way to share some (mostly teacher made) posters for the classroom. The comprehension board also includes a bookmark and a poster that are more of a produced product, but I liked the content.

Good classrooms have good stuff on the walls. When I wrote What does a good classroom look like? back in 2008, I described what I like to see when I go into a classroom. Without question, I like to see student work and posters that reflect the hard work going on in the room. Many of the comprehension pins I've put on our first Reading Rockets Pinterest board reflect my penchant for interactive displays of the work of reading. Most are teacher-made, with students contributing to the content. Hopefully you'll get an idea or two from this board, with more to come! Just click the image to see the full posting that includes the content I like.

I'll be making other Pinterest boards for Reading Rockets in the future. I'll probably organize them by content (front runner topics include fluency, classroom libraries, and management ideas). If you have something you'd like to share with our readers, let me know and I'll figure out how to pin it!

Dramatic science, and a calendar too!

There's always good stuff going on behind the scenes here at Reading Rockets. For example, right now we're working on a series of new Ed Extras.

Wait! You don't know what an Ed Extras is? Ed Extras are free monthly information sheets written for parents. They can be used in parent newsletters, as handouts or reading materials for parent conferences, or to help you talk with parents about a specific aspect of reading. The one page articles are available as a formatted PDF or Word document, in both English and Spanish. We have over 60 articles ready for use, archived by category.

Our newest series of Ed Extras will have a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). What is STEM? What does it look like at my child's school? How can I foster STEM skills at home? Those questions and many more will be answered through the new series. We'll have one-pagers on fostering observational skills, discussing patterns and categories, solving problems and more. We'll describe the scientific process, fact vs. hypothesis, and how to explore science in your backyard. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In gathering materials for our new series, I came across Early Years, a great blog that was new to me. It's one of the blogs from the National Science Teachers Association and it's full of tips and classroom resources for early childhood school science educators. Through reading that and browsing the NSTA site, I read this fun article called Dramatic Science about using acting techniques "to develop science process skills and passion for science." The authors describe eight dramatic science strategies (for example, freeze frame, hot seating, and miming movements) and themes to develop process skills like formulating questions, observing and inferring and predicting. I also found this fun science calendar for October that comes from the NSTA publication Science & Children.

Enjoy those resources, and look for many more coming soon!