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Today's Reading News
Each weekday, Reading Rockets gathers interesting news headlines about reading and early education. Please note that Reading Rockets does not necessarily endorse these views or any others on these outside websites.
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KIPP: Learning a Lesson from Big Business
Business Week
February 09, 2010
The charter school powerhouse uses motivational techniques inspired by America's top corporations, to impressive effect.
Love Stories: Top 10 Valentine's Books for Your Kids
Idaho Statesman (ID)
February 09, 2010
There are lots of Valentine's Day stories to engage and entertain children. The owner of Rediscovered Bookshop in Boise shares her top 10 Valentine's Day books for kids.
The New York Times (NY)
February 09, 2010
Susan Engel, senior lecturer in psychology and the director of the teaching program at Williams College, says our current educational approach — and the testing that is driving it — is completely at odds with what scientists understand about how child development. Simply put, what children need to do in elementary school is not to cram for high school or college, but to develop ways of thinking and behaving that will lead to valuable knowledge and skills later on.
(Opinion) We Have to Teach Children *Content* Too
Early Ed Watch blog
February 09, 2010
Dan Willingham, one of our favorite cognitive scientists, wrote a lucid critique of Susan Engel's op-ed "Playing to Learn." Engel's lack of focus on content is one reason Willingham had a problem her argument. He also worries that relying solely on progressive principles could leave many children without the more challenging teacher-student interactions they need to reach new levels of understanding.
Percy Jackson: My Boy's Own Adventure
The Guardian (U.K.)
February 09, 2010
Rick Riordan's son, Haley, has dyslexia and ADHD. Aged nine, he refused to read, but loved Greek myths so Rick turned his boy into a latterday hero — Percy Jackson — in a series of bestselling books and now a Hollywood movie
The New York Times (NY)
February 08, 2010
Haven Academy in the South Bronx is the first school in the New York City designed for children from broken homes. A third of its K-2 students are in foster care. Of all the supplies at the school, it is the squishy — a colorful rubber ball with dozens of tentacles that can withstand the strength of any young student — that daily absorbs a fit of anger or a mess of tears.
Books in Hawaiian Language Fill a Void
Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
February 08, 2010
For a while, Sam L. No'eau Warner was translating children's books written in English into Hawaiian. Some of the stories were big hits with students in Hawaiian immersion programs, like No, David! which became 'A'ole e Kawika! But others were fraught with cultural conflicts which made translation imprecise or awkward. If only books for young readers of the Hawaiian language were written in the Hawaiian language. Warner almost reluctantly realized that the task fell to him.
Valentine's Day Ideas at the Wilmington Memorial Library
Wilmington Advocate (MA)
February 08, 2010
For a wonderful and cheap Valentine's Day, why not give the gift of reading to the one you love? The Wilmington Memorial Library has staff picks, new movies, books for borrowing and for sale, and many activities for Valentine's week.
African American Children's Book Fair Includes Illustrators Who Plot Life Lessons
Philadelphia Daily News (PA)
February 08, 2010
Later this month, children's book illustrators along with authors and publishers will share their work with fans at the 18th annual African American Children's Book Fair held at the Community College of Philadelphia. The award-winning illustrators attending this year's event understand the importance of artwork in children's literature and of making books accessible to young readers.
Reading: It Can Take You Places
Sun Journal (NC)
February 08, 2010
Within a circle of children seated on the carpet of New Bern Mall listening to a story, 4-year-old Julia Phelan was standing transfixed, her eyes wide. Julia came to the mall with her mother and sister for Reading Fun Day, a free literacy outreach event for children organized by the Twin Rivers Council of the International Reading Association, the Craven County Association of Educators, Craven Smart Start and the Sun Journal's Newspapers in Education program.
Reading Gives DPS Grad Voice and Choice in Life
Detroit Free Press
February 05, 2010
Amiya Olden could have been a poster child for a reading crisis that affects nearly 2 million Michigan residents older than 16: They read below a sixth-grade level, sometimes way below, which makes it difficult to function, to find jobs and to improve their lives. But Olden is nobody's victim. Instead, she's a shining example of what is possible in Michigan if we stop fighting a reality that results from years of residents earning prosperity in jobs that didn't require high reading levels.
Getting a Read on Colorado Schools
Denver Post
February 05, 2010
The dream and mission of the public education system is equal opportunity. The ideal is tested constantly by the day-to-day reality of how classrooms across Colorado deliver that opportunity. From Adams County to Aspen, from third-grade reading to sophomore social studies, snapshots of life in the classroom offer different pictures of skill, funding, achievement, teaching style and student engagement.
"Reading Millionaires" Honored At Women's Basketball Game
UConn Huskies
February 05, 2010
"Husky Reach", the community service program of the UConn Division of Athletics, concluded the second year of its reading initiative on Tuesday night with the Verplanck Elementary School in Manchester, Conn. This year's program was called "The Reading Millionaires Plus: A Roaring Reading Challenge". At the beginning of the school year, UConn student-athletes extended a challenge to this year's Verplanck students, encouraging them to top the mark of one million minutes of reading that was accomplished in 2008-09.
UK: Percy Jackson, a Hero with Dyslexia?
The Guardian (UK)
February 05, 2010
At first sight, the young hero of Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief doesn't have much going for him. Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is dyslexic, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, keeps getting thrown out of schools and hasn't seen his father for years. He has a nasty, sneering stepfather. The good news is that he is a Greek demigod, with supernatural powers. But that's a bit of a mixed blessing, too. Indeed, the further we get into the book, the more we discover the down side of being half boy, half god.
For Jerry Pinkney's Bunch, Books Bind a Literary Dynasty
USA Today
February 04, 2010
Caldecott Award-winner Jerry Pinkney, his wife Gloria Pinkney, their son Brian and his wife, Andrea Davis Pinkney, have all been published. Younger son Myles and his wife, Sandra, combine photography and words for picture books. "It's a dynasty," says poet Nikki Grimes.
Reading Dream: Connecting Kids with Books
Lewisboro Ledger (NY)
February 04, 2010
Andrea Kantor was looking for a way to keep her daughter's Girl Scout troop together — a cause for them to embrace. So she founded "Reading Dream," a local nonprofit organization that collects children's books and sends them to school districts and libraries in need around the world
Groundbreaking Education Research Presentation Coming to Needham
The Needham Times (MA)
February 04, 2010
The Needham Education Foundation is hosting a presentation by Harvard reading researchers Nonie Lesaux, Perla Gamez, and Joan Kelley. They say that encouraging your children to read is essential, but it is only a piece of the academic puzzle. Their research concludes that children need exposure to academic vocabulary and practice using academic words in order to read and understand middle school and high school textbooks, and ultimately achieve in school.
Five Picture Books Capture a Tropical Getaway
The Cleveland Plain Dealer (OH)
February 04, 2010
On a family excursion to Belize, 4-year-old Daniel glanced up to ask me, "Grammy, are we still on Earth?" I assured him that we were, even though it did feel a bit unreal. I am sending him these books so that he can remember our trip.
Leader-Post (Canada)
February 04, 2010
Honored earlier this year for a lifetime of work in literacy, Dr. Margaret Lipp says it extends far past just reading and writing. "Literacy is the core of who you are. It is the foundation of all you have learned … It's expressed through your culture, through your language … it's your ability to learn new skills, the mathematics, the physics, the problem solving — all of this is based on your level of literacy."
Kids Books Focus on Black History Month
Washington Post
February 03, 2010
February is Black History Month, a time to honor such great African Americans as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who dedicated his life to achieving equal rights for black Americans. It's also a time to celebrate ordinary people, and kids, too, who fought for equality. Here are some nonfiction (meaning true) and fiction books about African Americans from the days of slavery to the more recent days of Martin Luther King Jr.
Indianapolis Star
February 03, 2010
A legislative proposal to hold back third-graders who can't read very well is too little and way too late. If we want to avoid reading woes with our third-graders, we have to address the root of the problem: Our kindergartners, first-graders and second-graders aren't being taught right.
Newbery Winner 'When You Reach Me' is Lovely Homage to 'A Wrinkle in Time'
Modesto Bee (CA)
February 03, 2010
If you read a lot of books as a child, chances are good that "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle blew your mind. Rebecca Stead has written a middle-grade book called "When You Reach Me" (Wendy Lamb Books) in which L'Engle's book figures prominently. Stead's exquisitely crafted story won the Newbery Award last week, the prize for the most distinguished contribution to American children's literature.
8 Easy Ways to Get Digital Natives Wild about Reading
Huffington Post
February 03, 2010
Reading is more than just another avenue of entertainment for kids; it's the cornerstone of their education. Studies consistently show that frequent readers are better readers. True, getting millennial kids to put down their cell phones and pick up a book might seem like a David vs. Goliath-caliber battle--but, hey, look who won that fight. Here are eight simple suggestions for raising readers in a digital age.
Program Raises Readers — and Literacy Rates — One Little Book at a Time
Glenwood Springs Post Independent (CO)
February 02, 2010
Educators in area school districts are starting to collect hard data to help prove the Raising a Reader (RaR) program. Every fall, RaR provides participating preschool classrooms with red "Read to Me" book bags filled with age-appropriate books, both in English and Spanish, that encourage daily family reading time. Students take a bag home for one week, then trade it out for a new bag the next week.
'Terabithia' Author on Reading in a MySpace World
MomLogic.com
February 02, 2010
An interview with the new Ambassador for Young People's Literature Katherine Paterson. The beloved author of Bridge to Terabithia is now taking up the banner to get your kids (and you) to read more.
