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        <title>Reading Rockets: Today's Reading News</title>
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        <description>Launching Young Readers</description>
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<title><![CDATA[Students Quiz Education Sec. Arne Duncan]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38598</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:53:56 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has spent much of the back-to-school season talking with teachers and parents. His department recently oversaw the awarding of more than $4 billion to public schools in select states. While Duncan has addressed countless teachers in recent weeks, now, he tackles students' questions. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Students Face New Textbook Picks: Rent vs. Buy, Print vs. E-book]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38597</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:53:28 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ With another summer ending, the time has come to ask the perennial question: Could this be the year higher education finally embraces the e-book? Some think that developments since the last buying cycle, particularly the arrival of Apple's iPad computing tablet, might foreshadow an especially good year for electronic texts.
 ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[LA Board Wants Test Scores Part of Teacher Reviews]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38596</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:52:39 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The Los Angeles Unified School District board has endorsed the controversial system of using student scores on standardized tests as a way to measure teacher performance. The board on Thursday authorized district Superintendent Ramon Cortines to start negotiating with unions to develop a new system to evaluate teachers and administrators that includes using so-called value-added data. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Scholastic Books Revamps Its Marketing]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38595</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:52:06 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ When Karen Rice was a little girl, Santa Claus visited multiple times a year. At least it felt that way when Ms. Rice, now a 22-year-old elementary-school teacher in Elizabethtown, Ky., got the books she ordered from the Scholastic Book Club. This school year, however, Scholastic is taking a new approach to getting its books into classrooms. For the first time, it plans to reach teachers using a combination of social networking, expanded e-commerce and new back-to-school promotions, in addition to the standard paper catalogs.
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<title><![CDATA[Formula to Grade Teachers' Skill Gains Acceptance, and Critics]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38585</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:12:48 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ How good is one teacher compared with another? A growing number of school districts have adopted a system called value-added modeling to answer that question, provoking battles from Washington to Los Angeles &amp;mdash; with some saying it is an effective method for increasing teacher accountability, and others arguing that it can give an inaccurate picture of teachers' work. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Charter Schools Being Urged to Serve ELLs ]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38584</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:06:40 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ With support for charter schools growing across the country, some education and advocacy groups are calling on policymakers and educators to give more consideration to how charter schools can do a better job of serving the nation's increasing population of English-language learners. Just this month, two such Washington-based groups &amp;mdash; The National Council of La Raza and the Center for American Progress &amp;mdash; put out a report spelling out how state governments can change their policies to ensure charter schools serve ELLs well and tailor their programs for the needs of such students.  ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Florida State Parks Promoting Literacy]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38583</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:04:31 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ In conjunction with International Literacy Day on Sept. 8 and National Library Card Sign-up Month, gate entrance to all of Florida's state parks will be free on Friday, Sept. 10 through Sunday, Sept. 12 for visitors who bring a library card, library book or who donate a new or gently used family book. &quot;Florida Literacy Month is a perfect reminder that reading and writing can be enjoyed in many settings, including the outdoors,&quot; Florida State Parks Director Donald Forgione said. &quot;Reading a nature-themed book at a Florida State Park is one example of an exciting way for students and adults alike to learn about the environment while improving literacy skills.&quot; ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Scottish School Becomes First in World Where All Lessons Take Place Using Computers ]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38582</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:02:28 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Welcome to the world's first iSchool &amp;mdash; where pen and paper have been pushed aside in favor of computers. At Cedars School of Excellence, in Greenock, all the lessons are now taken using iPads. The pupils, aged from five to 15, will even do their homework on their new Apple handhelds. And the days of blackboards and chalk are gone too, as teachers use projectors and online lesson plans. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[In Washington, D.C., Public School Teachers Put to New Test]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38574</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:44:54 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Teachers in the District of Columbia are being reevaluated. Special correspondent John Merrow looks at a new test for teachers in the Washington, D.C. school district as part of his ongoing reporting on education.
 ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[A Promising Future for Preschoolers]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38573</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:44:00 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ When Flossmoor resident and University of Chicago economics professor John List sells his pet project, he spares little fanfare. &quot;The world is watching Chicago Heights on a big stage,&quot; List said. &quot;They want to know what works.&quot; List is referring to the Griffin Early Childhood Center, an all-day preschool in Chicago Heights School District 170. A $10 million grant from the Griffin Foundation will pay for the operation of the school, which opened Monday, for two years as part of a groundbreaking research experiment to determine the best approach to early childhood education. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[UK: Why Demon Heads of Children's Fiction are Role Models for Trainee Teachers]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38572</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:43:26 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ They may be sadistic figures who hate children, but a study suggests that the savage portrayal of headteachers in children's literature possesses a grain of truth and may even be helpful when it comes to training teachers who aspire to lead schools.

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<title><![CDATA[All-day Kindergarten Offered in 97 Percent of Iowa Districts]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38571</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:42:08 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Abby and Mary Kate Pelan shouldered their backpacks and headed off to kindergarten at St. Wenceslaus Catholic School in west Omaha. Unlike most of their fellow kindergartners across Nebraska and Iowa, however, the blond-haired twins attended classes for just half the day. That option is rapidly dwindling across Nebraska and western Iowa. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[The Cat Comes Back, in the Name of Science ]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38566</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:31:25 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Back in the 1950s Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, created &quot;The Cat in the Hat&quot; in response to concerns that American children were lagging in literacy. More than half a century later his floppy-hatted hero is being recruited again to help promote childhood learning: this time, though, it's keeping kids excited about science. On Labor Day PBS introduces &quot;The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!,&quot; a daily half-hour program based on Random House's Learning Library series. Martin Short is the voice of the Cat, who leads his young playmates on fanciful adventures in the natural science world, exploring how bees make honey, why birds migrate and how being slow helps a sloth. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Not Your Grandma's Kindergarten]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38565</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:29:05 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;Ethan was ready for school,&quot; Amy Charles said of her son, who began kindergarten at Grand Oaks Elementary on Aug. 9. However, when Ethan walked through those doors the first day, he was doing more than beginning his education, he was carrying on a family tradition of attending Anderson County Schools. Karen Bridgeman, director of communications for Anderson County Schools, said there is an important aspect that will make Ethan's experience different from that of his mother's and grandmother's. &quot;The maturity of the children is dramatically different,&quot; she said. &quot;Kids come to the classroom with so many more skills than they did before.&quot; ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Explorations V Children's Museum Aims to Increase Literacy]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38564</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:27:29 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Explorations V Children's Museum will launch a new educational program this fall that aims to increase literacy skills for hundreds of local pre-K students. The new one-day program will allow students to attend a group story time, complete activities based on their book's storyline, and conclude with a two-hour complimentary tour through the museum. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Literacy Program Off to Good Start]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38563</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:25:19 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Four weeks into the school year, 60 students are already becoming bilingual. At the Hall County Early Language Development Center, four classes of kindergartners are learning half of the day in English and half of the day in Spanish. &quot;The basis here is that children learn English faster if they're literate in their first language,&quot; said Lois Myers, who heads up the new center and is principal at Lyman Hall Elementary School.  The four teachers &amp;mdash; two English and two Spanish &amp;mdash; pair up with 30 students to teach reading and math objectives in English and Spanish each day. The science and social studies objectives are included in the reading portions of the day. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Kindergartens See More Hispanic, Asian Students]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38557</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:47:39 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The profile of the 4 million children starting kindergarten reveals the startling changes the USA has undergone the past decade and offers a glimpse of its future. In this year's class, for example, about one out of four 5-year-olds will be Hispanic.   ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Tips for Soothing the Back-to-School Jitters ]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38556</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:47:23 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Though some children can barely contain their excitement as they choose an outfit for the first day of school and gleefully shop for new supplies, many other students feel anxiety in the weeks before September, wondering what the new school year will bring. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[The Little Reading Program That Could]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38555</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:46:48 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ &quot;The Little Engine That Could&quot; is pulling into the area with the local inception of singer Dolly Parton's Imagination Library &amp;mdash; in part to instill an &quot;I-think-I-can&quot; attitude in Flagler County's youngest residents. The Flagler County Chamber of Commerce &amp; Affiliates, in partnership with several other agencies, is unveiling the program in which a free new book is mailed every month to children from birth until they turn 5. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[&quot;Over the Rainbow&quot;: Judy Collins Sings and Writes for Children  ]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38554</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:45:57 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ American music legend Judy Collins has turned her musical talents to a children's book entitled &quot;Over the Rainbow,&quot; which also features a three-song CD. In this interview, Collins describes her personal connection to the beloved song and shares some of her favorite illustrations from the book. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[An Alphabetical Urban Tour Teaches 'Barrio ABCs']]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38509</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:50:56 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist Quiara Alegria Hudes has gone back to the basics &amp;mdash; the very basics of the ABCs. Her latest project, a children's book called Welcome To My Neighborhood! A Barrio ABC, follows a young girl who takes her best friend on an alphabetical tour through her North Philadelphia neighborhood. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[For Rep. Moran, Reading to Kids Is Chance to Set Example]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38508</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:50:15 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) recently visited the Arlington Pediatric Center to read to children as part of &quot;Reach Out and Read,&quot; a national initiative designed to encourage young people to become lifelong readers. &quot;There's one thing that is more effective than anything else you can do&quot; to help children in their formative years, Moran said. &quot;That's for their parents, or for another caring caregiver, to read to them on their lap.&quot; ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Young Cancer Patient Writes Children's Book to Help Others]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38507</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:49:55 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ As soon as Deana Vega felt strong enough, she was back in the hospital where she'd spent nearly a year of her life battling leukemia to cheer on other young patients. Now Deana, 11, has recruited the help of two committed teachers to write a children's book about her experience for others coping with cancer entitled How My Sun Got Its Smile. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Summer Reading Program at Maple Shade Library Wraps Up]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38506</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:49:29 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Sandals and bare feet were the dress code at the Maple Shade Municipal Building recently. That's because there was a beach party going on. Children who participated in the Maple Shade Library's Summer Reading Club at the library were invited to the End-of-Summer Reading Beach Party complete with leis, live music, and reading certificates. ]]></description>


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<title><![CDATA[Teaching Parents How to Engage Kids with Art]]></title>
<link>http://www.readingrockets.org/news/38492</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:47:22 GMT</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Museums provide a unique interactive experience of getting up close to things we only see in books or on television. But for some families, because of language, cultural or economic barriers, museums may be seen as intimidating places where engaging children with art is a challenge. ArteJuntos/ArtTogether aims to remove those barriers. The bilingual program is designed to expand the literacy skills, social assimilation, and connection of new immigrant families &amp;mdash; primarily of Hispanic origin &amp;mdash; to museums. ]]></description>


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