Reading Rockets News

In Focus

Who can resist the charm and spirit of poets like Jack Prelutsky, Nikki Giovanni, or Dr. Seuss? Or colorful characters like Ramona Quimby and her sister Beezus?

April is a month of celebrations around books and reading — scan the calendar and you'll find National Poetry Month, National Library Week, Drop Everything and Read Day (happy birthday, Beverly Cleary!), and El día de los niños. Explore our rich library of poetry, multicultural literature, and author interviews, as well as information about choosing the right books for your children, in our Books & Authors section.

Using Poetry to Teach Reading

Children are naturally drawn to humor, rhyme, and rhythm, and these are all found in poetry. Find out how to use poetry to motivate kids to read and as a tool to build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
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Slipping Past the Intellect: Poets on Poetry

Listen in as six acclaimed children's writers explore the power and beauty of poetry. "There's always the 'Aha!' There's a catching of the breath that happens, and I hear it all the time from audiences when I read," says Nikki Grimes, author of It's Raining Laughter, 12 joyful poems about growing up.
Watch video >

Assessing the Growth of Young Readers

Testing. It's a critical tool for understanding whether or not a child is making good progress towards benchmark reading goals, and for demonstrating the effectiveness of instruction. It's also a controversial topic. What are the best tools for assessment? What does adequate yearly progress really mean? And what are the benefits and consequences of high stakes testing? To learn more, visit our Assessment and Evaluation section.
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Meet the Experts: On Track for Reading Success

Watch and listen as Dr. Mary Ruth Coleman talks about the parent role in the assessment process. In a second video clip, Dr. Roland Good discusses assessment and struggling readers. To learn more, watch the complete assessment webcast, part of our professional development series.

Go to video on parent involvement >
Go to video on struggling readers >

Sound It Out: A Reading Rockets Blog

What is a high-quality preschool?
Around our town, parents of preschoolers are busy observing in classrooms and filling out lengthy application forms for next year's preschool. I'm often asked what to look for in a good preschool program…
Read more >

Featured in LearningStore: The Source for Reading Fluency

This extensive resource provides important information and strategies to help non-fluent readers increase their speed of reading. A chapter on assessment presents information on testing instruments commonly used. Progress charts, reinforcement pages, word and syllable lists, and resource and reference lists round out this great resource.
Go to LearningStore >

Word Up! Visit Our Adolescent Literacy Sister Site

AdLit.org, our new sister site for parents and educators of kids in grades 4-12, offers research-based articles, teaching strategies, parent tips, book recommendations, author interviews, an exclusive blog, an "Ask the Expert" forum, and a monthly e-newsletter.

Daily Children's Literature Quiz

Where do Danny and Walter travel once they find a game in the park? Enter today's children's literature quiz for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com!
Go to quiz >

A Sneak Peek at What's Coming Up

Did you know our website is always updated on the first of each month? Take an early look at our summer reading section, and swing by on May 2 for a fresh crop of resources, including our new professional development webcast on summer reading.
Go to home page >

Books & Authors

Hearing the Voice: Our Interview with Ashley Bryan

Born in Harlem and educated at Cooper Union, Ashley Bryan is an eclectic artist who uses painting, poetry, music, collage, prose, and performance to tell stories. Among his award-winning works are African folktales, told in the distinct, rhythmic style that comes from an oral tradition. "Listen for the sound of the voice in the printed word," he says.
Go to video interview >

From Our Bookshelf: April Delights

Butterflies, birds, bees, and seeds. It's April, and mother nature is waking up and shaking off her winter sleep. Meet an interesting cast of animal characters and celebrate spring in this sunny collection of books for kids ages 3-9 years.
Go to booklist >

You Asked… and Beverly Cleary Answered!

In February, we put a call out to Beverly Cleary fans everywhere: Have you ever wanted to ask Mrs. Cleary a question about her much-loved books, the vivid characters she created, or her life as a writer? You responded with more than 500 entries, and we selected about a baker's dozen for Mrs. Cleary to answer. Listen in…
Go to interview >

El día de los niños/ El día de los libros, April 30

Borrowing from a traditional Mexican holiday, El día de los niños/ El día de los libros is a day to celebrate children, literacy, and culture — and a reminder that sharing the joy of reading is important everyday.

Go to Día section >

Finding the Right Book Level

Different book leveling systems have unique ways of describing the age- and grade-level appropriateness of books. This chart provides equivalency information across six systems.
Go to chart >

Research & News

Which Teachers Leave the Classroom?

Lots of teachers leave the profession each year. A new research brief out by the Alliance for Excellent Education describes why teachers leave (retirement is only one answer) and which teachers are the most likely to leave. According to their research, teachers with high academic credentials are more likely to leave teaching than those with strong education credentials.
Go to full brief >

The State of Preschool 2007

What's the data on preschool? If you'd like to know national trends for enrollment in, quality of, and spending on preschool, here's your book. Published by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), the book also profiles state policies for preschool. This 2007 yearbook can be downloaded, or for a limited time, you can sign up to receive a free printed copy.
To read the report >

Automaticity Isn't Just for Reading

A new report written by the National Mathematics Advisory Board outlines key findings and recommendations for mathematics instruction in the United States. Similar to the process used by the National Reading Panel in 2000, this panel reviewed scientifically based mathematics research and reported their findings. Among the findings: students should achieve automaticity with addition and subtraction facts. This will enable them to use that information to tackle more complex algorithms.
To read the full report >

Ideas for Parents

Compost Your Way to Literacy

Here in the southeast it's time to start turning over our garden beds and getting them ready for spring. We found a terrific resource that incorporates spring and summer gardens with reading and writing skills. Children are encouraged to write questions and observations in a summer garden journal that you'll be sure to keep!
Go to website >

Starring Young Kids and Parents

There's a new 8-minute video on the Get Ready to Read site that shows how parents can use common everyday activities to promote reading and writing, even in the youngest children. When parents and children watch Raising Readers together, the fun and learning begin!
Go to website >

Early Literacy and Language Development

This handy PDF from Zero to Three provides information on how early language and literacy skills unfold during the first three years of life. Includes information about early literacy behaviors and what young children like in books.
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Ideas for Educators

Do You Have Time to Make Up a Rhyme?

Looking for some new ways to share poetry with your class this month? Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) has several online poetry resources for you to explore. Included are two ideas for online poetry generation, booklists, and fun articles and tips.
Go to website >

Harnessing Parent Power

When families and teachers work together, great things are accomplished. Parent Involvement Matters is an organization that helps build collaborative communities and stronger schools. If you are seeking meaningful ways to involve parents at school, here's a place to start your research.
Go to website >

Wiggle, Tickles and Rhymes

Teachers of young children can never have enough good resources to provide parents. This booklet, written by the Pierce County Library, provides parents and teachers with over 30 pages of songs, fun, fingerplays, and games for the very little ones. Imagine the fun they'll have with these activities, especially the Elephant Song fingerplay. Pounding the floor for the next "elephant" to come is sure to bring smiles and giggles!
Go to website >

Featured Partners

American Library Association (ALA)

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information. ALA is the official sponsor of National Library Week.

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

The Association for Library Service to Children is a network of more than 4,200 children's and youth librarians, children's literature experts, publishers, education and library school faculty members, and others committed to improving and ensuring the future of the nation through exemplary library service to children, their families, and others who work with children. ALSC is the national home of El día de los niños/ El día de los libros.

Memorable Quote

"Who shall kindle others must himself glow."
— Italian proverb

About Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets is a national educational service of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital. The Reading Rockets project is comprised of PBS television programs, available on videotape and DVD; online services, including the websites ReadingRockets.org, ColorinColorado.org, LDOnLine.org, and AdLit.org; and professional development opportunities such as teleconferences and webcasts.

Reading Rockets is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The goal of the project is to provide information on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. Learn about easy ways you can link to us to let others know about the many free resources available from Reading Rockets.

All the best from Reading Rockets:

• Noel Gunther, Executive Director
• Christian Lindstrom, Director, Learning Media
• Shalini Anand, Technical Web Manager
• Kelly Andrews, Project Coordinator
• Lydia Breiseth, Project Associate
• Katie Chase, Associate Editor
• Tina Chovanec, Manager, Reading Rockets
• Kelly Deckert, Web Producer
• Laurie Fry, Publicist
• Ashley Gilleland, Associate Producer
• Sun Kim, Web Coordinator
• Alan Lundy-Ponce, Director, Learning Media Websites
• Joanne Meier, Ph.D., Research Consultant
• Rachael Walker, Outreach Consultant

Newsletter editors: Joanne Meier and Tina Chovanec