Past Issues

In Focus

Teaching Writing: A New Webcast from Reading Rockets

Sit in on this lively discussion with three renowned reading and writing experts — Dr. Steven Graham, Dr. Louisa Moats, and Dr. Susan Neuman — as they discuss why writing is important, what the latest research tells us, and what educators and parents can do to support our children's development as writers.
Go to webcast >

Navigating the Writing Road

Writing can be an exciting adventure, but students need a clear roadmap to guide them, and the right tools. Energize the writing process by providing kids with powerful strategies centered around planning, organizing, writing, editing, and revising.
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Teaching Plot Structure with Picture Books

Picture books are quick reads and rich in characterization, mood, and dialogue. They are also perfect for teaching the young writer how to organize plot logically. This article describes basic plot structures (e.g., "toppling" stories and "rising action" stories) and provides lots of examples using specific books.
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The Basic Spelling Vocabulary List

Less than 1,000 words account for 80 percent of the words children use in their writing — the ones they need to know how to spell correctly. Here's a list of the core 850, arranged by grade level (1-5).
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Using Assistive Technology to Support Writing

Spelling, organizing ideas, and even the physical act of writing can be difficult and frustrating for many students with disabilities. Learn how technology — including graphic organizers, speech recognition software, and text-to-speech tools — can help struggling writers build confidence and skills.
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Pen to Paper: The Art of Writing a Letter

E-mail is fast and efficient communication. But a traditional letter adds a personal touch and is a great way to practice handwriting skills. From "Dear Sir" to "Dear Santa," it's all here in this comprehensive collection of activities to help your child become an accomplished letter writer.
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The Reading Reel: Family Stories

Writer and illustrator Patricia Polacco remembers listening to the elders in her family tell how things were — now she is the one who passes down family history. Watch the video, and then learn more about how to connect home, school, and literacy through family stories in this article from Reading Rockets.
Launch video >

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.
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From LearningStore: Writing Better

This practical guidebook by Steven Graham and Karen Harris shows elementary school teachers how to make systematic, explicit writing instruction part of their classroom. Ready-to-use exercises and worksheets are included.
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Daily Children's Literature Quiz

What author is known for his remarkable paper engineering? Enter today's children's literature quiz for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com! Congratulations to last month's winner, Frank from Pennsylvania.
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A Sneak Peek at What's Coming Up

Did you know our website is always updated on the first of each month? Stop by on April1 and you'll discover new features and research-based articles about reading incentives, poetry, Día de los Niños, Drop Everything and Read Day - and much more.
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Books & Authors

My Life as a Spy and Other Stories: Our Video Interview with Jack Gantos

Gantos' award-winning books tap into real true emotions, inspired by quirky characters from his own childhood. Meet the creative spirit who invented Rotten Ralph (the world's crankiest cat) and Joey Pigza, a boy who learns to deal with a complicated family and his own struggles with ADHD.
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From Our Bookshelf: Springing into March

Celebrate March and all things Spring: a birthday for Dr. Seuss, leprechauns, windy days, and nature walks. Jump into this eclectic set of fiction and non-fiction books for kids ages 3-9 years.
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Research & News

How Do Toddlers Learn Language?

Researchers at Indiana University are studying a theory that says young children learn language by "data mining." Their experimental studies suggest that young children may learn words using more of a systems approach formed through relationships among words rather than learning one word at a time.
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Kids and the Federal Budget

First Focus is an organization that encourages bipartisan federal policy advancements and investments in children. Their close analysis of President Bush's FY 2009 budget suggests that children didn't receive the highest priority.
Read the report >

Early Interventions for Struggling Readers

Here's a terrific opportunity for professional development: Listen to Dr. Barbara Foorman talk about the latest research on early interventions for struggling readers. This 60-minute lecture was recorded in February 2008 and is accompanied by her PowerPoint presentation. The talk was sponsored by the Institute for Literacy and Learning.
Listen to lecture >

Not Much Time for Science and Social Studies

Schools are spending more time teaching reading and math in part because of requirements set forth in the No Child Left Behind legislation. The Center on Education Policy released a report this month that starts to quantify just how little time is left for other subjects. According to the report, districts reduced the instructional time for other subjects by nearly 2.5 hours per week. Most districts reported cuts in time for social studies, science, art, music, P.E., recess, or lunch.
Read the full report >

A Million Minutes of Reading

In partnership with US Airways, Reading Is Fundamental is sponsoring a national "Read With Kids Challenge" to inspire adults around the country to share the joy of reading with children. The goal: to log one million minutes of reading! The challenge runs through May 31 and there are prizes, too.
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Ideas for Parents

Born Learning

Here's a site that helps parents, grandparents, and caregivers explore ways to turn everyday moments into fun learning opportunities. Full of video clips and downloadable tips by age range, you'll want to spend lots of time at this site.
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Common Sense Media

We're always struggling to find educational, safe media for kids. Here's a website that believes media is fun and recognizes that while our kids love it, not all of it is appropriate for all ages. Using search tools, this site can help you begin to sort through some of what's out there by reading reviews and ratings on videos, books, games, music, websites, and more.
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Year 2007 Tax Benefits for Parents of Children with LD

If you have a child with a severe learning disability, ADHD, or other physical, mental, or emotional impairment, you may qualify for valuable tax benefits. Great Schools offers advice to parents that may help as you prepare your 2007 taxes. The types of expenses that qualify for tax deduction may include tuition to a private school, tutoring, specialized materials, and diagnostic evaluations.
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Ideas for Educators

Lexile Power Vocabulary

Lots of schools use the Lexile system as a way to group books by difficulty. Lexile also has a section for vocabulary that you may find useful. Arranged by book, teachers can search by title and find vocabulary sheets to accompany that book. The vocabulary activities include simple definitions and sentences, word searches, crossword puzzles, and word/definition matching games.
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Teaching Zone

Teaching Zone offers many free resources for elementary classrooms. Colorful alphabet cards from the literacy area could be used for multiple games. Word record sheets could be used for weekly spelling words. Other sections on the site contain activities for numeracy and signs & labels.
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Doodle 4 Google

Google just announced the launch of "Doodle 4 Google," a competition that invites children to design a Google logo inspired by the question, "What If…?" The winning student's doodle will be displayed on the Google homepage in May. The champion "doodler" will also win a $10,000 college scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for their school. Google also offers lesson plans to help integrate the project into classroom learning.
Go to website >
Go to lesson plans and other resources >

Memorable Quote

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
— Dr. Seuss

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

Newsletter editors: Joanne Meier and Tina Chovanec