Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading fundamentals and comprehension skills development.
Librarians and Literacy
Libraries have a long history of supporting literacy through books and programs for children and adults. Reading Rockets is pleased to tap into this tradition of outreach by presenting the resources below for schools and public libraries.
Created in partnership with the American Library Association, these materials help librarians offer workshops and handouts for parents on how to encourage reading development. We hope they enrich your library's services to the schools, families, and children in your community.
Click below for:
A toolkit for librarians
You can download "Reading Rockets @ your library," a toolkit created in partnership with the Association for Library Services to Children and the Association of School Librarians of the American Library Association.
This free online kit provides handouts and materials to make it easy for libraries to offer community forums, discussions, and workshops for parents, teachers, and caregivers on how to support children's reading achievement. Included in the kit are video modules that show what works in teaching and encouraging kids to become readers. This toolkit can also be purchased from the Reading Rockets store.
- Download the entire kit (758K PDF)*
The toolkit has also been divided into sections for easier downloading.
- Front section (136K PDF)*>
- Front Cover
- Acknowledgements
- Letter to Librarians
- Foreword
- Table of Contents
- Introduction (78K PDF)*
- What Is Reading Rockets? A Brief Overview
- Reading Rockets and Libraries
- Reading Rockets Resources
- New Reading Rockets Initiatives
- Ordering Additional Reading Rockets Materials
- Reading Rockets in Action (81K PDF)*
- Workshop Materials Especially for Use by Librarians
- A Few Ideas to Get You Started
- Great Ideas in Action: What Libraries Are Doing
- Reading Rockets Workshop Leader Guidelines (169K PDF)*
- Introduction
- Module 1: Finding the Right Book
- Module 2: Roots of Literacy
- Module 3: Reading as Dialogue
- Module 4: Reading Together
- Module 5: Trade Secrets
- Reading Rockets Workshop Handouts (255K PDF)*
- Discover Your Library
- Helping Your Child Become Aware of Print
- Never Too Early to Read
- Print All Around
- Reading Aloud
- Reading as Dialogue
- Talk, Read, Listen to Your Child
- You Are Your Child's First and Best Teacher
- Additional Resources (135K PDF)*
- Template and Sample for Reading Rockets Library Flyer and Poster
- Sample Evaluation for Library Staff
- Sample Evaluation for Participants
- Clip Art for Reading Rockets Events
Video modules
The following video modules are referenced within the toolkit. Click below to view the video clips now. They are between three and four minutes each. You'll need a copy of the free RealOne Player. Most computers already have it installed, or you can download it now.
- Module 1: Finding the Right Book (3:15)
The library is a vital resource for one mom whose son's appetite for information – especially about dinosaurs – is growing as quickly as his shoe size.
Recommended Use: This is a good video clip to introduce the library to parents, childcare providers, and educators. It is also a way to remind educators that libraries are an easy way to get parents involved in their children's education.
- Module 2: Roots of Literacy (3:30)
This clip shows how three-year old Mira gets a head start on reading from her parents.
Recommended Use: This video clip can be used in a workshop for parents or childcare providers. It can also be used with pre-K teachers, librarians, and curriculum-based childcare center staff to reinforce information they can share with parents and other adults.
- Module 3: Reading as Dialogue (3:00)
In a Long Island Head Start classroom, children boost their reading skills using a technique called "dialogic reading."
Recommended Use: This video clip can be used as a core piece in workshops for pre-K teachers, childcare providers, and parents, and/or as in-service training for library staff.
- Module 4: Reading Together (3:30)
A program called Georgetown Even Start is helping families in Washington, D.C. break the cycle of low literacy.
Recommended Use: This video clip can be used in programs and workshops for professional staff at Even Start, Head Start, and other parent programs. It is not recommended for use in workshops for parents because the third-person presentation style may put off some participants.
- Module 5: Trade Secrets
This module contains five video clips, each featuring a different children's author. Click on the titles or pictures below to see the individual segments.
Recommended Use: These video clips can be used for in-service training or other workshops for older children, teachers, caregivers, parents, and other adults interested in children's literature.
- A Writer's Secrets: Rosemary Wells (2:10)
Rosemary Wells has a keen understanding of what matters to young children. The author and illustrator of more than sixty books, she has created unforgettable characters such as Max and Ruby, Noisy Nora, and Yoko. Her appealing stories capture the emotional charge of a child's world.
- A Writer's Secrets: Norman Bridwell (2:45)
Norman Bridwell wrote his first Clifford book in 1962, which makes the world's biggest and reddest dog more than 40 years old. Dozens of Clifford books have been published and many have been translated into other languages.
- A Writer's Secrets: William Joyce (2:40)
William Joyce has always been highly original, writing and drawing what he finds interesting at the time. "I don't ever sit down and go, 'I'm going to do a children's book,'" he said in an exclusive interview. "To me, it's just a book that's cool for short people and tall people. I'm just kind of doing what I like to do."
- A Writer's Secrets: Kate Duke (3:00)
The author and illustrator of Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One and other books, Kate Duke writes on several levels. Kids who read or listen to her tales always enjoy the adventures of her exuberant and sweet animal characters. But Ms. Duke also subtly interweaves learning concepts into her stories, such as writing and adding and subtracting.
- A Writer's Secrets: Walter Dean Myers (3:20)
Walter Dean Myers, author of Harlem and The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, has a soft voice and quiet demeanor that belies the tough child he once was. His autobiography, in fact, is called Bad Boy. Watch and listen as he and his author/illustrator son, Christopher Myers (Wings), visit some of their biggest fans.
- A Writer's Secrets: Rosemary Wells (2:10)
* To view this file, you'll need a copy of Acrobat Reader. Most computers already have it installed, or you can download it now.
§ To play this clip, you'll need a copy of the free RealOne Player. Most computers already have it installed, or you can download it now.
"Reading Rockets is great for those who are in the pre-school and primary levels of education in whatever roles they play in the institution."
~ Jesilyn T.
