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Today’s Literacy Headlines

Each weekday, Reading Rockets gathers interesting news headlines about reading and early education.

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Note: These links may expire after a week or so. Some websites require you to register first before seeing an article. Reading Rockets does not necessarily endorse these views or any others on these outside websites.


Universal Transitional Kindergarten | Quick Guide (opens in a new window)

Ed Source

October 13, 2021

California’s new $2.7 billion universal transitional kindergarten program is being hailed by many experts as a game-changer for families in a state with almost 3 million children under the age of 5. This expansion of the current TK program will create more equity in early education, many experts say. Increasing access to preschool may be one of the keys to closing the achievement gap, they say, since about 90% of brain growth happens before kindergarten.

The Universal Implications of Science of Reading (opens in a new window)

Language Magazine

October 12, 2021

Does the Science of Reading (SoR) have sufficient reach to account for the reading development of all students regardless of context or language? That is, can SoR-based theories and research effectively inform instruction in, for example, a dual language classroom or a school with a large percentage of emergent bilinguals? A more extensive dive into the science reveals SoR’s scope to be far more encompassing than critics admit.

Learning to Read: Why (Some) Schools Still Get It So Wrong (opens in a new window)

Parent Data

October 12, 2021

Emily Solari, an education professor at the University of Virginia, talks about what reading instruction looks like in many of our schools and what we need to know about the Simple View of Reading, which highlights the importance of both decoding (word reading) development and linguistic awareness, or oral language development.

Long on Kid Appeal, Browsable Nonfiction Continues to Trend (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

October 12, 2021

When these lavishly photo-illustrated books entered the U.S. marketplace in 1991, they revolutionized children’s nonfiction by giving young fact lovers a fresh, engaging way to access information. Both then and now, the eye-catching design and short blocks of clear, straightforward expository text delight “info-kids” who crave knowledge about the world and how it works and their place in it.

The North Carolina Science of Teaching Reading Project (opens in a new window)

Ed NC

October 07, 2021

This fall, elementary school teachers and school leaders in one third of North Carolina school districts will begin LETRS training, with an ambitious goal of training all elementary school educators in the science of reading. A timely report entitled North Carolina Science of Teaching Reading Project from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) published earlier this week provides insights on how we can best support teachers.

Arts Education Can Help Students’ Social and Emotional Well-Being as They Transition Back to In-Person School. Here’s How (opens in a new window)

The 74

October 06, 2021

As children make their way back into physical classrooms after an unprecedented year of virtual education, parents and educators must ask a crucial question: What can be done to help returning students cope with feelings of anxiety, depression and powerlessness? One avenue for encouraging children’s personal wellness is a return to arts education, whose far-ranging benefits traverse their emotional, personal and academic lives.

Children’s Book Awards that Celebrate Diversity (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

October 06, 2021

A relatively easy way for libraries to include diverse books might be to create displays of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) winners and honorees, past and present, every year. The WNDB Walter award is perhaps one of the most comprehensive in terms of its definition of diversity. In addition, here’s a list of other awards that seek out books about or authors from underrepresented and marginalized groups.

Achieving Meaningful Diversity in School Library Collections (opens in a new window)

Education Week

October 06, 2021

This white paper by Scholastic examines why efforts by schools to buy more books with diverse characters are important. It also looks at how librarians/media specialists and other K–12 leaders can make a difference by creating an inclusive literacy environment where students see both the stories of their cultures and their lives in the books they read, but also the stories of their classmates as well.

How Much Screen Time Is Too Much? The Answer Is ‘It Depends’ (opens in a new window)

Education Week

October 06, 2021

So how worried should educators be about all that time students spend staring at a Chromebook, iPad, or cellphone screen, especially if it’s followed by hours of television or video games? How many hours of screen time per day is too much? To answer those questions, Education Week spoke with Lisa Guernsey, a senior fellow and strategic advisor with the Education Policy Program at New America, and Michael Levine, Senior Vice President, Learning and Impact, for Noggin, Nickelodeon’s online interactive learning service for preschoolers.

500 digital learning activities for the in-person or virtual classroom (opens in a new window)

eSchool News

October 06, 2021

In an effort to continue its support of educators during the COVID-19 pandemic, Discovery Education announced today that it will offer approximately 500 daily classroom activities available to teachers nationwide at no cost throughout the school year. Available until June of 2022, the free activities are designed to be quickly integrated into instruction no matter where it is taking place.

New California law will identify preschoolers’ home languages (opens in a new window)

Ed Source

October 06, 2021

A new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday requires all state-subsidized preschool programs to identify the languages children speak at home and the language spoken by program staff. In addition, the bill requires programs to show they support children in developing both their home language and English in order to be considered a “quality” program by the state.

How reading aloud can help you bond with your kids and make them better readers (opens in a new window)

National Public Radio

October 04, 2021

We’ve all heard about the benefits of learning to read quietly and independently. A big part of learning at school is all about reading, but it’s not always easy to find time for more reading at home. But early childhood expert Keisha Siriboe says there is a way, and it doesn’t have to be independent or quiet! Her solution: reading aloud as a family.

COVID’s Long Shadow Centers Social-Emotional Learning in Schools (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

October 04, 2021

The best programs, according to experts, focus on spreading SEL practices by infusing them throughout the school’s culture. “Every kid needs to be heard and have a safe, nurturing relationship with an adult inside the school,” says Mathew Portell, principal of Fall-Hamilton Elementary School in Nashville, TN, and a national speaker about SEL. Portell says that wide geographic, socioeconomic, and racial differences in school districts across the country mean the pandemic affected different communities in different ways. “[SEL] curriculum builds common language; it’s a plate that everything sits upon. But the table is the school culture,” he says.

4 Social-Emotional Practices to Help Students Flourish Now (opens in a new window)

Education Week

October 04, 2021

What can teachers (and parents) do to help children feel stable, safe, and ready to learn? My counsel is to return to social and emotional learning fundamentals by using strategies from evidence-based SEL learning programs designed for schools and other settings. Here are four recommendations for approaches that will help students feel understood, express themselves, and flourish during this school year.

The Canon of Children’s Literature: Does It Exist? Should It? (opens in a new window)

Book Riot

October 01, 2021

The canon is defined as “a collection of rules or texts that are considered to be authoritative” or “a set group of works that are considered to be high quality and representative of a field.” When you think of the children’s canon of literature, what books do you think of? Do you think of the books from your childhood, or do you have a mix of those and newer ones that have since come out?

How the local public library helped one school district cope with Covid (opens in a new window)

Hechinger Report

October 01, 2021

n Port Orford, Oregon, it’s a quick walk from the elementary and middle school building to the town library. In fact, the town library and school are linked by more than geography, since the school district’s two libraries became part of the Port Orford library system in 2017. The town’s library system stepped in to assist the district in buying books, organizing the collection, and other management tasks. They also provided crucial space, books, Wi-Fi, and activities to students during the pandemic. The school-library partnership exemplifies the close-knit community of the two small, coastal towns making up the Port Orford-Langlois School District.

Empowering students with UX classroom design (opens in a new window)

eSchool News

October 01, 2021

Studies show classroom design affects student learning, so it’s important to design a space that matches 21st century learning styles. And who understands what they need better than the kids learning there? That is the logic behind user experience (UX) classroom design and an important reason why it’s beneficial for students to play a role in designing their classrooms.

OPINION: Struggling readers need standards and structure based on the science of reading (opens in a new window)

Hechinger Report

September 30, 2021

States that have adopted legislation around science-aligned approaches to reading instruction have seen significant improvements in reading achievement. The research provides evidence that informs how proficient reading and writing skills develop over time and shows why some students have difficulty. Its conclusions can help us effectively assess, teach and improve student outcomes, both by preventing reading difficulties and identifying students early who need intervention.

You Can Motivate Students to Accelerate Learning This Year (opens in a new window)

Education Week

September 29, 2021

Start this year looking for success stories. As veteran educator Ron Berger reminds us, the secret to motivating kids is to raise expectations and then provide the support needed to meet them. In word and in deed, tell your kids: “I’m really excited for you. You’re going to race ahead this year. You’re going to learn more than you did last year, and you’re going to feel so proud.”

School and Public Libraries Continue Recovery Efforts After Storms, Fires (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

September 29, 2021

Across the country, school and public libraries are dealing with the damage from natural disasters over the last few months. While storms brought deadly and destructive wind and flooding to the East Coast, the West Coast was once again battling multiple raging wildfires. SLJ checked in with just a few of the librarians to learn about their library recovery efforts as they also manage the personal impact of the storm.

A New Kind of Curriculum Night: Armed With Protest Signs and Data, Diverse Group of Minneapolis Parents Demands Better Reading Instruction for Their Kids (opens in a new window)

The 74

September 28, 2021

An unlikely coalition of parents has come together to challenge Minneapolis’s strategies for teaching reading. Backed by the nascent National Parents Union, Twin Cities families of color are leading the charge, representing a socioeconomic cross-section of the city that includes affluent, white district parents whose children struggle with dyslexia. The parents come armed with a growing archive of scholarly research that suggests the schools’ literacy strategies are ineffective at best. They also know there is cash to fix them, thanks to the American Rescue Plan. And they, finally, have the district’s attention.

A Fun Way to Engage Students’ Minds and Bodies With Books (opens in a new window)

Edutopia

September 28, 2021

StoryWalks encourage collaboration and reflection, and transform the often sedentary act of reading into a dynamic, interactive activity. Instead of snuggling up in a cozy reading spot, readers are presented with colorful pages from an illustrated book, displayed one-by-one on stakes as they stroll along an indoor or outdoor walking path.

Graphic Novels for Early Readers? It’s Been a Banner Year. (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

September 24, 2021

The middle grade graphic novel boom brought with it two consequences that have coincided neatly: Publishers had an incentive to stretch the category to reach younger readers, and those younger readers, seeing siblings and friends reading “Dog Man” and Raina Telgemeier’s books, wanted to read comics as well. The result has been an explosion in the past year of graphic novels for early readers, ages four to eight, with most of the major book publishers jumping in with titles of their own. The model for the most recent wave of early reader graphic novels is Ben Clanton’s Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, a very silly, simply drawn story about an easy-going narwhal and a more conscientious jellyfish.

Word Up! Three Picture Books and a Graphic Novel Celebrate the Power and Joy of Language (opens in a new window)

The New York Times

September 24, 2021

Words have rescued us. During these strange seasons, amid the silences of public spaces, they’ve provided consolation, helped us stay tuned. We’ve broken quietude in new ways, re-examined what we thought we knew, carried phrases as mottoes, or leverage. Four new books (three picture books and a graphic novel) examine the curiosities of our playful word-life in four very different ways.

Do Students Have What They Need? One Survey Looks to Answer That Question (opens in a new window)

Education Week

September 24, 2021

The Education Week Research Center surveyed 886 K-12 educators in July: Nineteen percent said they knew “a lot” about their students’ home learning environments before the pandemic; 43 percent said they know a lot now. That’s a pretty big jump. How might schools build on that awareness and use it to improve their future work? A new tool in Oregon might provide some grounds for discussion. Alongside traditional spring state tests on subjects like math and reading, students there piloted a new survey tool called the Student Educational Equity Development Survey, or SEEDS. The state expects to release initial results from the survey later in the fall. It builds on years of efforts around the country to expand schools’ understanding of their students’ experiences, including feelings of safety, support, and engagement at school, as well as access to learning resources.

Gestures Can Help Vocabulary Learning (opens in a new window)

Language Magazine

September 24, 2021

Language educators may find that incorporating gestures or other types of movements in their vocabulary lessons improves learning outcomes, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The study, conducted by researchers at Germany’s Dresden University of Technology, explored the ways in which stimulating the brain’s motor cortex impacts the acquisition of new vocabulary.

Alabama aims for huge pre-K enrollment boost by 2025, despite pandemic setback (opens in a new window)

The Hechinger Report

September 24, 2021

For the past 15 years, one of the nation’s brightest landscapes for prekindergarten has flourished in an unlikely place. Alabama First Class Pre-K stands out in the South, where investment in preschool education has traditionally lagged. And though the pandemic has slowed down its plans a bit, the state has kept its commitment to invest enough money in the program to make it available to 70 percent of the state’s 4-year-olds by 2025. Currently, its enrollment of close to 25,000 children in the 2021-22 school year represents 44 percent of the state’s eligible 4-year-olds. Alabama is one of only a handful of states to reach all 10 benchmarks by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).

Tennessee’s first summer learning camps yield improvements in reading and math, governor says (opens in a new window)

Chalkbeat Tennessee

September 23, 2021

Tennessee public school students who participated in recent summer learning camps showed improvement in reading and especially in math, based on recent test results. Gov. Bill Lee’s administration reported an overall improvement of nearly 6 percentage points in English language arts and more than 10 percentage points in math for students who attended the six-week camps. About 120,000 students in grades 1-8 — or 20% of those who were eligible — enrolled in the voluntary camps that districts were required to host under a new law aimed at recouping pandemic-related learning loss.

Celebrating Student Growth With Formative Data (opens in a new window)

Edutopia

September 23, 2021

Since the start of the pandemic, much of the conversation around student assessment has focused on what was lost. Administrators, teachers, and researchers have largely measured differences in students’ standardized assessment or benchmark scores as compared with historical data. With last year’s state testing results available, and new students entering classrooms at a variety of levels, these conversations have increased. A more fruitful approach, however, would be to embrace formative assessment to improve understanding of student progress. Lindsay Unified School District (LUSD) in California offers an example of what this could look like in practice.

Bring the Scripps National Spelling Bee to your classroom today (opens in a new window)

Education Week

September 22, 2021

For nearly a century, the iconic Scripps National Spelling Bee has inspired a love of learning in students across the country and around the world. You may picture the annual television broadcast of the national finals or last year’s scholar-athlete champion, Zaila Avant-garde. You may even recall a moment when you competed in a classroom, school or regional spelling bee as a child. But did you know that the core of the Bee’s program takes place at the school level? Each year, millions of students participate in classroom- and school-level spelling bees, learning words and discovering interests that will shape the rest of their lives.

State superintendent sets goal to get all California third graders reading by 2026 (opens in a new window)

Ed Source

September 22, 2021

State superintendent Tony Thurmond announced the new initiative Tuesday, starting with a task force that will make program and funding recommendations to be considered by legislators. During the 2018-19 school year, only 51% of California students in grades three through 11 tested at grade level or above in English language arts on the state’s Smarter Balanced tests; only 48.5% of third graders tested at grade level or above in English language arts.

Four Titles by d/Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind Authors to Share During Deaf Awareness Month (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

September 22, 2021

While American Sign Language (ASL) continues to soar in popularity, and hearing ASL interpreters are included in many online children’s literature platforms, d/Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind (DHHDB) authors and illustrators remain scarce. Those published are mainly white, though Black American Sign Language (BASL) has also increased in visibility, if not yet broad acceptance. Still, there is good news. I’m seeing some diverse, up-and-coming DHHDB authors and receiving calls from families and readers about a spectrum of DHHDB stories. Let’s shine a spotlight on a few recent DHHDB titles during Deaf Awareness Month (September), and all throughout the year!

Five crucial considerations to protect social and emotional learning (opens in a new window)

Fordham Institute: Flypaper

September 22, 2021

There is a significant reservoir of support for the purpose and practices featured in most SEL programs. The pandemic has brought into focus the importance of skills such as coping, decision making, goal setting, and relationship building. Most adults see the need for young people do develop civic, moral, and character aspects of themselves. However, failure to address areas of potential confusion and concern could seriously undermine and even imperil efforts related to SEL. In fact, without attention and effort now, SEL could become the next flash point in partisan political conflict. Let’s explore five aspects of SEL that deserve attention now if we hope to avoid having it become the next battle in the culture wars.

Ramona Quimby’s Portland: A self-guided walking tour through sites in Beverly Cleary’s books (opens in a new window)

Seattle Times (WA)

September 20, 2021

A pack of kids on scooters race along the tree-lined streets like it’s 1955. A boy whizzes by on a bike — wait, was that Henry Huggins? The sidewalks are sprinkled liberally with chalk art, rope swings and Little Free Libraries. This is Beverly Cleary’s Grant Park, the real-life northeast Portland neighborhood where the beloved author grew up and which was used as the setting for her classic children’s books. Before Portland was known for hipsters and foodies (and anarchists), it was where the fun-loving, irrepressible Ramona Quimby lived.

Brian Selznick’s Lockdown Masterpiece (opens in a new window)

The New York Times

September 20, 2021

“Kaleidoscope,” Brian Selznick’s brilliant new book, is a collection of magical, weird and mysterious stories. The stories seem related to one another. There is always a first-person narrator; there is usually a boy named James; the narrator loves James. But they don’t fit into one narrative, or even one world. Sometimes James is dead; sometimes he is becoming king of the moon, “making sure the universe is safe for dreaming.” Each tale is accompanied by art, which, as we’ve come to expect from Selznick, is stunning. We get two pieces per tale — first a kaleidoscopic image of shapes broken into crystalline forms; then, on the next page, the scene that was being refracted: a ship, a dragon, a clock, vines, a castle.

3 Reasons Why Being a Special Education Teacher Is Even Harder During the Pandemic (opens in a new window)

Education Week

September 20, 2021

While the pandemic made it harder for teachers everywhere to do their jobs, special education teachers in particular experienced a lack of training, support, and collaboration with their general education counterparts. That’s according to a new study released by the Center for Reinventing Public Education. Most of the special education teachers did not have their own classrooms, but provided special education to students in general education classrooms, according to Lane McKittrick, a research analyst for CRPE. Here are some of the difficulties special education teachers in particular have faced over the last 18 months. #1: Special education teachers didn’t collaborate with general education teachers.

Using Metacognition to Enhance Learning in All Grades (opens in a new window)

Edutopia

September 20, 2021

When students use a questioning strategy to think about their own thinking, they can see how to transfer their learning to new situations. Educator and Metuchen administrator Rick Cohen and colleagues (authors of The Metacognitive Student) define metacognition as “thinking about and managing your thoughts, experiences, and what your senses are telling you.” They say that these are the questions students need to be asking to promote metacognition.

In Print or Onscreen? Making The Most of Reading With Young Children (opens in a new window)

KQED Mindshift

September 17, 2021

Do you believe that young kids (say, from birth to age five or six) should be firmly rooted in the world of print? Or are you worried you’re depriving children of a valuable opportunity if you deny them access to digital reading? Parents are torn. Studies from multiple English-speaking countries show the majority of parents continue to prefer print for their toddlers and preschoolers. Yet by nixing digital offerings, mothers and fathers worry their kids will be left behind—in enjoyment, learning, or preparation for primary school, where children might be handed a tablet their first day. As I thought about the dilemma and read conflicting research, I began asking myself, was the debate missing the point? Just as many adults choose print for some purposes and digital for others, were there solid arguments for when digital is appropriate for young children and when to stick with print?

Jason Reynolds: How Can We Connect With Kids Through The Written Word? (opens in a new window)

National Public Radio

September 17, 2021

Jason Reynolds is an award-winning author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. This hour, Jason speaks with Manoush about reaching kids through stories that let them feel understood. As ambassador, Reynolds visits schools all over the country to connect with kids over books and reading, as well as raise national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature. He is featured in a YouTube series entitled “Write. Rite. Right.” through the Library of Congress where he gives young writers creative prompts to stretch their imagination and to learn to write authentically.

Effective Instructional Practices: Go Big But Go Small, Too! (opens in a new window)

International Literacy Association Daily

September 17, 2021

Instructional practices are all about how we teach students. Recently, while perusing the pages of the International Literacy Association’s Instructional Practices online resource, I was struck by the expansiveness of the listed methods: project based learning, student engagement through classroom libraries, collaborations between schools and the communities, and many others. To these powerful “big picture” practices, however, I would add a number of small, hour-by-hour instructional techniques educators can use to produce greater gains in student learning, especially for those who struggle to read, write, and spell. Here are three.

The Importance of Student Choice Across All Grade Levels (opens in a new window)

Edutopia

September 17, 2021

When students get to make decisions about their learning, it can be powerfully motivating. Offering students choices—making it a regular dynamic in the school day—isn’t a recipe for chaos. It goes almost without saying: Rules and boundaries are a necessary element in schools and classrooms, essential in many ways for keeping kids and adults safe and productive throughout the school day. But by centering choice, educators signal openness to negotiating the middle ground and offer students scaffolded opportunities to practice decision-making, explore their academic identity, and connect their learning to interests and passions.

5 Adaptable SEL Strategies for In-Person or Distance Learning (opens in a new window)

Edutopia

September 17, 2021

Classroom social and emotional learning (SEL) practices can help students learn to problem-solve, manage their emotions, and build relationships. Integrating SEL practices into school culture helps to ensure that students gain these critical life skills. Whatever this school year brings, teachers can consistently use these strategies to promote critical life skills.

Young Readers Editions: What Makes for a Great Adaptation of an Adult Book? (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

September 17, 2021

While young readers editions of adult books have been around for a long time, this year’s release of Michelle Obama’s Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers shines a spotlight on this ever-evolving catalog of titles. Young readers editions (YREs) span mega-best-selling titles like Obama’s to riveting but lesser-known reads for tweens and teens. We’re in a moment of tremendous growth in YREs, evidenced by the number of available options over the last five years in WorldCat. But what are YREs, and what makes them different from their original publications? Where and how can they be used in schools and classrooms? And what elements make an adaptation irresistible to kids?

10 Back-to-School Podcasts for a “New Normal” Time (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

September 17, 2021

This playlist aims to promote well-being and belonging during this “new normal’ back-to-school time, with episodes about emotions, kindness, mindfulness, choices, bullying, homework, and being the new kid at school. The stories remind us that learning may not have looked like we wanted it to look last year. But it was not altogether a year lost; it was a year of learning anew.

How Parents Can Set Their Kids Up For Success This School Year (opens in a new window)

Worth

September 15, 2021

Your child might not recognize that school has changed, or if they do, they might not know how to cope with it. Here’s how you can help. For starters, monitor your child’s progress a little more closely. Second, help your child learn self-discipline through practice in a supportive environment. For example, suppose that, for an hour each evening, your family gathers, each working quietly on their own activity. Kids will do homework, and parents might catch up on work themselves, write a letter or read.

Here’s One Way to Improve Students’ Reading Scores: Get Them Eyeglasses (opens in a new window)

Education Week

September 15, 2021

After more than a year of significantly increased screen time and disrupted vision testing for many students, new research shows how learning could improve if schools help students identify and swiftly correct developing vision problems. Nearly 7 percent of U.S. children under 18 have a diagnosed vision problem, according to federal data. But school closures and social distancing in the last year have disrupted routine campus-based vision screenings in many districts.

SLJ’s Reviews of the 2021 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Longlisters (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

September 15, 2021

The National Book Foundation announced its longlist for the 2021 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The list includes two previous National Book Award honorees and showcases titles that address gender and sexual identity, race and politics, familial history and global events, and the magic woven into the fabric of communities. SLJ’s reviews can be found in the linked article.

Can making music remake the mind? (opens in a new window)

Hechinger Report

September 13, 2021

A new book by a Northwestern University neuroscientist makes a case for teaching music to improve learning in other subjects. In a September 2021 book Of Sound Mind (MIT Press), auditory neuroscientist Nina Kraus makes the case that budding musicians enjoy real brain gains that help them achieve beyond the school orchestra. The book covers a broad sweep of Kraus’s decades-long investigation into the hearing brain at her Brainvolts lab at Northwestern University, including two longitudinal studies of students in real world music classes who showed improved language and reading skills that tracked with changes in their brain functioning compared to control group students.

New reading curriculum for some Jeffco schools, a step toward bigger changes (opens in a new window)

Chalkbeat Colorado

September 13, 2021

About a quarter of elementary and K-8 schools in the Jeffco school district have switched to a state-approved reading curriculum this year, a step toward complying with a 2019 state law requiring reading programs backed by science in kindergarten through third grade. This year, Jeffco’s 22 pilot schools are using the Into Reading curriculum, and in some cases, the Spanish version, ¡Arriba la Lectura! (Two additional Jeffco schools began using Into Reading in the last couple of years.) The program is among a dozen core reading programs approved by the state for use in kindergarten through third grade.

Once, Twice, Thrice Upon a Time (opens in a new window)

The New York Times

September 13, 2021

The three new book-length fairy tales gathered here are all made up of the most common ingredients: ogres and witches, princesses and woodcutters. Brothers searching for lost sisters and vice versa. Nothing exotic. But the combinations! These are the thumbprints of the bakers, and they lead to the most wonderful stories.

Learning Academic Vocabulary Through Lunchtime Chats, Hands-On Activities, and Complex Texts (opens in a new window)

International Literacy Association Daily

September 10, 2021

I started sharing lunch outside on the playground with my students when we returned to in-person learning last spring. We had the best conversations. It was an unexpected gift of the pandemic. One day one of my second graders asked me to share some important words. “You know, big ones, like esophagus or large intestine,” he said. The reason esophagus and large intestine came up in our lunch conversation was because of a unit in our English language arts curriculum focused on the driving question, “How does food nourish us?” Students began their study of food by building knowledge about digestion. The student who asked me to introduce some big words over lunch is learning multiple languages and was acquiring some seriously scientific language and background knowledge through our texts and writing tasks. These are words that students don’t use daily: esophagus, nutrients, digestive system. By the end of this unit, I wanted every student, including the multilingual students who needed extra support with academic vocabulary, to feel successful in their understanding of the digestive system and in reading complex texts.

Teaching the teachers: A reading update (opens in a new window)

EducationNC

September 10, 2021

Despite large investments to improve student outcomes over the last decade, reading proficiency rates have remained largely stagnant in North Carolina. Reporting from my EdNC colleague Rupen Fofaria pointed out inconsistencies with how reading has been taught in classrooms across the state. Teachers often lacked training on the science of reading, a body of research on how students learn to read. A new state law, passed this year, is aimed at changing that. In Fofaria’s latest on the state’s work to begin implementing the law, he writes that the statute “is premised on the belief that teacher knowledge will help kids better than any curriculum or program.” That’s why folks from across institutions are partnering to ground teacher preparation coursework and classroom experience in scientific research.

Remembering the Pioneers: Arnold Adoff, Floyd Cooper, Eloise Greenfield, and Bernette G. Ford (opens in a new window)

School Library Journal

September 10, 2021

As children’s book publishers and authors, we are always thinking about the stories we tell, the children and adults we want to reach, and the change we want to help drive to make the industry more diverse, inclusive, and equitable for creators and publishing professionals alike. The loss of four beloved pioneers in children’s book publishing over the past few months—Arnold Adoff, Bernette Ford, Floyd Cooper, and Eloise Greenfield—has us thinking even more deeply about the long, difficult struggle to achieve and sustain the progress we have seen in the past few decades.
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