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Strategies to Encourage Summer Reading
Summer. The word alone conjures images of the pool, beach, sand, sun, relaxing with a good book… Unfortunately, summer break often means a vacation from reading for many students. Summer Reading Loss Research The importance of summer reading is well documented in educational research. Studies confirm that summer reading loss perpetuates the achievement gap between…
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The Xtreme Librarian Spreads the Love of Reading!
“School libraries are where it all begins. They are the opportunity to know yourself and to develop the great habit of reading. No matter what you are interested in there’s a book waiting for you and it starts in that place.” John Schumacher (http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/) We all know reading is important. In fact, students who don’t read proficiently by…
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Don’t Miss: West Michigan Early Literacy Leadership Symposium
On Thursday October 6, 2016, Gov. Snyder signed the Third Grade Reading Bill which is aimed at improving early literacy. This new legislation renews an energy and sense of urgency around literacy in Michigan. The Reading Now Network (RNN), a collaborative partnership formed by ISD’s in West Michigan counties, has a mission to improve early literacy…
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10 Instructional Literacy Practices for K-3
Time is of the essence! In education, your daily schedule is filled to the brim. You’re planning your next meeting or instructional focus on the drive between sports practice, dinner, and the parent-teacher organization meeting. Sometimes, a few professional “grab and go” options would assist in focusing energy and solidifying next steps. Often times in…
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Using Arts to Improve Student Learning in Reading, Math, and Science
Imagine 2nd grade students marching, swinging, and twirling to show how movement adds fun and effect to theatre performance! Imagine 5th graders creating stories that emerge from symbols discovered on images of ancient urns – showing understanding of visual arts! Imagine high school students getting attention for their vocal talent when performances are recorded and…
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Closed Captioning to Improve Literacy
Captioning, or Closed Captioning, has a proven track record of improving literacy for learners of all ages. In one randomized study, students who engaged daily in content with “Same Language Subtitling” (SLS) scored significantly higher than students in the comparison condition on the reading comprehension achievement post tests. Data from PlanetRead has shown that even 30…
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Opportunity for Curriculum Networking and Resources
There are nearly 15,000 English Learners in Kent County schools. Nationally, 1 in 4 students is an English Learner. How are you supporting English Learners (EL) at your school in Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts? EL Coaching Network (ELCN) Last year participants from 20 districts came together to learn, discuss, and devise action…
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Kids Who Read Beat the Summer Slide
In 2009, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan described summer learning loss as “devastating”. Educators often refer to summer loss as “summer slide”. It is estimated that the amount of loss a child might experience could equal one month of instruction, and the effect has a greater impact on disadvantaged children (Cooper, 1996). Researchers conclude that two-thirds…
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We have a winner…
Or should I say we have 10 winners! Due to an overwhelming response to our “Want to Enhance Your Classroom Library- For the Love of Reading” blog post on May 19th, we decided to increase the number of winners to 10 schools with $400 in books to enhance their classroom library. We had almost 500 responses…
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Want to Enhance Your Classroom Library?
For the Love of Reading! Creating a culture of readers centers around the classroom library. The classroom library provides students with access to a wide range of high-interest fiction and nonfiction texts. Developing the classroom library most often is left to the teacher, diminishing school budgets, and sometimes through donations. Research supports what teachers have…