Monday was International Literacy Day and I missed it! Now what?! This day of recognition and celebration of the importance of literacy is organized and promoted each year by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and this year the specific focus was upon narrowing the “gap” between the status of literacy for boys […]
Fully literate communities will never happen just from literacy being part of school curriculum. Teachers and schools, serving the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse families, have not yet and in the foreseeable future still won’t be able to establish fully literate communities all by themselves. These dedicated professionals connecting with children for up to 180 days […]
Avid Readers are leaders. They virtually always succeed in school and in life. But how do we get young children started on the path to becoming truly AVID readers? ACCESS The key is providing new readers with ready access to abundant, potentially enjoyable books and then offering encouragement and guidance. Fortunately, the power of books […]
Let’s see… what’s there for the kids to do in Washington DC? Are you kidding? There is so much for them to do in Washington DC that it’s hard to know where to start, regardless of the window of time they have, from a weekend to a month. How about Chicago? Same thing! You could […]
Since 1965 the “#WeNeedDiverseBooks!” cry has grown louder and more robust. It’s finally been heard in 2014, and is now showcased in popular media and the news. This movement has evolved, fueled by a strongly held conviction that books for children have presented a narrow view of the world. This movement has matured, expressing the […]
For the last few months I have had the distinct pleasure and honor to work with a team of English Literature major University students and their talented and inspirational professor. We were working together (they worked way more than I did) on making sure that the youngest children in their communities had an abundance of […]
…the conversation changes. A community is a collection of homes and sources of livelihood where relatives, friends and neighbors interact in ways that make them all happy to be there and wanting to stay there. When there is a challenge facing a community everyone needs to understand the issue from their personal perspective, and that […]
In its simplest form, that’s what a delightful, instructive and rewarding adult- reading-with-kid event looks and feels like. Read together every day. This may be hard for adults to get comfortable with. However, with just a little practice, parents (and anybody else) can get good at it in no time. Children don’t care how good […]
The 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress Shows the Way Lately I’ve been blogging about changing the conversation we have in the US around literacy and reading. Much of what I’ve shared has come from over forty years of observations of children and teachers, along with my more recent work at Unite for Literacy. Some […]
We all know what a desert is – a region so limited in natural resources that it is difficult for any but the most robust and adaptable plants or animals to flourish. The idea of a desert has also been applied to supplies of fresh food as well. A “Food Desert” is a geographic area […]
