Latest in Literacy Blog
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Book Deserts – Blame or Rain
Read more: Book Deserts – Blame or RainMany kids survive in a “book desert” without access to books. Let’s rain books onto every child to create a book oasis instead. “Something that provides refuge, relief, or pleasant contrast.” Oh, wait… that’s an oasis. During this current crisis, many of us have spent time creating our own oasis with multiple trips to Home…
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The Empowerment of Student Choice
Read more: The Empowerment of Student ChoiceEmpowering kids to make their own choices Being a kid can be rough sometimes. Sure, as adults we look back at all the snack times recesses and naptimes that we took for granted, but kids oftentimes don’t have much of a voice when it comes to curricula, learning plans, and homework. Ask just about any…
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Finding the “Just Right” Reading Range
Read more: Finding the “Just Right” Reading RangeFinding your children’s perfect reading range may seem daunting at first. On the one hand, you want to challenge them, but on the other, you don’t want them to get discouraged. So how do you find that fine line where reading is both fun and beneficial? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered! What Books…
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Funding to Improve Reading
Read more: Funding to Improve ReadingWhat are the priorities in your school district? Although sometimes we get lost in athletics and safety, especially during this unprecedented time with the COVID-19 pandemic, improving reading skills across the district is the most important priority for the success of all students. Often money gets in the way of purchasing research-based programs that work,…
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Title Funded Reading Programs
Read more: Title Funded Reading ProgramsHow are Title I funds spent in your school district? This is a question that should be revisited and examined each year. Often educators are overwhelmed with the many requirements of spending Title I funds and the never-ending sales pitches for programs that can best utilize the money. The easiest decision is to continue to…
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It is the Opportunity Gap, Not the Achievement Gap
Read more: It is the Opportunity Gap, Not the Achievement GapWe call it the “achievement gap” – but isn’t it really an opportunity gap? A closer look at socioeconomic reading disparities — and how we can help your child to close the gap An opportunity gap of .8 means a testing gap of 3 years. For decades, efforts to reduce the racial divide on test…
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Reading Level Assessments Explained
Read more: Reading Level Assessments ExplainedIf you have a young reader in your house, you may have heard different terms like Lexile, Developmental Reading Assessment, Accelerated Reader, and others. These terms and more are used to determine the reading levels of books. But what exactly do they mean? How do we know that if a child can read a…
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Discovery Sheets: Talking About Books Builds Reading Skills
Read more: Discovery Sheets: Talking About Books Builds Reading SkillsEvery book we mail home has a book-specific “Discovery Sheet” on the inside front cover. PARENT TIP: For books you get from other places, you can help build reading skills by making up questions or activities like these and talk about EVERY BOOK when your child finishes reading it. It has room for your child…
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The Technology Boom – Is Reading the Victim?
Read more: The Technology Boom – Is Reading the Victim?Exciting innovations in technology have wildly evolved over the last decade. You can hold the universe in the palm of your hand, view high-definition videos with lightning speed, and connect with people all over the world with a simple tap on a screen. Pretty cool, right? But what do these technological innovations mean for old-fashioned…
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The Summer Reading Slide
Read more: The Summer Reading SlideSummer Reading Slide : Summer Reading Program for K-3 The Summer Slide: Summer is a time for relaxation, sunshine, vacations, and… reading loss? It’s estimated that a child loses two months of learning each summer, which accumulates each year, totaling almost two years of learning loss by the time they graduate high school. This epidemic…