Latest in Literacy Blog
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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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Why Our Kids Love Snail Mail
Read more: Why Our Kids Love Snail MailAt a time when most of our communications are reliant on and provided by technology, we like to give Kids Read Now kids something different to look forward to – mail. Technology can provide us with a sense of instant gratification, so have we forgotten that the anticipation can be fun as well? Sometimes jokingly…
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Top 10 Titles of 2020
Read more: Top 10 Titles of 2020It has certainly been a rollercoaster of a summer and Kids Read Now students across the country are returning to school, either in classrooms or remotely. If there is one thing we know for sure about our students, it’s that they pick some pretty amazing books to read over the summer! Here are the most…
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Thirty minutes of screen time with Captions ON! is equivalent to reading thirty pages of a book
Read more: Thirty minutes of screen time with Captions ON! is equivalent to reading thirty pages of a bookWhen a family clicks the CC button on their TV’s remote control, or clicks the CC option on YouTube, or video games like Fortnite, the text that appears on the screen is synchronized with the script and the on-screen action. This shows captions, or subtitles at the same speed as those on screen are speaking.…
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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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Books and Social-Emotional Learning
Read more: Books and Social-Emotional LearningBooks have encouraged, taught, and provided new experiences to children for many years. Books play a significant role in a child’s learning environment. As they develop, they are introduced to many genres that encourage learning, resolving conflict, embracing imagination, and discovering new ideas. Parents may not realize that many of the books their children read…
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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 Power of the 15-minute Bedtime Story
Read more: The Power of the 15-minute Bedtime StoryBedtime routines are especially important for children. Regular schedules and rituals give our children the predictability they crave. When kids know what to expect, especially when it includes a bonding routine like reading, it can help eliminate nighttime distractions. Most doctors and sleep specialists will tell you to incorporate soothing, relaxing activities at bedtime. Some…