Get Your Kids to Read More in 2020!
It's not only a new year but a new decade -- and a great time to get kids to read more! But...how to start? More critical, how to sustain the reading habit? Colorado teacher Melissa Taylor outlines several ideas to engage students in reading in her
ReadBrightly.com blog. For growing readers (6 to 8), she suggests audio books for car rides, a specially created (and very cozy) home book nook, and a link to some favorite kid reading apps. For tweens, how about a family book club? And for older readers, a reading challenge...12 books in 12 different categories in 12 months, for example. There are ideas for younger readers, too, so check it out
here!
(Photo: Zero Creatives/Cultura/Getty Images)
Introducing kids to more book diversity can also encourage them to read more...particularly when they can pick out books where the characters or themes are "more like me." A few ideas are noted below.
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While January 1 starts a new year for many, it's not a new year for all! The Chinese New Year is celebrated in January or February. Iranians observe Nowruz in March. For Thai people, Songkran occurs in April. Ethiopians greet the new year at Enkutatash in September. Poet Marilyn Singer and illustrator Susan Roth have created a lively collection that highlights sixteen of these fascinating festivities, some well-known and some less familiar.
Every month of the year, somewhere in the world, people celebrate with joy and good wishes for a happy new year. Celebrate
here!
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Scholastic's On Our Mind blog offers this curated
list of 12 diverse books for young readers, with a range of books that encompass diverse cultures, characters, and themes.
Goodreads offers a fabulous list of 100 multicultural books for children, found
here. The list includes picture books through elementary chapter books.
Book Riot offers a great
list of 30 children's books about diversity that celebrate our differences. There are many more, but these links are a good start!
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In our own NOVA Community...
Your Donations = Books for Kids
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Drew Elementary's Blizzard of Books!
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Armed with a magic wand and a snow machine, "Elsa of Arendelle" launched a snow-tastic book distribution at Drew Elementary School, with help from RIF of NOVA and "Book Buddies" from the Delta Kappa Sigma service sorority. Elsa, AKA school librarian and RIF of NOVA board member Dora Sue Black, charmed the children with her "Frozen" indoor blizzard. Good news...there were no weather delays either...only great books for the kids to take home for winter break!
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The children were wild with excitement about their new books. Dora Sue/Elsa was joined by interim Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Cintia Johnson (on right). Click
here or on the photo above to see the entire APS video about this very "cool" pre-holiday event!
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James Polk ES Celebrated a Cozy Winter Day
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Dressed in their finest jammies, elementary students from Alexandria's James Polk ES celebrated their new books during a celebration of winter, joined in jammy attire by librarian and RIF of NOVA liaison Leslie Broughton (seen top right).
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The students made -- and proudly displayed -- cutout snowflakes and then picked books of their own to read during winter break.
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Full STEM Ahead at Potomac View Elementary
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Children at Potomac View Elementary School in Prince William County celebrated Reading is Fundamental week with a STEM theme. Students participated in a variety of STEM related activities such as: reading directions to build electric circuits, sorting magnetic from non-magnetic objects, reading Lego math word problems and solving them using Legos, following diagrams to build Tangram designs, reading directions to compare the weight of different objects, and using rubber bands and geoboards to create letters and short sight words.
Students from grades K through 5 "moved excitedly through the centers completing activities," said reading specialist Debbie Crawn. She added, "The favorite center, of course, was choosing a book!" No surprise here!!!
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Vineyard Foundation Grant Generates a Day of Kindness
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Bradley and Mark Vineyard are RIF of NOVA heroes! A generous grant from the Vineyard Foundation is supporting several book donations in Fairfax County RIF of NOVA schools. Bradley Vineyard is shown in the photo above, guiding a young reader from Hutchison ES in a book selection. Below, she joins first graders from Miss Phillips' class as they show off their new books!
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Hutchison librarian and RIF of NOVA liaison Marci Hoyt read from the book
Try a Little Kindness by Henry Cole. In this book, cartoon characters show a variety of ways to be a good person...from using good manners to telling others they are special to sharing a treat.
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This girl group picked cat books as their take-home reading, celebrating the idea of kindness to animals. During the distribution, students made toys for cats and dogs to distribute to a local animal shelter. Each student was also asked to turn to the next person and say something kind. Zowie! Let's all do that!
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The faces of the children shown in the photos above during RIF of NOVA book distributions tell the story. Every single book makes a difference to the kids we serve.
So...thank you to all supporters for donating to RIF of NOVA and making book distributions possible. Please remember...
Every $2.00 you give = one book for a child
.
All donations -- large, small, and in between -- add up to real books for the NOVA children we serve. Here are several ways to donate:
1) Send a check to our mailbox: P.O. Box 7012, Arlington, VA 22207-0012.
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3) If your workplace holds a United Way campaign, designate RIF of NOVA as your chosen philanthropy. Our United Way # is 8959. Easy peasy!
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4) Register with
smile.amazon.com
. Type in Reading Is Fundamental of Northern Virginia, Inc. to select us as the charity you want to support. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to RIF of NOVA. That 0.5% can really add up!
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Please share the RAP! Forward our newsletter to your friends and anyone interested in providing books to children who need them! Subscribe
here
!
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United Way # 8959 | CFC # 18818
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