FEATURED POST: THE POWER OF THE REREAD by Mara Franzen

Original Post Date: September 24, 2020

Source: https://bookriot.com/rereading-books-3/

This week we are sharing a post from Mara Franzen. A writer and actor based in Chicago. 

How many times have we as book lovers said, “I know I shouldn’t reread this book 

when there are so many new books out there” or “I love this book, but I’ve already read it twice, I don’t want to waste my reading time”? 

We’ve pretty much all been there. As lovers of books, we are at a disadvantage. Those who consume music or movies as their favorite medium have it a lot easier than we do. It takes just over 11 hours to watch the Lord of The Rings Extended Edition, and 40–50 hours to read them. This means you could consume the films 4.5 times in the same amount of time it takes to read the books; now factor in how many times you’ve watched those movies, and the time disparity only increases.

I have watched LOTR probably a good 20 times, and have no qualms with rewatching. Rainy day? LOTR! Sick? LOTR! 20-hour international flight? LOTR! Never once have I seriously thought “Maybe I should stop watching these movies when there are so many other movies out there.” Movies are just so much easier for me to consume on a larger scale.

I have only read the Lord Of the Rings books all the way

through twice because it’s such a greater time commitment, and as we all know time is a precious commodity. As much as I want to reread LOTR for the third time, I can’t quite get over the guilt I’ll feel when I pass my stacks of books I haven’t read even once. Then there’re the other countless beloved books that I want to reread; the classics that I’ve only ever pretended to read; the books recommended by friends that I say I’ll get to soon (but probably won’t)…it’s a lot.

So I instituted a rule. Every year, I would reread one series that I loved as a young reader. At first, I was worried I would run out of series to choose from. I should not have worried at all! In fact, every year, I have to narrow down my options because there are just so many! This year, after much thought, I went with the Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini. I loved it so much in middle school, and it felt like I just needed to read about some dragons.

A few weeks ago, I pulled a move straight out of the Middle School Nerd Handbook and stayed up all night reading. I made a pot of coffee, piled blankets and snacks around me, and didn’t sleep until I had read Eragon cover to cover. And while I was bleary-eyed and out of it all the next day, I felt so refreshed. I got to spend time in a world I missed, and enough time had passed that it felt like reading it for the first time. As I read, I got to fangirl and feel angsty and dramatic without feeling guilty. I got to remember why I loved fantasy so much, and not judge the use of tropes and cliches. 

I read because I love to find stories that I will cherish. So why do I throw books I loved on the “have-read” shelf and leave them there? There are so many books and so little time, that’s true, but I’ll never get to read them all anyway, so why shouldn’t I spend time with the ones that mean the most to me? Of the 83 books I’ve read in 2020, there are so many that I wish I could read again, and get sad thinking about how it’s over. But, oh wait! I can be there again! I can reread it immediately! Or I can wait long enough that I forget the details, and get to rediscover it the next time around.

I guess all I’m saying is, trust that you can reread, and be okay. Whether you read two books or 100 books a year, you can go back and reread. Reading isn’t a competition, there isn’t some law that dictates a minimum requirement for more books. Reading is for the reader, so read what you want, when you want, how often you want, and how many times you want. 

FEATURED POST: STORYTELLING TIPS FOR FAMILIES by Aspen Mock

Original Post: January 29,2020

Source: Excerpt is part of a larger article featured on https://ncte.org/blog/2020/01/storytelling-family-literacy/

This weeks featured post comes to us from Aspen B. Mock, a teacher based in Sidman, Pennsylvania. Ms. Mock currently teaches Composition 9, Honors Composition 9 & AP Literature & Composition 12.

   

An underused medium, oral storytelling offers rich opportunities for family literacy development. It encourages a literate family lifestyle by building a collection of stories celebrating shared experiences and providing topics for conversations and discussions. 

      

TIPS FOR FAMILIES INCLUDE: 

      

Make it an “experience.” 

Build a memorable experience and detail practical ways to schedule storytelling time. For example, in my family we tell stories during dinner, which my 6-year old daughter calls “Dinner Stories.” You can tell stories whenever you have to wait somewhere, and can even have themed nights for storytelling based on holidays, seasons, or current events. Plan some and improvise others; it’s good to have a mix of both! 

     

Co-construction. 

Take turns as speaker and listener; build the story collaboratively. Encourage the use of detail, adding descriptive adjectives and vivid verbs as you journey through your tales. Asking questions throughout the narrative can be a helpful way to clarify, collaborate and build your stories in real time. 

       

Preserve your “work.” 

Play the scribe or use technology to record your stories, making paper or digital versions to preserve them. Typing out or recording a story as it is told and sharing it with other family members on social media can be great fun and involve others, and provides a built-in audience for storytelling. (One tech-savvy option is capturing a visual or digital story through a program like Adobe Spark.) Stores are meant to be retold—remember to revisit your stories and tell them again and again! 

    

There’s an app for that!  

Search out apps that will help you incorporate literacy activities into your daily family life. Your children’s teachers and librarians may have recommendations. For example, an app like ReadyRosie lets you search tutorial videos and implement family literacy activities depending on the ages and stages of your children, from infancy and up. When my eldest daughter was learning her colors, we wrote original poems together; she still joyfully revisits these poems in her journal.

   

My family literacy experiences carried over into

adulthood; during my first year of college, I transcribed our family tales into a collection entitled “Griosach,” an Irish word meaning “burning embers.” The tales my family grew up with, time spent with my grandfather Mac, and the warmth and imaginative elements of that little kitchen, are now preserved and shared as part of our family literacy tradition.

   

I think of “Griosach” as a metaphor for the power of storytelling; if we fan the smoldering embers of our stories, we ignite the light and power of family literacy in ourselves and our community.

A LITERACY JOURNEY: Mary's Story

This month, let’s walk along with Mary, her husband Stris and their two school-aged sons on their journey to North Carolina, taking a leap of faith and following the promise of work. 

 

Stris, a stroke survivor, cares for the boys, leaving Mary as the main earner for the family. The family began coming to Literacy Connections in the evenings to work on English and reading.  Their tutor soon recognized that both boys were struggling academically and would benefit from additional support.  Mary’s  four year old was quiet, and she was very concerned about him.  She was even worried about his hearing ability.  We reached out to the Partnership for Children and enrolled her son in the NC Pre-K program.  The pre-kindergarten experience provided assessments and support for the child and his family, and it wasn’t long before he was talking and socializing with other kids his age. 

Mary was less concerned about her older son, but we could clearly see that he was worried about school.  A sensitive, curious child, he soaked up every bit of the
Communities Supporting School’s Reading Buddies program at his school. Sadly, even with intervention, Mary’s eldest son did not pass third grade.  Failure is never a good feeling, no matter how positively  one tries to explain it. For any child and especially Mary’s child, failing a grade is devastating and extremely depressing. One evening during a tutoring session,Mary showed her tutor a large stack of papers that she had received from the school. The papers expressed

concerns about her son’s grades and offered interventions to help him, but she could not read them.  Once the tutor helped Mary and Stris understand the information, the Reading Buddies program helped to ensure that their eldest son was enrolled in summer camp so he would be able to retest and have a chance to progress to the next grade.  This young man worked very hard all summer and was successful!

As COVID-19 hit, the family faced a new challenge. Distance learning! Dad obtained internet and laptops for his two sons, and continues to work with a tutor to navigate his children’s education. Summer tutoring has involved learning activities that the whole family can do together to expose them to technology, reinforce foundational curriculum, and prepare them for another semester of distance learning. Their confidence in their ability to monitor and support their children’s learning from home has grown, even as they continue to learn as a family.  What’s on the road ahead for Mary, Stris and their two sons?  The possibilities are as boundless as their faith.  Mary’s family is now more prepared for the next steps along their journey as they travel toward better education, homeownership and financial stability. 

When parents don’t read well there is a 72% chance that their children will struggle and the cycle repeat itself.   

Learn how you can OPEN THE DOOR for students, like Mary and her family, by visiting www.literacyconnections ofwaynecounty.org . It's true what they say, “It takes a village to raise a child.” 

"Now, more than ever, our community needs us. And we need FRIENDS LIKE YOU." 

FEATURED POST: LIBRARY NOTE: WEEKLY READING TOGETHER AS A FAMILY by Amber Covington

Original Post: August 9, 2020

Source: https://www.salisburypost.com/2020/08/09/library-notes-weekly-reading-together-as-a-family/

This weeks featured post comes to us from Amber Covington, the Technical Services Supervisor at Rowan Public Library. 

As the summer days zip by, finding time to plan family fun is challenging. With the sizzling sun making the heat feel unbearable outside, families are staying inside, but children are itching to get outside to get active. There are various ways parents and caregivers can enhance their child’s literacy completing daily tasks together inside or outside.

Family reading time is a great way to expand your child’s attention span while reading. Reading as a family helps children understand the importance of reading and how it is a part of everyday life. For younger children, consider reading picture books together or short chapter books with everyone taking turns reading aloud. For older children, find a quiet place in your home where each family member can curl up with their preferred book read or magazine for 30 minutes independently. Sometimes, allow your child to choose a book for the entire family to read aloud. Set up a time for family reading and make it routine on a daily or weekly basis. If you think your children are too old for this, consider checking out books in foreign languages and have your child test their language skills reading and comprehending easy picture books in a language they are studying in school.

We all know that tablets and other mobile devices are used by children of all ages. If your child spends time listening to videos or recorded content, consider turning on the captions, live captions, audio descriptive or interactive transcripts. Children will notice the text will appear across the screen, but may actually begin to recognize words and begin to increase their vocabulary by seeing the word on screen being spoken by characters on screen. This can be a useful tool for students to learn to read or build their vocabulary, but it will also be an experience they could use later for a school assignment to ensure their digital projects can be accessible to visually impaired users.

With the current global pandemic, families may be ordering more items online on a computer, phone or tablet. This is a perfect time for children to browse through images and select grocery or store items for pickup or delivery when you’re completing family shopping. Children get to practice matching words with a picture and associate words with their correct spelling. For older children, challenge them to review pages for accuracy within an app or website. This allows children to exercise their reading and comprehension skills by building a wider vocabulary while experiencing an everyday task of choosing food to eat or a household item.

On the next car ride, have your child read logos, billboards and road signs. Children will begin to recognize colors and graphics, and associate items sold by these brands. While waiting in line at a drive-thru, challenge your child to read items listed on the menu out loud to help them speak and become familiar with their favorite foods. Have an older child? Teach them to read the road signs to begin their understanding of traffic flow rules of the road and pedestrian safety. One day, they may be working towards their drivers license, but we are all pedestrians everyday.

Demonstrating to children how reading is a part of our everyday 

lives will help them to grasp the

importance of reading to 

complete everyday tasks. 

Check out the below resources for your family:

N.C. Kids Digital Library

(Library card may be needed, call your local library for more details.)