Today's Literacy Headlines

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Opinion: Captain Underpants v. Roblox: Here’s how to get kids reading again (opens in a new window)

One obvious way to start building a lifetime reading habit is ensuring children have plenty of books at home. But the presence of books probably isn’t enough to make a reader. Parents also need to read to their children consistently, reinforcing that books are a source of fun and family closeness. And once children are reading independently, caregivers should find creative ways to help them attempt harder texts. Some simple strategies can keep kids immersed — trusting children to pick their own books is essential. Librarians and teachers are key to guiding children to books that will engage them and encourage them to stretch without getting demoralized.

Want Kids to Read in the Summer? School Librarians Can Help (opens in a new window)

“Summer reading should be fun. It should bring that joy of reading back into students’ hearts, where they can take it up with abandon as they would like,” said longtime school librarian Courtney Pentland, president of the American Association of School Librarians, a division of the American Library Association. Pentland, an advocate and expert on both school and public libraries, shares key factors that impact the likelihood that students will pursue summer pleasure reading.

Trumpet was too loud, clarinet was too soft — here’s ‘The Story of the Saxophone’ (opens in a new window)

Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome have been married for 33 years. Lesa Cline-Ransome became an author and James Ransome, an illustrator. Together, they’ve now created multiple picture books including Before She Was Harriet, Overground Railroad, and Satchel Paige. The Story of the Saxophone is their latest children’s book, inspired by a mutual love of jazz. The couple had just finished watching Jazz, the 2001 PBS documentary, and James Ransome had an idea. He knew that saxophonists like Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young were instrumental in helping the saxophone gain popularity in the jazz world.

Educating Dyslexic Students Starts With Educating Teachers About Dyslexia (opens in a new window)

I sent my child off to kindergarten full of excitement. Soon into his school days, my happy, outgoing, confident kid became withdrawn, scared, and anxious. Getting him out the door to school became a challenge. Full of worry, I reached out to our schools and began to ask questions. The teachers reassured me with common phrases: Relax, give it time, he’s a boy, some kids take longer to develop.

What ‘Science of Reading’ Laws Emphasize—And What They Omit (opens in a new window)

State legislation aimed at improving how reading is taught has been changing the instructional landscape in the country’s elementary schools over the past few years. A new report examines what these laws emphasize—and what they leave out. The analysis, conducted by the Albert Shanker Institute, a think tank affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, surveyed state reading legislation passed between 2019 and 2022.

New Analysis of State Reading Legislation Reveals Most Ambitious Reform Effort in Nation’s History (opens in a new window)

A new report released today by the Albert Shanker Institute systematically examines more than 200 reading laws enacted in 45 states and the District of Columbia between 2019 and 2022. This granular analysis showcases an ambitious, bipartisan, state-driven effort to improve U.S. reading outcomes through multilayered investments in teachers and students. The report, Reading Reform Across America: A Survey of State Legislation, offers a comprehensive examination of reading legislation on more than 40 areas, including teacher preparation, professional development, assessment, family engagement and student supports.

California Joins 40 States in Mandating Dyslexia Screening (opens in a new window)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed into law a bill that will require schools to implement universal screening in kindergarten through 2nd grade for reading delays, including the risk of dyslexia. These brief evaluations are not intended to replace more thorough assessments that can diagnose reading disorders.

8 New Picture Books With Disability Representation (opens in a new window)

Disability representation in picture books lags far behind reality. This gap has inspired many new books that picture disabilities, including those featured here. These new books portray children with a variety of disabilities: hearing loss, wheelchair use, arthritis, and more.

6 Teacher-Tested Tips for Getting Students’ Names Right (opens in a new window)

Names represent an individual’s identity, heritage, and culture, and taking the time to pronounce them correctly is one way teachers can show respect for students and their families. Educators shared their practices for learning how to correctly pronounce students’ names ahead of the first-day roll call.

New Study: Schools Prioritizing Social-Emotional Learning See Strong Academic Benefits (opens in a new window)

Chicago high schools that prioritized social-emotional development saw improved graduation rates and college attendance.

Teaching Climate Change in Every Subject (opens in a new window)

New Jersey teachers are integrating the state’s new climate change standards across K–12. We dropped in to see how they’re doing it.

The Dean of Deadpan Finds His Muse (opens in a new window)

Folk tales are meant to be flexible things, open-source stories infinitely moldable to the needs of teller and era. That’s the wonder of them — and of “The Skull,” an old Tyrolean yarn distilled to its droll essentials and marvelously reimagined by the Caldecott medalist (and national treasure) Jon Klassen. Klassen’s version, accompanied by a generous helping of his odd and beautiful illustrations, follows a young girl named Otilla who, one snowy night, “finally” runs away from home. She becomes hopelessly lost in a deep, dark forest. Just before dawn, nearly dead from cold, she happens upon a rambling old house inhabited by a gentle, retiring skull.

Opinion: Why the Science of Reading Is Right for My Young Learner (opens in a new window)

I’m writing this for all the parents out there: Don’t leave your child’s reading success to chance. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I was one of those parents. Sure, my wife and I read to our son every night, and we had plenty of books, newspapers and magazines around the house. Our local public school spent a lot of time on literacy too, but I cringe now as I look back on how they did it. They taught kids to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words using pictures, the first letter or other context clues.

Schools and students face difficult battle to close learning gaps worsened by pandemic (opens in a new window)

Billions of dollars were funneled to school districts across the U.S. to help them make up for learning loss from the pandemic. But new research shows that even with that extra money, school districts are still struggling to close the gaps in reading, writing and math. Stephanie Sy discussed the findings with Karyn Lewis of the Center for School and Student Progress and a lead researcher at NWEA.

New Report Highlights States that Are at the Vanguard of the Reading Revolution (opens in a new window)

A new FutureEd report, The Reading Revolution: How States Are Scaling Literacy Reform, tells the story of how Mississippi, Tennessee and other states at the vanguard of the reading revolution have redesigned reading instruction and raised student achievement in thousands of public schools through bold, state-level leadership. These states have addressed every aspect of early literacy, from how teachers and prospective teachers are trained to the curriculum they use, how students are assessed and whether children are retained rather than promoted to the next grade.

What People Are Getting Wrong About the Science of Reading (opens in a new window)

The science of reading, while typically villainized for solely advocating phonics, is misrepresented as a phonics program, while really, it is a body of research that informs the most effective way to teach decoding and language comprehension. The definition of the science of reading, provided by The Reading League, is “the vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing.” The term “science of reading” does not equate to phonics. That term does not equate to comprehension.

How parents can help children with ADHD thrive in friendships (opens in a new window)

Parents of kids with ADHD often say their kids miss social cues, such as when peers are bored, hurt or offended, according to Amori Mikami, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada. “It can lead to a lot of outbursts or temper tantrums or whining and complaining or arguing with the friend,” she said. Mikami researches peer relationships, specifically focusing on children with ADHD. Additionally, she developed a parental friendship coaching (PFC) model where parents of elementary school-age kids can learn to support their child in making friends.

From Bus Stops to Laundromats, Cities Embrace Play to Help Kids Learn (opens in a new window)

Philadelphia and other cities are quietly building installations like the “Urban Thinkscape” to layer on learning where families already spend time. On a tiny triangular lot in the city’s Belmont neighborhood, kids waiting with their parents for the No. 40 bus can also work on their executive functioning skills, playing a hopscotch variation designed to train their brains. In Chicago, a wooden game mounted on the wall of a laundromat teaches children, in two languages, how to find color patterns in a lineup of detergent bottle tops. These are two examples of an unusual model of on-the-fly learning mixed with urban design, one that has emerged from decades of research on the role of play in kids’ lives.

Preparing Families for the New School Year (opens in a new window)

A few tips for ensuring that students—particularly those with disabilities and English learners—and their families get the year off to a good start.

Students need over 4 months of extra learning to return to pre-pandemic math, reading achievement (opens in a new window)

Pandemic academic recovery in both reading and math is lagging notably behind pre-COVID achievement trends for students in grades 4-8 during the 2022-23 school year, according to a new report by NWEA analyzing MAP Growth test scores of 6.7 million students across 20,000 public schools. Third-graders were the only group who saw improvements, and they were slight, according to NWEA, an educational research organization recently acquired by learning technology company HMH.

How to encourage children to read more books this summer (opens in a new window)

Every year, educators worry about “summer slide,” the potential for learning loss when children are not in school. This issue is more pronounced among low-income families who don’t have access to summer camps or other enrichment activities. One way to battle summer slide is through reading for fun, which is associated with many academic and health benefits, including strengthening the brain, increasing ability to empathize, reducing stress and building vocabulary.

Back to Elementary School With Storytelling (opens in a new window)

Engaging in storytelling gives students an opportunity to connect with each other and understand classroom expectations. Teacher Matthew James Friday says, “I tell a story every day for the first two or three weeks. I also suggest that the students can become storytellers themselves. All they need to do is write a story at home. After a few weeks of my telling stories, something magical always happens: A student brings in a story.”

3 Simple Ideas for Introducing AI Into Your Teaching (opens in a new window)

While many teachers are embracing generative artificial intelligence—the technology behind powerful new tools that analyze huge amounts of online data and then use it to create unique text and images from basic prompts—others are still wary of the technology and even feel overwhelmed by it. For that latter group, Kristen Brooks, a technology specialist in Cherokee County schools outside of Atlanta, has three simple strategies for teachers to get their feet wet. Teachers can use emerging generative AI tools to both augment their teaching and assist with behind-the-scenes tasks, such as lesson planning and communicating with parents, said Brooks.

4 Ways to Use Comics and Graphic Novels to Engage Students (opens in a new window)

Most classroom walls display rules about arriving on time or raising hands to speak. Tim Smyth’s has a sign reminding students: “You’re Not Allowed to Ask Which is Better, Marvel or DC.” Even as he sidesteps fervent debates about which comic book publisher is superior, Smyth leans into comics and graphic novels in his 10th and 11th grade social studies classes at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pa. He believes they can offer students an engaging entry point into history and world cultures.

Tennessee’s TCAP test scores climb for second straight year after pandemic (opens in a new window)

Tennessee’s third set of test scores from the pandemic era improved again across all core subjects and grades, even exceeding pre-pandemic proficiency rates in English language arts and social studies. The academic snapshot suggests that Tennessee’s early investments in summer learning camps and intensive tutoring are paying off to counter three straight years of COVID-related disruptions. But the performance of historically underserved students — including children with disabilities, those from low-income families, and students of color — still lags.

Teachers can assess young students’ literacy skills and knowledge by encouraging them to produce books based on animal facts. (opens in a new window)

A new children’s book transforms a sad, scared and anxious little boy into a superhero. The book is called “Cape,” in honor of the bright-red cape the little boy wears and finds comfort in following the death of his father. “Cape” is Kevin Johnson’s debut picture book, and it’s vividly illustrated by artist Kitt Thomas.

How Animal Research Can Inspire Elementary Students’ Writing (opens in a new window)

Teachers can assess young students’ literacy skills and knowledge by encouraging them to produce books based on animal facts.

4 Ways to Teach Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension (opens in a new window)

Teachers can use evidence-based strategies for delivering vocabulary instruction to improve reading comprehension and vice versa by integrating literacy across content areas. These should engage students in active processing, which is essential to student learning and retention.

4 parenting priorities to prevent mental health ‘summer slide’ (opens in a new window)

With school on break, along with all the homework, tests and early start times that come with it, parents often assume that young people’s stress and anxiety will take a pause as well. However, that’s not always the case, especially as the novelty of summer dwindles. Without the daily structure of school and extracurricular activities, kids may struggle with boredom or restlessness. Maintaining a routine during the summer can be a powerful tool for supporting children’s mental health, and parents can play a crucial role in establishing and reinforcing this structure.

Le Petit Prince Turns 80: A Peek Inside the Library’s Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Collections (opens in a new window)

Author, poet, aviator and adventurer par excellence, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is one of the most well-known French writers in contemporary history. This year marks the 80th anniversary of his most famous publication, Le petit prince (The Little Prince) published in 1943. Le petit prince is translated into over 250 languages with adaptations into radio plays, films, ballets, operas, musicals, children’s board books, and even an animated film. You can find a copy in Yiddish or the Burundian language of Kirundi.

How Hard Could It Be to Translate a Picture Book? (opens in a new window)

With so few words, most of them kid-friendly, it should be a piece of cake. But it depends on who’s holding the whisk. Translator Daniel Hahn say,”I believe my job as a translator is to preserve all the dimensions of a book, not just one of them. When I find complexity, my job is to keep complexity, or more accurately to reconstruct it. And some of the most complex books I’ve reconstructed have been children’s picture books.”

Making the Most of Neuroscience for Teaching Reading (opens in a new window)

Many children struggle with learning to read. Neuroscience offers a better way. Neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene’s work brings clarity to what we learn from neuroscience about teaching reading. He speaks eloquently about championing equity and hope for overcoming reading problems not only in America and France but across languages. No matter what writing system one uses, there is only one reading circuit in the brain, and by and large, all readers use that same circuit.

Judy Blume Kicks Off ALA Annual, Talking Censorship and Thanking Librarians (opens in a new window)

ALA Annual kicked off on Friday in Chicago in a most appropriate way for these times—a conversation with Judy Blume. In a discussion with Simon & Schuster senior vice president and publisher Justin Chanda, Blume talked about why she wanted to attend the conference this year, the differences between book banning attempts in the 1980s and today, and her lifetime love for libraries and librarians.

Summer Schools Can Boost Learning, But Only If Students Attend (opens in a new window)

Summer school programs often struggle with regular attendance. The Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA), a research-practice partnership between Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Department of Education, analyzed attendance rates in a 2022 voluntary summer school program for low-performing students in 10 districts statewide. It found that only 1 in 8 students attended 90 percent or more of the days offered.

How Colorado Went From ‘Laggard to Leader’ in Early Childhood Education (opens in a new window)

Gov. Jared Polis shares how and why his state has invested in the field and how that work could be scaled nationally.

Alone Together: 4 Picture Books That Pair Solitude With Friendship (opens in a new window)

“Sometimes it’s nice to be alone. Just you, reading your book. … But what if a friend stops by?” Here are four [picture books] that pay tribute to those who seek alone time.

Expanding Your School’s Nonfiction Collection (opens in a new window)

Elementary through high school students are eager for nonfiction. Here’s how to find the books they’ll want to read.

Where Teachers Say Professional Development Falls Short (opens in a new window)

Most teachers say that their professional learning isn’t providing them with much access to expert advice, especially when it comes to supporting English learners and students with disabilities, according to a new survey of educators from the RAND Corporation. The research, conducted during the 2021-22 school year, surveyed a nationally representative sample of about 8,000 math, science, and English/language arts teachers across grades K-12.

Language Exposure Shapes Young Brains (opens in a new window)

New research from the University of East Anglia (UEA), UK has found evidence that talking to toddlers helps to shape their developing brain. A team from the School of Psychology at UEA led by Professor John Spencer, captured thousands of hours of language data from babies and toddlers who were equipped with small recording devices. MRI scans were also carried out to explore the structure of the participants’ developing brains, focusing on a substance called myelin.

U.S. reading and math scores drop to lowest level in decades (opens in a new window)

The average test scores for U.S. 13-year-olds have dipped in reading and dropped sharply in math since 2020, according to new data from National Assessment of Educational Progress. The average scores, from tests given last fall, declined 4 points in reading and 9 points in math, compared with tests given in the 2019-2020 school year, and are the lowest in decades. The declines in reading were more pronounced for lower performing students, but dropped across all percentiles.

Indiana has new requirements for teaching reading. Will teachers be prepared to meet them? (opens in a new window)

Before Indiana students can learn how to read, their teachers have to learn how to teach reading. But how that’s done may soon change at teacher preparation programs across the state, as Indiana joins a national push to adopt reading practices shown to improve literacy. By 2025, new teachers will be required to demonstrate their proficiency in the science of reading — a term for a wide body of research that emphasizes phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonemic awareness in reading instruction. And programs risk losing their right to call themselves “accredited” if their curriculums aren’t based in reading science by 2024.

Efforts to Transform Kindergarten for a Strong PreK-3rd Continuum (opens in a new window)

Many decisions that directly impact kindergarten are made in schools by principals. There are many tools, however, that school districts, states, and even the federal government have to establish conditions for effective kindergarten programs and teaching in the ways that young children learn best.

Why advocates say early sign language learning for deaf children is crucial (opens in a new window)

More than 90 percent of deaf children in the U.S. are born to hearing parents. For them, the path forward can be difficult and also controversial. The advent of cochlear implant technology has the opportunity to change lives, yet many deaf advocates say not teaching sign language is a risky proposition. Rhode Island PBS Weekly’s Pamela Watts reports on the stark choices some parents face.

Mississippi Students Surged in Reading Over the Last Decade. Here’s How Schools Got Them There (opens in a new window)

Tenette Smith, executive director of elementary education and reading at the state’s department of education, said [that improvement in Mississippi’s reading scores] has everything to do with the act’s multi-pronged approach to boost reading proficiency. Lesser publicized strategies that are having a positive impact include free, full-day pre-K programs that promote reading readiness; universal screening for literacy three times a year for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade; individual reading plans (IRPs) for students whose screening results are below grade level; and formal methods for parents to engage in those IRPs. Underscoring these strategies is a significant investment of $15 million per year to support literacy, 60 percent of which goes to coaching and intervention services staff.

Literacy Success Does Not Happen Overnight (opens in a new window)

If you’re looking for a secret ingredient to explain Mississippi’s rise in reading achievement on the Fourth Grade Reading National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) over the last decade, you won’t find it. Some have even called that achievement “the Mississippi Miracle,” but you won’t find a miracle either. The tireless, hard work that has gone into supporting educators, students and families is surely no miracle. And it didn’t happen overnight. What did happen was the resurgence of a conversation about the right way to teach reading, which is grounded in science.

A new way of teaching kids to read in Georgia (opens in a new window)

Going forward, 30 or 45 minutes of every reading class in Bibb County will be spent building phonemic awareness, a core skill in what’s called Structured Literacy or, broadly, the Science of Reading. This year Georgia legislators passed two state laws mandating Science of Reading and Structured Literacy. This month Governor Brian Kemp appointed a state Director of Literacy, Amy Denty, to steer the application of those standards in every school district in the state.

Lights, Camera, Literacy! Create Digital Media for Early Learning (opens in a new window)

From YouTube to TikTok, librarians’ videos are promoting early literacy and allowing access to learning activities. With people watching an average of 17 hours of video a week, these suggestions will inspire you to hit Record.

I work with struggling readers. Here’s what’s standing in their way. (opens in a new window)

In my eight years of teaching in Philadelphia and its suburbs, I’ve worked with first through fifth graders from diverse racial and economic backgrounds. I’ve worked in both low-performing schools and higher-performing ones, and the same problem keeps cropping up: So many kids can’t read. I’ve seen first graders who don’t know what sound “a” makes and fifth graders who can’t read two-syllable words. Why is this happening? People blame COVID, but the problem predates the pandemic.

Teaching Programs Fall Short on Reading Instruction, Review Claims (opens in a new window)

Three of 4 elementary teacher-preparation programs don’t adequately cover all the core components of reading instruction—and many still teach methods that run counter to evidence-based practice, a new review concludes. The review, from the research and policy group the National Council on Teacher Quality, analyzed syllabi, textbooks, and other course materials from 693 teacher-preparation programs across the United States.

Special Report: Oregon fails to turn page on reading (opens in a new window)

Part 1: After 25 years and more than $250 million, many Oregon kids still struggle to read because they are taught using ineffective methods. To address this, Gov. Tina Kotek is backing the state’s single largest reading investment in two decades, the Early Literacy Success Initiative, a $140 million grant program to get “evidence-based literacy instruction” methods into classrooms in districts that apply for the funding.

The Fight Over Phonics (opens in a new window)

Over the past three decades, Lucy Calkins helped create a set of strategies for teaching children how to read, known as balanced literacy. It was widely adopted in the United States, including in New York, the country’s largest public school system. But doubts about the approach persisted, and now it seems that using balanced literacy has given a generation of American students the wrong tools. This podcast discusses the story of balanced literacy and how Professor Calkins is trying to fix the problems that the technique created.

Counting on Conversation: Counting Books for Children (opens in a new window)

A counting book is tricky to write, for it must inspire readers to do two things at once: to count and to read. Five new counting books solve this puzzle in different ways, but they all share one essential strategy: to start a conversation.

Highlighting World Languages in Elementary School (opens in a new window)

The elementary grades are a great time for students to learn about world languages. Simple strategies include having signs in multiple languages.

Children Who Struggle To Pay Attention Earn Less As Adults, Study Finds (opens in a new window)

Children who struggle to pay attention tend to do less well at school than their classmates and go into lower paying jobs as adults, according to a new study. And children who find it difficult to manage their behavior at school are more likely to end up in jail. “Our study found broad support for the notion that people’s early experiences and skills really matter when they reach adulthood, despite everything that happens in between,” said Andrew Koepp, of the University of Texas at Austin, lead author of the study. It also means that helping children manage their attention and behavior will benefit them in later life, he added.

How Storytelling About Learning Empowers Students (opens in a new window)

Storytelling is a powerful way to develop community, to teach, and to empower. When teachers tell their students stories in which characters overcome challenges, we empower students. When classes gather and listen to stories, they develop a sense of belonging.

7 “Stepping Up” Books for the Young Grads in Your Life (opens in a new window)

ABCs. 123s. The first year of school has come to an end, and it’s graduation time. These seven titles are the perfect picks for celebrating this monumental milestone.

For Memphis 3rd graders, threat of retention has hovered since kindergarten (opens in a new window)

With only a few days left in third grade, LaQuencher Sanders’ 8-year-old daughter, Kamryn, just wanted to be done with school. This year, as the end of the year approached, she had a sense that her reading scores on the test she took in the spring may not be high enough for her to move on to fourth grade automatically. That meant that to avoid having to repeat the grade, she would likely face more summer school and another year of tutoring.

If the Teacher Does All the Talking, Who’s Doing the Learning? (opens in a new window)

My advice to teachers of English-learners is basically the same as what I tell all educators I work with: Students need to talk in class because the one doing the talking is the one doing the learning. When I say “talk,” I’m referring to academic talk. Sounding like a book involves rich vocabulary and habits of thought that need to be taught and learned, which is different from talk outside of the classroom. In other words, formal talk versus informal talk. Also, leading the conversation in the classroom makes students feel enormously proud of themselves. Alternating between direct instruction and small-group work, educators can gradually build each student’s knowledge base as well as ownership.

The High-Risk Feat of Bringing ‘American Born Chinese’ to TV (opens in a new window)

For years, Gene Luen Yang was convinced a single character in his groundbreaking graphic novel would doom any attempt at an adaptation. What changed? Almost everyone who reads “American Born Chinese,” Gene Luen Yang’s groundbreaking graphic novel, is a little afraid of Chin-Kee. The book is a classic of young-adult literature, threading together stories of Asian American boyhood with a revered Ming dynasty novel. Chin-Kee’s role in it is a small one, but he is the bomb at the book’s heart.

Jason Reynolds Is Just Getting Started (opens in a new window)

Jason Reynolds can do anything. From verse to prose or a superhero novel to a fusion of art and text, his moving examinations of modern society are captivating, innovative, and beloved. Reynolds is the recipient of the 2023 Margaret A. Edwards Award, given annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, and sponsored by SLJ, for his novels When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys, Ghost, and Long Way Down. In honoring Reynolds’s work, the committee noted that he “presents teens with authentic mirrors and windows to the world.”

Today’s Literacy Headlines

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