Hello Book Bums families!
If you're part of the Book Bums family, you are likely already a reader and know the importance of books and language. Even so, I am often amazed at what studies show about the power of reading. Check out the benefits illustrated in this chart.
Word of the Week
eminent (em-ih-nuhnt) adjective/describing word - well-known and respected
The eminent author drew a crowd of readers and admirers to her bookstore appearance.
Just fo Fun
- March is National March into Literacy Month.
- Literacy is our mission at Book Bums all year long from the youngest readers to the oldest.
From our Bookshelves
While attending the Ohio Summit for Dyslexia 2024, many of my heroes in the Science of Reading (SoR) community gathered for a panel discussion, and it was the very best part of the event. It reminded me of extraordinarily trained musicians enjoying a jam session together. The education experts listened to one another, contributed their own perspectives on topics that were offered up, and they each built upon one other’s ideas. Sometimes a participant broke into a solo and each respectfully absorbed what was shared. During the discussion, one of the panel participants mentioned the book Strive for Five Conversations, by Tricia A Zucker & Sonia Q. Cabell and the others noted, too, the contribution it is to our community. I jotted the book title in my notes and added it to my next Amazon order.
I had already read the 7 Mighty Moves by Lindsay Kemny (a good introductory book for primary educators interested in bringing evidence-based practices into their classrooms); and since so many had shared how good it was, I read Strive for Five Conversations right away. This one, too, is a book for early childhood educators, but I feel it could be a great book for anyone with young children in their lives.
The main message is that too often adults shut down conversations with kids by the third turn because they respond to children saying things like, “Yes. Good,” and then they move along to something else. The challenge from the author is to strive for five talking turns while deliberately sticking to one topic. Adults are encouraged to listen to children, invite them to say more about the topic, and then to expand conversations with them by sharing new knowledge, inserting advanced vocabulary, and modeling more sophisticated language structures.
If you’re interested in learning to better support young children through mindful conversations, Strive for Five Conversations may be a great choice for you.
Tips for Families
It wasn’t long ago that we made our Book Bums Little Letter Learners (LLL) curriculum available for use in one-on-one tutoring sessions.
Using research-based practices, we engage kids (ages 4-6) in fun-focused activities that promote:
- an awareness of sounds in words
- letter/sound correspondences
- tidy, efficient letter formations
- expanded vocabulary and background knowledge to support good language and reading comprehension.
If your soon-to-be reader is asked to “read” (aka remember) a list of “sight words,” you should know that this is a flawed approach for teaching kids to read. To prevent reading difficulties, you may consider enrolling your preschooler in our LLL tutoring sessions.
Here’s a video that shows some of the activities from one of our lessons. Though this video was from a workshop, the same activities are done within our tutoring sessions.
Below, I’m including a bit of a MAP report a parent of an older student shared with me. From fall to winter, this student made a tremendous leap! If you’re looking for transformation in your struggling reader,
Tips for Raising Readers and Writers
As the weather grows a bit warmer, consider taking a book or a pad and pencil outdoors to enjoy some reading and/or writing time. If it’s still a bit chilly, just grab a blanket to take with you. I also love listening to books outdoors. What a delight it is to enjoy a great story and the warmth of the sunshine—sans the creepy crawlies that often come with the heat of summertime.
You might also enjoy challenging the whole family to sit outdoors with you and to list ten things they’re grateful for, five people for whom they’d like to do something kind, and one thing they’d like to accomplish for themselves over spring break.
Pause for Poetry
The Dream Keeper
by Langston Hughes
Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.
Practical Grammar
True or False?
The words flammable and inflammable are synonyms.
It’s true. Both flammable and inflammable mean “capable of being easily ignited and of burning quickly.” We typically think of in- as a prefix that means not. Inactive means not active. Inexperienced means not experienced. However, there’s a Latin prefix in- that means “to cause to.”
To eliminate confusion, we can use nonflammable when referring to something that doesn’t catch fire and burn easily.
Just for Fun
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