Sleepy Bear Collaborates With Seattle Public Theater

Hello,

I want to help pass on the word that Sleepy Bear has been invited to write as a contributing blogger for the Seattle Public Theater Youth Programs.  He gets to visit the rehearsals for the youth productions and then he sees the shows and writes about them.  So are he has seen ZOMBIE CAESAR and BOOK OF DAYS.  If you want to read more visit Sleepy Bear’s blog at http://SleepyBearWrites.blogspot.com

Happy Reading,

Kathleen

Student Book Recommendations

Hello,

Here is another book recommendation from one of my students.

As you can see, Kyra did a fine job of summarizing PLEASING THE GHOST, giving her own connection to the book, and a hook to help the reader in selecting this story to read.  Great job, Kyra!

Happy Reading,

Kathleen

The New School Year

Hello,

I hope everyone is off to a great start to the new school year.

My "school year" is speeding by fast.  Although I'm no longer teaching in the classroom, I am tutoring full-time while I work on writing my books for children and assisting Sleepy Bear and Moosey-Moose with their blogs.  If you follow them, you already know that Sleepy Bear is ready to select a new book for his online book club.  I encourage you to submit ideas from your kids.  Sleepy Bear is very good about responding personally to his fans.  And, Moosey-Moose recently returned from his travel adventure in France!  Lucky me, I was his chaperone.  Yes, it's a tough job but someone needs to keep tabs on Moosey-Moose!

As always, I look forward to reading your comments and suggestions.


Happy Reading,


Kathleen

Student Book Recommendations

Hello,

Is summer flying by fast as fast for you as it is for me? The new school year is just around the corner and there are still so many books to read. How can you possibly choose which ones to read first! To help decide I would like to share with you two recommendations from my students who I privately tutor.

The first book is, IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES by Lisa Schroeder:

The second book is NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW by Carolyn Keene:

Hopefully these will spark an interest in your child and keep them reading through the end of summer and beyond. I will continue to post student recommendations so be sure to check back often. If you or your child has a book you would like to share with me, please leave a comment on my blog or send me an e-mail and I will personally respond.

Happy Reading,


Kathleen

Student Book Recommendations

Hello,

Is summer flying by fast as fast for you as it is for me? The new school year is just around the corner and there are still so many books you are hoping your child will read. To help you out in deciding which books to read next, I would like to share two recommendations from my students who I privately tutor.

The first one is IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES BY Lisa Schroeder:

The second book is NANCY DREW AND THE CLUE CREW, #2, by Carolyn Keene:

Hopefully these will spark an interest in your child and keep them reading through the end of summer and beyond. I will continue to post student recommendations so be sure to check back often. If you or your child has a book you would like to share, please leave a comment on my blog or send me an e-mail and I will personally respond.

Happy Reading,


Kathleen

Engaging Your Struggling Reader At Home

Hello,

The March edition of The Reading Teacher has some excellent and very user friendly tips for parents to try at home with their struggling reader.

Often, the struggling reader is not interested in reading books in general. But, if you try a variety of reading materials you will probably hit upon something that interests your child. For example, magazines for children, (Cricket, Spider, and Ask to name a few are great!), child-friendly websites (SleepyBearWrites.blogspot.com and MooseyMooseWrites.blogspot.com), graphic novels, and even brochures!

Once your child is reading interesting texts, you will find that your child enjoys reading more. In turn, she will want to read more, thus increasing the volume of reading! Along the way it is wise to decrease the expectations of your struggling reader. For example, decrease the number of pages to read each day. Lessening the pressure to read more will help make the reading process more enjoyable.

Lastly, encourage your child to re-read books. They can be books a teacher has read to the whole class or a book she read from the previous year on her own. Your child will already have the background knowledge of the story allowing her to focus on her own accuracy, rate, and phrasing and expression.

Happy Reading,

Kathleen

Thinking and Talking About Books

Hello,

I would like to share a fun and easy way to share books with your child at home. Teachers, this is also a great way to encourage your students either with the whole class or in partners.

This comes from THE READING TEACHER journal, Volume 63, Number 6, March 2010. This lesson uses a structured prompt to engage students in sharing their thinking about what they are reading. Research supports that “… social interaction enhances language development and elevates a child’s intellectual functioning (Clay 1991)” What better way than to interact with your child or classroom of students while reading a book!

The sample prompts provided are:

*Tell me what in your own words what happened in the book.
*Talk about your favorite parts.
*This book reminds me of ...
*Add something new to the book.

If you'd like, you can make a spinner with these prompts to increase the chances of variety in your child's responses.

It is suggested that you model using the prompts for your child first. Soon, your child will begin to naturally use the prompts to begin her own statements and sharing about what she has read or a story she has listened to. Finally, your child will naturally respond to her reading. What’s more, the prompts are not limited to fiction text. They can be used for social studies, science, and even math!

I look forward to hearing how the lesson works for you and your child or students.

Happy Reading,

Kathleen