Immersed in Books!

Submitted by: Ms. Brezek

I woke up to this on my Facebook feed this morning:

My brother-in-law posted this of my 2 year-old niece and said, "She grabs 8 books from her basket and quietly piles them on the counter next to me as I'm working on my laptop. She climbs up on the stool and starts "reading" each one without asking for help. She's 2 and already read more books than me."

I love this! Access to books is so important, and these early literacy practices where kids go through the motions of collecting their books, opening them, and reading page by page...this is exactly what prepares our kiddos for a love of literacy as they enter school.

Do you have similar pictures of your children? Please send them our way with a little description of what they were doing! We'd love to showcase all the families in our community!

Happy Saturday!

Where can you read?

Submitted by: Mrs. Suomi, Mrs. Monaco & their students

Today the fifth graders in 5MS brainstormed all the places that you can read over the summer. Then, they put all their ideas into a Wordle! Check out their creation and maybe then you could read.... at the beach or on a train!

Thank you 5MS for your creative display of your ideas. Now all you have to do is send us some pictures of you reading in these places!

Stone Fox

We have read so many great books this year in 3SB!

One book we read recently is Stone Fox.  It is set in the past and based on a legend.  The main character, Little Willy, needs to figure out a way to earn money to save the farm.  As I was reading, I found Little Willy to be a very determined boy.  Even though he was told that he should just give up, he refused.  I'm still not sure about the ending and it had mixed reviews in our class.  This is definitely not a book that you can forget after reading it!

- Ms. Bless

First Grade Reading Lists

Submitted by: Mrs. Gentile

Mrs. Gentile came across some great websites for for book lists for rising first graders! When you have a moment, be sure to check these out!

Education World 1st Grade Summer Reading List

Bramlett Elementary School 1st Grade Summer Reading List

Good Reads First Grade Reading List

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Submitted by: Ms. Brezek

I happened to come across this blog this weekend:

When I was in elementary school and middle school, I loved these books! In fact, I added them to my middle school library and the kids were constantly reading them. And now, maybe they will be a movie!

This summer, you could definitely check these books out for your kids to read with a flashlight at home in the dark, maybe in the backyard! Kids love, Love, LOVE these books! and then, you'll be able to run over and see the movie for some continued summer fun!

Click on over to amazon to get some more details about this series of books by Alvin Schwartz. These books would be appropriate for upper elementary students.

On a side note, I'm still eagerly awaiting any posts from teachers, students, any families...anyone in our community! Let's get this blog rolling before we leave for summer break! Just email your post to me (mbrezek@bsd100.or) through the end of the month, and then Ms. Bless (jbless@bsd100.org) is going to be publishing in June! Check out our How to Submit page for the details on submitting a post!

Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Book Review: Charlotte's Web

Submitted by: Mrs. Jantz

My all-time favorite book is Charlotte’s Web! Ever since my third grade teacher introduced it to me, I have read and recommended it many times to my students. The first time I read it, I knew how special it was. The relationship Fern, a farm girl, has with Wilber, the pig she saved from being slaughtered, is one I longed to have with a pet of my own. It wasn’t until years later, and numerous times reading it, that I realized the most special relationship wasn’t between Fern and Wilber, but between Wilber and Charlotte, the spider who shares the same barn residence.  As the book unfolds, you will no doubt grow to love these characters and the friendship they have. The loyalty and trust displayed in this book can be life lessons for us all and I guarantee you will be brought to tears!

 This book is great for all ages, but best for 2^nd through 5^th grade.  If you’re too young to read it on your own, have an older brother, sister, parent, or grandparent read it to you! 

Articles about Summer Literacy

Twitter is amazing for finding such great resources. If you follow the right people, research comes right to you!

The past week, I've found a few articles and blogs about summer literacy that I wanted to share with everyone!

Tips for Parents: How to get your children to love reading
From the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD): 8 tips for helping your little ones find the love in reading.

Book a Day Challenge
Donalyn Miller, author of the Book Whisperer and co-author to the Nerdy Book Club blog writes a post about the 6th annual book a day challenge.

Ultimate Summer Reading List
This one is for you, teachers! On this list, you can find lots of great professional development titles in all areas: Reading, Writing, Classroom Management, High Expectations and four more...just for fun!


That's all for today! Let's get ready to have a wonderful summer filled with lots of reading...and cultivating an extreme love of it!

Have a great night!
Ms. Brezek

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Our new blog created: Success!

Welcome to a new chapter in the evolution of authentic literacy practice at Emerson Elementary School! Beginning in the summer of 2014, we hope that students, teachers, and families of Emerson students will write in to share their experiences with reading and writing!

This blog grew from a request from Emerson families for a summer reading list. As students go away from school this summer, we hope you enjoy your time with friends and family playing outside, taking vacations, playing sports, having cook-outs, and sleeping in (because you were up late reading a great book!)

We hope to showcase a summer love of literacy. We ask that teachers, students, and parents send us their stories of literacy throughout your summer. What book did you just finish? Tell us about it! Where did you meet your friends to read great books? Write us to tell us about it! Who is the new author that you LOVE? Share with us! Did you write a great story? Send it in! Parents: What great ideas do you have to share with other families for reading with your kiddos? Please share with us! Don't forget to send a few pictures, too, and we will post everything here for all to share!

We hope that this is an active community - submitting stories and commenting to encourage all authors!

Stay tuned...more to come!
Ms. Brezek
Emerson Literacy Coach