Never too early....

Submitted by: Ms. Feltz

Meet Elliott, Ms. Feltz' 11-month-old nephew! He loves reading books with his family, and as Ms. Feltz reminds us - It's never too early to be a reader. Elliott loves turning the pages all by himself!


We'd love to share the literacy practices of your family....please email your stories and pictures to:

in July - Ms. Brezek - mbrezek@bsd100.org

in August - Mrs. Jantz - cjantz@bsd100.org

When Response follows Reading

Submitted by: Mrs. Freeney, Aine Freeney, & Ms. Brezek

At the end of the school year, I happened to be in the office and Mrs. Freeney showed me a wonderful drawing her daughter, Aine, did:

I mean, isn't it great? The illustrations, and the text bubbles? And the meshing of the two stories into one?

 I then asked Mrs. Freeney how it came about and she said that her daughter had recently read two books: MacBeth on MyOn and Diary of a Wimpy Kid...

Which got her to drawing that picture up above that was a combination of the two. I thought it was so awesome, as it was an authentic response to reading that was unprompted by any kind of "work" that kids were required to do.

Response is one of the five components of Reading Workshop, which is the model of reading instruction that the teachers at Emerson strive to follow.

One quote about reader's response says, "Research on reader response theories has shown that it is a reader's personal response to literature that encourages that reader to return to literature experiences." So, how are your children responding to what they are reading this summer?

Is it through conversation? That's a natural response selection - and as an adult, when I think of my my favorite books, the first thing I want to do after I finish it is tell someone about it. And if they liked the book as much as I do, then I want to talk about it....sometimes for hours!

I happened on this quote on Twitter last week which supports this notion, "Literate conversations with peers (as little as ten minutes a day) improve students' reading motivation, comprehension, and test scores" (Cazde, 1988 & Nystrand, 2006).

So, this month and always, encourage reading in your home by helping your child to respond to it in any ways they might like...through conversation, through art, through writing. Let's encourage our kids to come back to literature experiences through their response!

Book Preferences Develop Early!

Submitted by: Mrs. Suomi

For one week every summer I am lucky enough to babysit my niece and nephew while their parents are at work and nanny is out of town. This week is always filled with reading and playing outside. In this picture my nephew Jack (6) is reading to my niece Leah (3). They are reading an ABC book about Star Wars. Both of them are huge fans! Jack is going to start first grade in the fall and loves to read. His favorite subject to read about is space, specifically the planets. Leah loves to be read to and her favorite book is any of the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather this summer! 

Unbroken

Submitted by:  Shelley Titzer

Adults and teens, are you looking for an inspiring page turner to get lost in this summer?  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is an INCREDIBLE story.  You will not be able to put this book down. 

Louis Zamperini, who died yesterday at the age of 97, is an inspiration not as much for his service to our country (though that in itself makes him a true hero!) or for his athletic accomplishments as an Olympic athlete or for his enduring of such suffering and overcoming such obstacles in his life...but for "The hardest thing" he ever did: forgive. Are you holding a grudge? Is there someone you struggle to forgive? Read Unbroken and start living! RIP Louis Zamperini:Unbroken - Louis Zamperini - CBS Sunday Morning - 5-27-12

Month 2 of Summer Vacation Already!

Submitted by: Ms. Brezek

Greetings Emerson families!

Hope you had a great June and are excited for what is yet to come still this summer!

Last month was pretty busy for me, traveling in Europe with my best friend and five of her high school students. It was an amazing trip! Here's one of my fave pics of our group:

When I was in London, I happened upon a bookstore and found the section of books about the city, including 1984 by George Orwell. This is a book that has been on my to read list for awhile now...so I thought it would be perfect to buy it in London as my memento (is that how you spell that?) from that city. Then I had lots of opportunities to read it as we took trains from city to city.

Here it was like 7am waiting on the Eurostar from London to Paris. Never thought I'd share a pic with no makeup, but for the love of reading, I will do anything! (Ok, maybe not anything...!)

Was a little bit more cleaned up on the trip from Venice to Rome, but hair was always in a bun because I burned up my flat iron and broke my friend's electricity converter thing with my blowdryer....all in the first day. But hair done or undone, kept at it with the book:

I haven't finished it yet but it's just crazy how the government in this book uses "big brother" to control the masses. Makes me wonder....anything similar to that now? Is all of our social media tracking us? (Sorry for the conspiracy theory - but books can get you thinking things that you hadn't before!)

Has anyone else read this book? Thoughts? (Please, no spoilers!)

Well, before I go, just wanted to let you know that I'm the point person for this blog in July. We've only had one family submit a post...so please help us out and send some stories in!

All you have to do is type up what you want to say and send a picture (or a few) via email to me (mbrezek@bsd100.org) and I will publish it to the blog for you. Easy peasy! :-)

Have a great night!

Ms. Brezek