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

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! 

READING AND WRITING GO HAND IN HAND

     My son is eight years old and going to be in second grade.  After discovering and devouring both Stick Dog books and a little encouragement from a school assembly with the author, he started creating his own Stick Dog books. Each book follows Stick Dog and his friends in an attempt to get some kind of food.  So, he decides which type of food they are going to try to get and he writes and illustrates his own version.  We even co-authored one version, of course my ideas were generally shot down for his much more creative ones.  :)  What do moms know anyway?

After he finishes his books, we add them to one of our book baskets.  He is an author after all!  Adding a child's work to works of published authors makes them feel more confident and valued.

Imitating a mentor text isn't just for independent readers and writers.  If you have a young child, you could read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  These books have very predictable patterns that your child will recognize and be able to imitate.  You can record your child's ideas and then he/she can illustrate.

- Ms. Bless

First, I love this blogging idea!  It will be a great resource for book ideas for the whole family.  I loved the 5th grade post about where they like to read.  For my family, we all do most of our reading in bed at the end of each day.  So, when I saw the post about the bookshelves, I decided to take pictures of all of the nightstands in our house.

My 12  year old son also reads on his Kindle.  Currently he is reading “Al Capone Does my Shirts” by Gennifer Choldenko.  This is a story of a boy whose father’s new job as a prison guard at Alcatraz means a move to a new place.  The main character, Moose, has to take care of his autistic sister, make new friends and deal with a girl named Piper who lures him into a scheme that involves collecting laundry from classmates for Al Capone to launder at the prison!

My 10 year old daughter is reading Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.  We are reading this aloud together and it is a great story about a young girl left by her tribe on an island.  She has to learn to survive on her own.  Great adventure for girls or boys!  She also reads a magazine she got from the Easter Bunny and keeps a journal in which  to write her own stories.

My 8 year old is in the top bunk.  He is reading the Guardians of Ga’hoole series.  I love a good series to get through the summer.  This one involves a community of owls that are kidnapped and enslaved by an evil owl for some reason.  Too complicated for me to follow, but my kids really got INTO this series, so it must be good for them!

The bottom bunk belongs to the 2 ½ year old who sneaks out of it as fast as possible as soon as I leave the room after tucking him in.  Before that, though, our bedtime routine includes reading some books together.  Currently, his go-to bedtime story is Grover Sleeps Over.  He furrows his brow every time the part about Grover’s mommy leaving him comes up and he snuggles a little closer.  I guess he is not ready for sleepovers!

Lastly, The dresser next to my bed always holds my kindle.  Currently, I’m reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.  It is a WWII era story set in New York City.  Joseph,  young cousin of 18 year old Sam arrives in the middle of the night having seemingly escaped Nazi occupied Prague.  The story of both young men unfolds as they get to know each other while pursuing the publishing of their comic book.  Honestly, it has been a challenge to get into this book but it is an interesting story.  You’ll also notice other distractions on my bedside table:  a current events magazine, a book I’m planning to read with the kids (Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet) and my ipad.

Looking forward to hearing about what other families are reading this summer!  Thanks for setting up the blog.

- Shelley Titzer

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!