Children’s Literacy and Reading News Roundup – 23 November

Update: Trying to fix image problem.

Welcome to the weekly feast (sorry, couldn’t resist) of news, analysis, and ideas for raising readers. This week’s children’s literacy and reading news round-up, brought to you by Jen Robinson’s Book Page and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, is now available here. As we head to the holidays, both Jen and I noticed a slowdown in items for the roundups . Still, we have plenty of content on literacy and reading-related events; information on literacy and reading programs and research; and grant, sponsorship, or donation news. We don’t have any discussions about 21st century literacies today.

Just in case you don’t make it to the end of the Roundup … we’d like to wish you a happy Thanksgiving, and if you are traveling, safe journeys. For our friends beyond the US … we wish you a weekend filled with lots of holiday-like moments with family and friends.

Events
According to a recent news release, “RCN Corporation and New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck will recognize local students at this Sunday’s Giants game against the Atlanta Falcons as part of Tuck’s R.U.S.H. for Literacy campaign. This is the second year that RCN is supporting R.U.S.H. for Literacy.” The added bonus: the Giants ended their 4-game losing streak and pulled out a win for them!

If you’re in Pittsburgh, former First Lady Laura Bush will be speaking tonight (11/23/2009) as part of the Pittsburgh Speakers Series, a lecture series that began in September and runs through April 2010.  Mrs. Bush will likely be speaking about her passion for literacy and reading (she did launch the inaugural National Book Festival in September 2001), among other things.  There is more about literacy and Pittsburgh below, too.

Congratulations to the Open Books Literacy project and their new bookstore in Chicago. Partners Becca Keaty and Stacy Ratner have opened the nonprofit bookstore that is stocked with donated books that can be bought for as little as $1. We have seen a number of projects about it, and Mark Guarino’s article for the Chicago Tribune puts it all together well. “The Open Books bookstore will look and operate like any other except that proceeds will fund literacy programs for children and adults in the same building. It’s the next step for the organization founded three years ago to run programs aimed at improving reading and writing skills.”  The organization is currently hiring literacy interns for Winter 2010

Literacy & Reading Programs & Research
Carlin Llorente, a researcher at the Center for Technology and Learning at SRI International recently conducted a study on behalf of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to look at “active engagement” with technology as a learning tool. You can watch his 2-minute video of his analysis of how interactive TV builds literacy skills on SmartPlanet. He offers examples of how to use the technology as a jumping off point for learning, not as a substitute for engaging with kids.

Lots of great stuff in Chicago this past week. Jenny Schwartzberg brought another interesting literacy program to our attention this week. It’s an Argentina-based program called the Storytelling Grandmothers Programme “aimed at awakening a love of reading among youngsters from poor families in Argentina. Every week, each volunteer reads to the same group of children, mainly in public primary schools in slum neighbourhoods”. You can find more details in this Global Geopolitics News article by Marcela Valente. Jenny said: “I really like the idea of this program which is spreading to other countries.”

ABC News Los Angeles shared a brief tidbit about how “The Santa Ana Zoo is celebrating Child Literacy Month with story time and free books in their A to Zoo event. Staff from the Children and Families Commission read books to children and handed out free copies Friday. The A to Zoo event headlines a month-long series of child literacy-themed events as part of the commission’s Ready Early, Read Aloud campaign.” We love it when we find book distribution programs in unusual places.

Grants and Donations
Teacher Magazine’s Web Watch reports that “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation delivered a $40 million offer to the Pittsburgh Public Schools this week to boost teacher effectiveness.. Pittsburgh is one of four “intensive partnership sites” that could soon receive money from the Gates Foundation for their efforts to improve teacher effectiveness.”

This week, Diane Chen is hosting the Nonfiction Monday feast at Practically Paradise.  A little turkey, a little dressing, my grandmother’s eggnog, coconut custard pie fresh out of the oven, and time with Mom and Dad … Yep. Practically paradise.