June 9th 2010

Literacy Opens a
Volume 1, Issue 1
Rainbow of Possibility!

Special Interest Being Literate Helps Children to Make

Articles:
Meaning.
• Reading is part
of literacy,
Children are not empty
which is a
meaning making vessels. Children come
process. into school with pre-
conceived notions about
• A parent’s touch the world. While these
can mean a pre-conceived notions are
lifetime of usually from parents,
difference! guardians, mentors, and
peers, these do not
• Reading can exactly have meaning for
boost children’s children. Through reading,
self esteem, and
children can make
make them
more likely to meaning of the world and
enjoy learning! without a doubt, correct
these pre-conceived
notions through
Individual teacher/guardian help.
Highlights: The more children read,
The Meaning Making
Parent/Guardian Involvement
Process 1

Parent/Guardian

should be involved

too! 1
Parents/guardians have an essential role in children’s
literacy. At home, children need the most support. It is
Websites for parents proven that reading to children helps support their literacy
2
at a very young age. The younger you start reading to
children, the younger they will be in picking up literacy
Be Active! 3 strategies. This is very essential to children, and parents
Local Libraries 3
are strongly encouraged to read to their children every
night. Whether it be a short book, or a long book you read
Literature Books 4, over time, I can guarantee that the more you read to your
5, 6
child, the more likely they will become very literate and
continue to read on their own for the rest of their lives.
Websites 7, 8

About the Author 9

Work Cited 9
 Meaning Making Process Page 2 of 9

Excellent Websites for Parents!

FunBrain for Parents

Educational games are the highlight of this site. The games cover all interest areas
and target specific age levels. There are “parent-kid challenges,” “homework relief,”
and “books on the run” links. Also linked to this site, there is a family education
newsletter that helps with school, life, entertainment, and special needs issues.

http://www.funbrain.com/parents/index.html

KidsReads

This website shares reviews of “cool new books” and authors. The books are
categorized by age and by genre. There is a link for podcasts and another for book
clubs. The newsletter highlights the newest and best on the site.

http://www.kidsreads.com/index.asp
“I read, therefore I am.” PBS For Parents
This site contains guides on a variety of topics such as child development, curriculum
connections, and technology for kids. It also shares information on hot issues in
education. On the lighter side, there are games, stories, and guides to the TV
programs offered by PBS. The guide is also available in Spanish. Bienvenidos a
PBS Padres!

http://www.pbs.org/parents/

http://www.pbs.org/parents/siteguide/spanish/index.html

Scholastic for Parents

This site contains age appropriate guides for helping your child learn to love reading.
Divided into early childhood and school age children, the site also contains resources
for helping your child with math, technology and other subjects. Additionally, there is
an array of information about family matters.

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/

Time for Kids Teacher’s Homepage

This site shares diverse resources for parents including virtual tours around the
Special Interestcurrent
world, kid-appropriate Story Headline
events stories, homework help, and games.

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/parents
 Page 3 of 9 Meaning Making Process

Be active in your child’s reading!

You are the reason your child has been successful! Why stop
now? Read to your child every night! Read a wide variety of
books such as action, drama, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, fantasy,
role playing, traditional literature, history, fairy tales, diversity,
etc. All of these books will help your child succeed and grow
as an avid reader. Reading will also boost your child’s self
esteem! This is because they will be more literate in school,
thus making their grades sky rocket! You are the connection
between your child and literacy. If you read to your child and
encourage him or her to read, he or she will read for the rest of
his or her life! Remember to read with enthusiasm, and really
get into the characters you are reading about!

“Except a living
Local Library Resource of man, there is
nothing more
Southwest Florida wonderful than a
book!”

This number contacts you with all of the public

libraries in your area!
Southwest Florida Library Network “Books open the
  Florida Gulf Coast University mind into a world
of what is the
  Library 209 West past, present,
  10501 FGCU Boulevard South and future.”
   Fort Myers, FL  33965-6501
  Telephone: (239) 745-3720 (239) 745-3720      
   Fax: (239) 745-3724
  Main Line Suncom: 731-3720
  Toll-Free: 1-877-SWFLN99 / 1-877-793-5699
 Meaning Making Process Page 4 of 9

Awesome Literature Books!

The Look Book The look book is a picture book directed towards
young readers. Through each different page, there
is a hole that shows an excerpt of each image, the
reader has to guess what the image is on the next
page. This is great for beginning readers!

Tana Hoban
Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in This book is about number patterns and the
Nature Fibonacci numbers (1 1 2 3 5 8 13). These
numbers are presented in nature and the pictures
are very detailed. For example 1 flower petal and
1 flower petal make two, the on the next page it
goes two spirals on a pinecone plus 3 spirals on a
pinecone make five. Etc. This book is excellent for
readers ages 2-3 and is excellent for retaining
mathematical skills.

Sarah C. Campbell
Giant Treasury of Peter Rabbit This book is about Beatrix Potter’s 8 beloved
fairytales, including Peter Rabbit. The tales
include: Squirrel Nutkin, Benjamin Bunny, Two
Bad Mice, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, Mr. Jeremy Fisher,
The Tailor of Gloucester, and The Pie and the
Patty-Pan. This book is excellent for readers who
have trouble with rhyming schemes.

Beatrix Potter
Grandmas at the Lake This book is about two Grandmas who invite their
grandson and a friend to a cabin on a lake. The
two grandmas can’t get along and when one says
no, the other says yes. The two boys decide to
take matters into their own hands and when the
grandmas are asleep, they sneak out to a boat
into the middle of the lake.
 Page 5 of 9 Meaning Making Process

The grandmas wake up and chase after them. The

boys yell from the boat they won’t come back until
the grandmas agree to let them have fun. I would
use this book to promote sharing and caring.

Emily Arnold McCully

Through My Eyes This book is about Ruby Bridges, the first African
American girl to be integrated into a white school.
This book talks about her struggles, her fears, her
anxieties, and what it was like for her at the time.
This book was written by Ruby Bridges so it is in
first person. This book can be used to teach about
segregation, racism, biasness, and discrimination.

Ruby Bridges
Pablo Remembers the Fiesta of the Day of This is about Pablo, a 9 year old Mexican boy who
the Dead is learning more about Dia de los Muertos (Day of
the Dead). The book goes on to talk about the
history of the day, what they eat, what they drink,
and why they have the day. I would use this book
to promote different cultures and different ways of
celebration. This would be a good book to use for
culturally sheltered students who have no
background or knowledge that other cultures exist,
etc.
George Ancona
The Wizard of Oz The classic tale of Dorothy, a woman who is
knocked out when a tornado hits, who dreams that
she is in a magical land with her dog, toto. There
she finds the tin man, the scarecrow, and the lion
who each want different things that man can not
create. This heroing tale of courage, strength, and
heart is definitely one for the books. This book is
excellent for children who are going through
difficult times.

L. Frank Baum
 Meaning Making Process Page 6 of 9
The Giving Tree This book is a classic. This book is about a boy
who finds a tree when he is younger. The book
talks about all of the things the tree gives to him
over the many, many years that the boy is alive.
For example the tree gives him shade, apples,
wood, etc. When the boy is old, all the tree is, is a
stump. The boy triumphantly sits down on the
stump and ponders his own life and thanks the
tree. This is where the book ends.

Shel Silverstein

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory This story is about Charlie Bucket, a poor boy from
a nice family who lives with his mom, dad, and
both sets of grandparents. His grandpa tells him
about a man named Willy Wonka who used to run
a now shut-down chocolate factory near where
they live. It just so happens that a couple of weeks
later, Willy Wonka is re-opening the chocolate
factory in which he is holding a contest that entails
five lucky contestants. The contestants have to
Roald Dahl find golden tickets inside of the famous Wonka
Bars willy wonka is known for. Charlie cannot
afford any wonka bars and is very upset. As a
stroke of luck, he finds two coins in the gutter on
the street and buys two wonka bars, one of which
has the golden ticket. He then gets to go inside the
Wonka Factory. The rest is up to you and your
child to read!

Fancy Nancy
This story is about Nancy, an ordinary girl with
fancy taste. She dresses up fancy, fancies up her
bedroom and uses fancy names for ordinary
words. For example, Nancy uses the word
chauffer for the word driver. Nancy even teaches
her parents how to be fancy too! One night, a
mishap happens at the local pizzeria Nancy and
her new fancy parents are eating at, so Nancy
becomes very upset. At the end her mom tells her
Jane O’Connor that there is no fancy way to say I love you, which
lightens her spirits.
Page 7 of 9 Meaning Making Process

Websites for Teachers and Parents Alike!

Carol Hurst
This website is excellent for teachers and parents who want ideas about what
books are out there for children. The website includes books, activities,
professional resources, and subjects in children’s literature.
http://www.carolhurst.com/

KidLit
Kid lit has excellent resources in art, poetry, this website even has resources on
how to obtain books for children. http://mgfx.com/kidlit/

Child Lit: McGraw-Hill’s Website for Children’s Literature

This website has a variety of ways to obtain knowledge on children’s literature.
The website includes links to literature books, ways to become active in the
Books are
the quietest
classroom, a book of the month recommended for teachers, an author of the
and most
month, and even recommended books from McGraw-Hill’s collection themselves.
constant of
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/education/kidlit/
friends;
they are the
International Children’s Digital Library
most
This website is great for teachers and parents who want to obtain diversity in
accessible
books in their classrooms. This website contains featured books, book news, a
and wisest
book of the day, and helpful tips and tricks for teachers in the classroom.
of
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
counselors,
and the
Glencoe Literature Library
most patient
Glencoe Literature Library has books they recommend from A to Z. This is an
of teachers.”
excellent website for teachers who want to learn a little bit more about the book
~ Charles
they choose. http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/index.html
W. Eliot ~
Garden of Praise
A truly fascinating website, this site gives teachers and parents literature based
reading lesson based on best-selling books around the world. This will give
teachers a better insight to the books they are teaching by thoroughly going
.”
through the reading lessons. This website also has other resources for
developing reading lessons and it even has lessons for ESOL students as well!
http://gardenofpraise.com/lesson.htm

Cyber Guides: Teacher Guides and Student Activities

This website has specific books designed for K-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. In each
specified grade, there are lists upon lists of books including activities for each of
these books. This website is truly helpful when planning a literature activity lesson
for all ages and grades!
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
 Meaning Making Process Page 8 of 9

Websites Continued
Glencoe Literature Library
Glencoe Literature Library has books they recommend from A to Z. This is an
excellent website for teachers who want to learn a little bit more about the book
they choose. http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/index.html

Garden of Praise
A truly fascinating website, this site gives teachers and parents literature based
reading lesson based on best-selling books around the world. This will give
teachers a better insight to the books they are teaching by thoroughly going
through the reading lessons. This website also has other resources for
developing reading lessons and it even has lessons for ESOL students as well!
http://gardenofpraise.com/lesson.htm

Cyber Guides: Teacher Guides and Student Activities

This website has specific books designed for K-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. In each
specified grade, there are lists upon lists of books including activities for each of
these books. This website is truly helpful when planning a literature activity
lesson for all ages and grades!
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html

Novel Study Links

This website links stories to questions, vocabulary, and enrichment by each
chapter in the specified book. http://www.nt.net/~torino/novels3.html

Eric Carle Official Website

Eric Carl is one of the most influential authors in children’s literature history. His
books have spanned the globe allowing all children to enjoy his amazingly
illustrated books. This website gives a list of Eric Carle’s books, Resources,
Frequently Asked Questions, Newsletters, and Downloadable Games.
http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html

Grades K-2: Children’s Literature

This website provides excellent links to other websites containing specific
children’s literature books and authors such as: Clifford, Berenstein Bears,
Beatrice Potter’s Peter Rabbit, Jan Thornhill, and many more! This website also
provides websites about literature, tips for teaching with books, online literature,
and book lists.
http://www.literacy.uconn.edu/k2childlit.html
 All About the Author!
My name is Taylor currently have over have a very hands-on
and I am a third year 300 books in my curriculum so the
student at Florida library and continue students are able to
Gulf Coast University. to purchase more essentially “touch”
I plan on obtaining my every day. I plan on learning. I currently
degree in Elementary using my lessons in reside in Estero,
Education. I have such a way that is Florida with my
always loved the joy hands on and also roommate, Christina,
of children and the joy helps children to who is also an
of reading as well. I read. I also plan on educator.

Work Cited
http://www.wmtps.org/techini/bestsite/bestsite.html
http://text.nycenet.edu/Academics/EnglishLanguageArts/Parent
Resources/Helpful+Websites+for+Parents+of+Elementary+Scho
ol+Students.htm

http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/readamillion/readingquotes.htm

***Websites from own collection***

Visit me on the Web!

See me at:
http://taylorseducation.blogspot.
com/

Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man,

and writing an exact man.
~ Francis Bacon ~
Except a living man, there is nothing more wonderful than a book.
Charles Kingsley
A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party,
a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.
~ Henry Ward Beecher ~
Don't join the book burners. Don't be afraid to go
in your library and read every book.
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower ~