Tag: literacy

It’s always a great time to read aloud!

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Thank you to everyone for tuning in and reading along with me on World Read Aloud Day 2020! It was my first time broadcasting a Story Time With Michele episode LIVE. Naturally, there were a few technical hiccups at first, but once I finally got going it was so much fun! It was really heartwarming to see so many people from all over the world log in and join me!

If you missed the LIVE broadcast, have no fear the video is right here! (Keep in mind, that first minute or so I’m trying to make sure that I’m actually broadcasting live – I’m a novice – what can I say?!)

There were people tuning in from San Francisco CA, New York NY, Edmond OK, Pensacola FL, San Antonio TX, Shaumburg IL, even Doha Quatar and Perth Australia!!! This is what World Read Aloud Day is all about: people all around the globe celebrating the joy of reading aloud and, by doing so, we are all amplifying the message that access to literacy is a fundamental human right. Thank you LitWorld.org for all of the work that you do to organize this event, share this message, and reach thousands of children around the world. It really is a very impressive organization!

I just love that they have identified “7 Strengths” which guide all of their work and children’s programs. LitWorld’s 7 Strengths are Belonging, Kindness, Curiosity, Friendship, Confidence, Courage, and Hope.

Belonging: I am a valuable and important member of my family, community, and world.
Curiosity: I show a willingness to explore new territory and test new theories.
Friendship: I value close, trusting relationships with people I can count on.
Kindness: I think about the needs of others and always lend a hand to help.
Confidence: I can think for myself and feel comfortable expressing my ideas.
Courage: I am strong enough to do the right thing, even when it’s hard.
Hope: I am optimistic that what I do today will result in a better tomorrow.

I hope that we all can take these 7 strengths and incorporate them into our lives and our children’s lives!

World Read Aloud Day 2020

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https://www.litworld.org/worldreadaloudday

If you have followed me for some time now then you know I am passionate about reading aloud to children. The benefits are numerous, not just for the child but also for the reader (you and me!). So, you can imagine how excited I am that Feb. 5, 2020 is a day when readers all around the world will celebrate the act of reading aloud by making an extra special effort to read to someone, anyone, out loud!

I am so thrilled, in fact, that I am going to do something I have never done before! I am going to read a book LIVE on Facebook so that we may all enjoy the story together, at the same time! (Of course, it will be archived for those of you who can’t make it.) If you aren’t following me on FaceBook yet, or haven’t joined my FB Group (Story Time With Michele Book Club), what are you waiting for?! Just click the link and you’ll be all set up to tune in on Wed. Feb. 5, 2020 at 7p.m. EST. Check out the LitWorld website; it’s where I got my idea and inspiration!!

If you haven’t yet seen my Youtube channel yet, Story Time With Michele, then you don’t know that I have spent about a year and a half filming myself reading children’s books aloud. I read them for my children and for yours and even for adults who enjoy listening to a good story. Here’s an example of a recent fun addition to the channel:

My goal is to excite young readers so that they too may fall in love with reading books. There are over 25 million children in the US that aren’t able to read proficiently. We all can appreciate just how important it is to address this so that every child may reach their full potential! Reading aloud is one way that I know I can help in a small way, and that’s why I created Story Time With Michele.

Thank you for following and supporting me on this journey! I hope you will tune in on Wed. Feb. 5, 2020 at 7pm EST. I’ll be streaming a LIVE read aloud on my Facebook page and I hope you and your kids will read along with me!

Sweet Summertime fun!

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Photo by Jean Balzan on <a href=Pexels.com” width=”300″ height=”200″ />

I hope you’re all keeping up with your summer reads…it’s Week 4 of our Soar Into Summer Reading program! Have you read “Ice Cream Summer” by Peter Sis yet? Check to see if your library has a copy you can borrow or just read along with me in the video!

 

I hadn’t read this book before and I was pleased to have really enjoyed reading it with my girls. We loved pointing out all of the different sweet treats on each page and we did learn some ice creams facts, i.e. that it was invented over 3,000 years ago!

My #1 takeaway from this story is that it is written as a letter from a little boy to his grandfather and that got me thinking about encouraging my littles to write a letter to someone. My 1st grader learned letter writing in school so I have put them to task and each will write a letter to a friend this week. Try it with your kids – everyone loves getting a letter or card in the mail!
Check out these resources for letter-writing tips:

Continue reading ➞ Sweet Summertime fun!

Avoid This Summer Slide…

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pexels-photo-261348Have you heard of the dreaded ‘Summer Slide’ before? I’m NOT talking about the slide  your kids want to play on this summer! Many children, especially early and/or struggling readers, lose a lot of progress they may have made during the school year if they don’t read over the summer break.  They may ‘slide’ out of practice and find it even more challenging to get back to where they were during the previous school year.  Pretty much every expert recommends that parents prioritize reading as a summertime activity. So let’s do it together!

I found this very informative article from Scholastic with 3 tips to prevent the summer slide:

  1. Reading just 6 books over the summer could help a young reader from losing any reading progress!
  2. Parents need to read something every day! Doing this models great behavior for your kids to mimic. If they see you reading books, magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes, anything and everything, they will too!
  3. Keep reading aloud to them! This benefits children of all ages – yes, it does! Reading books out loud, which are at or above their current reading ability, will build their comprehension skills, listening skills, sharpen their focus, increase vocabulary, among many more wonderful benefits.

So here’s where my Soar Into Summer book club comes into play! In collaboration with RIF, I am featuring the 12 books they have selected for their summer reading program and, I will be reading them aloud on my YouTube channel. It’s a chance for you and your kids to read along with me. If you can’t find the selected book on your bookshelf, at your library, or at your local book shop, don’t worry as I will clearly feature all of the words on screen so that we truly can read along together. Be sure to encourage your little ones to read out loud too!

After reading along with me, visit the Story Time With Michele Book Club group on FaceBook and we can discuss the story. I’ll link to games, activities, and craft ideas related to each book as well. The goal is to stay engaged and excited about each and every book!

Here’s the full reading list for the summer. Stay connected with me via my Facebook page and YouTube channel, and let’s have fun reading all summer long!

Soar into summer full reading list v2

Story Time Book Club!

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Book Club imageHello everyone! Looking to motivate your kids to keep reading through the summer? I am too, so I’ve decided to launch a kids book club on Facebook (Story Time With Michele – Book Club) and, in collaboration with Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), I’ll have a suggested summer reading list for all of your PreK – Grade 3 readers. Beginning June 4, week by week I’ll post a video of each book read aloud. If you can’t find the book at your library or book shop, no need to worry as I will also include subtitles on the videos so that your child can read along with me! 

Continue reading ➞ Story Time Book Club!

Love to read!

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channel-art-youtube-4.pngHi everyone! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted but I’M BACK! And I’m super excited to share my latest project, Story Time With Michele! I’ve had so many fans reach out to me over the past year recounting special, touching family memories involving The Good Night Show. Thank you for continuing to share those stories with me. Sadly, I can’t bring the show back since it was never mine in the first place. I have, however, figured out a way to stay connected to children in a meaningful way.  The Story Time channel on Youtube is my first attempt at creating something, on my very own, for kids.

So, why am I reading books aloud? As a mom, reading is a priority for my family. I am very passionate about the importance of literacy. Did you know that 25 million children in the US cannot read proficiently? This is such a disappointing fact and thankfully there are non-profit organizations like Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) who are fighting everyday to help our kids!

For me, I have always loved reading books and I work hard to nurture that same love in my young children. By sharing stories aloud I hope your kids will be encouraged to read more books and become little bookworms as they grow up!

These stories are meant for anyone wanting a sweet, soothing story read to them – who doesn’t like that?! Beyond the enjoyment of having a story read to you, here are a few more reasons why I’ve launched Story Time With Michele:

  • Reading aloud is an ideal way to model how to read language, by demonstrating when to pause and react to punctuation, for example.
  • It promotes early literacy skills, engages young minds by encouraging curiosity, builds memory, and can even increase attention spans in our little ones.
  • Children are exposed to a richer vocabulary which will help stretch comprehension and language development.

There’s tons of research out there showing us that reading aloud to a child daily is one of the most important activities you can do to ensure future reading success. I hope my short videos are enjoyed by your family and, in conjunction with your time spent reading aloud, together we can spark a life-long love of books!

Please check out Story Time With Michele and subscribe to the channel while you’re there!

 

(sources: http://www.readaloud.org/why.html, http://www.reachoutandread.org/our-story/importance-of-reading-aloud/, https://edsource.org/2015/study-says-reading-aloud-to-children-more-than-talking-builds-literacy/82045, http://www.rorri.org/importance-of-reading-aloud/)