Information About Reading
Reading Activities for Kids of Varied Ages
An Annotated List of Ten Recommended Readings for Adults
An Annotated List of Ten Recommended Readings for Children Interesting Reading Links Literacy Resources in the Delaware County AreaREADING ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS OF VARIED AGES
There are many ways to foster better reading in your children. The activities below focus on introducing children to key skills and fluencies that are age appropriate. In addition, the links provide sources for other reading activities available on the internet. If you have any suggested activities or links, please e-mail these to Dr. Lisa Barnes, lbarnes@dcccnet.dccc.edu.
PRE-READERS (APPROXIMATELY AGES BIRTH TO 5)
Activity: Alphabet Books
Materials Needed: Construction paper, glue, scissors, stapler, pictures and magazines that can be cut and pasted, black marker and ruler
Goals: To introduce children to alphabetic principles, to foster knowledge of sign and symbol relationships and to expose children to simple orthographic rules
During this month, create special alphabet books with your child. Use your child's first name for the first book. Create the book by folding enough construction paper pages into a book that has one page for each of the letters in your child's first name and an extra page at the end. After you have created the book by stapling the fold, use the black marker to write a letter of your child's name, one per each page (leave the last page of the book blank). The first letter of the name should be capitalized and the others should be non-capitals (unless there are other capital letters in your child's name). Each letter should be placed two inches from the bottom of the page and should be large and clear (capitals can be about one inch and non-capitals about a half-inch). As you write the letters, leave room to the right of the letter so your child can copy the letter depending on his or her age.
When you have created the book, have your child work with you to choose pictures of objects that start with each letter. Paste the pictures of the objects on the appropriate letter page. (For very young children, choose pictures of objects they will see in their everyday lives). Finally, write the name of the object at the bottom of each page and underline the letter on that page wherever it appears in the object's name. On the last page of the book, write out your child's full name and paste in a picture of him or her. Read the book aloud with your child and associate the letters with the objects you have chosen--"A is for Adam and for apple". Then, have your child choose what word or object he or she would like to do an alphabet book for next.
BEGINNING READERS (APPROXIMATELY AGES 5-8)
Activity: Create a Story
Materials Needed: Lined paper, a stapler, a pencil, crayons and a picture or object which can be easily described
Goals: To encourage writing about reading, to show children links between spoken and written language and to demonstrate the orthographic rule of story order
During this month, have your child choose a favorite picture or object. Ask him or her to tell a story about the item or one with the item in it. As your child talks, take notes. Afterwards, work with your child to create a simple story from your notes. Write the story into a book you have created by stapling lined pages together. Then, let your child create a title page and illustrations for the story. When it is complete, read the story together and place it on a shelf with other "treasured" books.
DEVELOPING READERS (APPROXIMATELY AGES 9-11)
Activity: Special Cookbook
Materials Needed: Camera, film, lined paper, stapler and pencil
Goals: To teach your child about using reading to learn, to demonstrate the orthographic rules of lists/details and to introduce your child to the concept of self-correction
At the beginning of this month, ask your child to list his or her favorite foods. Choose four foods from the list that are simple to prepare and that can be "spiced up", for example a peanut butter and banana sandwich where the banana slices create a smiley face. Prepare one of these foods at the beginning of each week in the month. As you do so, have your child watch and take notes on the process. Later in the week or the month, have your child then prepare the foods on his or her "own". Take a picture of the finished product and also review your child's notes with him or her to see if anything was left-out. Discuss whether the child found his or her notes easy or hard to follow and why. Finally, copy the refined recipe into your child's cookbook and paste in the picture of his or her finished product. Keep this cookbook with the others that you have in your house.
FLUENT READERS (APPROXIMATELY AGES 12-15)
Activity: Reading Detective
Materials Needed: A question that can be researched and access to a variety of research materials
Goals: To introduce your child to the concept of reading to learn, to demonstrate the research process and to show your child how to judge research sources
At the beginning of this month, work with your child to form a who, what, when, where, how or why question about a subject that interests him or her. An example of such as question is "Why do umpires wear stripes?" Throughout the month, guide your child to research sources which might help him or her to answer the question. Also, encourage your child to write other interesting facts found along the way and to judge sources if he or she finds contradictory answers to the question. At the end of the month, ask your child to provide the answer to the question. To celebrate his or her success, you can provide rewards or incentives. If the child does not find the answer, discuss the research process he or she went through and suggest other sources that could have been used. In addition, discuss any interesting facts he or she found. (As a variation to this activity, you could structure a family competition to see who finds the answer first and how he or she does so.)
OLDER READERS (APPROXIMATELY AGES 16 AND ABOVE)
Activity: Paired Reading
Materials Needed: Interesting reading materials
Goals: To encourage young adults to continue reading, to aid young adults in reading fluency by critically discussing reading and to model good reading habits for readers in this age group
During this month, have your adolescent choose a book which you can read together as a family. As you read, take notes on aspects of the book that you find interesting and list any questions you have. Comment on what you think might happen next and note any connections you are making with what you are reading--for example, does a character remind you of someone you know or does the reading material remind you of something else that you have read? When you finish reading, discuss the reading material and the notes that you took with one another. Jointly decide what you liked and disliked about the reading and why. Share interesting insights about what you read.
LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES THAT CONTAIN RECOMMENDED READING ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS OF VARIED AGES
2. Reading Activities: By Theme
AN ANNOTATED LIST OF TEN RECOMMENDED READINGS FOR ADULTS
The ten books listed below are books that we have enjoyed and read. The links at the bottom of the page also connect to web sites with recommended reading lists. Please feel free to suggest any books you have enjoyed via e-mail to Dr. Lisa Barnes, lbarnes@dcccnet.dccc.edu .
TEN "TOP READS"
1. RESERVATION BLUES by Sherman Alexie: the sad tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil in order to create great music and those who follow him (fiction).
2. THE HOUSE OF SPIRITS by Isabel Allende: an epic about a family facing the beginnings of a revolution (fiction).
3. I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou: a fictional autobiography of the author as she struggles through her young adolescent years (fiction).
4. SISTER OF MY HEART by Chitra Banerjae Divakaruni: the story of two girls who share the same dreams but whose lives take very different paths (fiction).
5. SOLAR STORMS by Linda Hogan: the story behind the scenes of what happens to some native communities when a project to divert their river is put into place (fiction).
6. THE BONE PEOPLE by Keri Hulme: the saga of three flawed individuals who have been wounded in different ways and who find each other in events that lead to both tragic circumstances and healing (fiction).
7. COWBOYS ARE MY WEAKNESS by Pam Houston: a series of short stories dealing with strong individuals in different types of love relationships (fiction).
8. ANGELA'S ASHES by Frank McCourt: the story of a woman's struggle to keep her family out of poverty as they move between the United States and Ireland and the author's life as an child and adolescent (non-fiction).
9. THE GRASS DANCER by Susan Power: numerous episodes merge to tell the story of one community and its members (fiction).
10. THE RIDERS by Tim Winton: a powerful narrative about a man's journey to find his lost love (fiction).
LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES CONTAINING RECOMMENDED READING LISTS
1. Oprah's Book List: Oprah's Book Club
2. St. Charles Library: Recommended Reading
3. Sehome High School Library: Recommended Reading Lists
AN ANNOTATED LIST OF TEN RECOMMENDED READINGS FOR CHILDREN
The readings listed below have been kid tested and approved over and over. In addition, the links will take you to web sites that have lots of great book lists and activities for children of all ages. Please feel free to e-mail your annotated book recommendations to Dr. Lisa Barnes, lbarnes@dcccnet.dccc.edu.
TEN TRIED AND TRUE, "FAVORITE" BOOKS FOR KIDS IN VARIED AGE GROUPS
1. Is Your Mama a Llama by Deborah Guarino: a baby llama learns about different animals as he asks his friend about their mama. This is a fun, rhyming book for beginning readers (fiction, ages birth to 5).
2. The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt: Georgie is a young boy who suffers abuse and neglect at home. He learns to overcome his abuse and begins to find happiness when he wins a lottery rose (fiction, ages 9 and up).
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: this magical tale (a part of a larger series) shows how four children can triumph over an evil witch who is holding the land of Narnia hostage. Throughout the book, the children learn important values and lessons (fiction, ages 7 and up).
4. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney: Little Brown Hare wants to tell the Big Brown Hare how much he loves him but he's not big enough to demonstrate the size of his love. Throughout the tale, they show each other how much they love each other (fiction, ages 2-6)
5. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson: Gilly has come to a new foster home, and she's convinced they're all nuts there. She dreams of finding her beautiful mother and getting away. At the end, Gilly learns the age-old lesson about being careful what you wish for and lots of things about love (fiction, ages 9 and up).
6. The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister: A beautiful Rainbow Fish learns how to share his greatest possession as he travels through this tale (fiction, ages 4-8).
7. Clover by Dori Sanders: Clover, a smart, young African-American girl loses her father in a car accident. She is left with a stepmother she doesn't know and doesn't like. The story tells how Clover learns to get along with her white stepmother and how they learn to understand one another (fiction, ages 9 and up).
8. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak: Max travels to the land of the Wild Things where he carouses and rules until he returns home (fiction, ages 4-7).
9. It Happened to Nancy by Beatrice Sparks (editor): The sad tale of a young girl who is date-raped and who is now struggling to live a normal teenage life with AIDS. The story is told through diary excerpts (non-fiction, ages 12 and up).
10. Night by Elie Wiesel: The true and heartbreaking narrative of the author who lived through experiences in three concentration camps during World War II (non-fiction, ages 12 and up).
LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES THAT PROVIDE READING LISTS AND BOOK ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS AND YOUNG ADULTS
1. Summer Reading Lists Suggestions
3. Award Winning Books
5. Family Education: Ten Books All the Kids Are Reading this Summer
INTERESTING READING LINKS
There are numerous web pages about reading on the internet. The sites below are just a place to start. In addition, links to web sites are also provided on other pages of this site. If you don't find what you're looking for here, we suggest you take a look at the links on the topic pages. Also, feel free to suggest sites to Dr. Lisa Barnes, lbarnes@dccc.edu .
FUN SITES FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC
2. Public Broadcasting Station
6. American Library Association
8. Delaware State Education Association
SITES THAT CONTAIN LOTS OF LINKS
1. Reading Resources on the World Wide Web
3. Education for Life: Windsor School District
4. Bibliography: Web Link Menu
5. ISLMC Literacy: Teaching in the Language Arts
6. Yahooligans Search: Reading (search keyword)
8. National Center for Family Literacy
SOME FULL-TEXT SITES (CURRENTLY, MANY SITES HAVE AN IRISH LITERATURE FOCUS)
ESL PRACTICE SITES
1. Linguistic Funland: Exercises and Activities for Students
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE SITES
IMPORTANT DCCC LINKS
2. Career and Counseling Services
4. DCCC English Department Web Page
LITERACY RESOURCES IN THE DELAWARE COUNTY AREA (PENNSYLVANIA)
LINKS TO WEB SITES CONTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT LITERACY PROGRAMS IN THIS AREA
Delaware County Resources (Bethel Township and others)