Community Partnerships

On Saturday, March 26, 65 Early Childhood Educators were honored at the Early Literacy Buffet, an event hosted by the San Francisco Public Library (http://sfpl NULL.org/index NULL.php?pg=0000026601) and The San Francisco Early Literacy Network (http://sfearlyliteracynetwork NULL.blogspot NULL.com/). We celebrated the crucial role of early childhood educators in the lives of children 0-5 with a lovely breakfast, a showcase of early literacy resources, and mini-workshops presented by Janell Bolte and Betsy Keever Russakoff (Early Literacy Consultants), and Lynne Maes and Alli Spector (Raising A Reader and Jamestown Community Center).
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As one educator remarked: “I wanted to take a moment to let you know what a positive experience Saturday’s workshop was for me. . . . [The] collaborative efforts allowed me to come away with a much greater awareness and understanding of early literacy resources in San Francisco, and gave me a renewed enthusiasm to pursue ways in which our center can benefit from these services.” (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Big-bigger-biggest NULL.jpg)

It was our pleasure to honor and nurture those people who make a difference in the lives of children each and every day.

For more information about the Early Literacy Network, please visit http://sfearlyliteracynetwork.blogspot.com/ (http://sfearlyliteracynetwork NULL.blogspot NULL.com/)

Happy César Chavez Day!

From the Raising A Reader collection, we recommend reading Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English by Alma Flor Ada, English translation by Rosalma Zubizarreta, Illustrations by Simòn Silva.

(http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/gatheringthesun NULL.jpg)This bilingual and vibrantly illustrated picture book includes simple poems for each letter of the Spanish alphabet that pay homage to migrant farm workers.

For school age children, check out  Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, by Kathleen Krull and local illustrator Yuyi Morales.  You can find downloadable curriculum connections and activity sheets on Ms. Morales’ website: http://www.yuyimorales.com/learn.html (http://www NULL.yuyimorales NULL.com/learn NULL.html)

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(http://www NULL.phatbeetsproduce NULL.org/)There is an East Bay Cesar Chavez Day Community Celebration on Sunday, April 3^rd, 12-3pm at the Healthy Hearts Garden in Dover Street Park (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=5707+Dover+St+Oakland,+CA+94609&sll=37 NULL.842616,-122 NULL.268198&sspn=0 NULL.00871,0 NULL.013593&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=5707+Dover+St,+Oakland,+Alameda,+California+94609&ll=37 NULL.842809,-122 NULL.268198&spn=0 NULL.004575,0 NULL.013078&z=17), Oakland. Event planners have scheduled an afternoon  full of DJs, BBQ, Aztec Dancing, mural painting, speakers and avocado tree planting.
Bay Area residents, families, schools, religious groups, labor unions, and community organizations will commemorate César Chavez with a parade and street fair in San Francisco’s Mission district on Saturday, April 9, 2011. Click on the image below for details.

(http://www NULL.cesarchavezday NULL.org/)

Hands-On Learning for 3- To 7-Year-Olds

(http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/singplaycreate NULL.jpg)Sing! Play! Create! is a wonderful book that contains a collection of simple activities and songs to sing with your children. This resource is great for the classroom, home, and library. The book is divided into four locations that children can become familiar with: the pond, the garden, the zoo, and the farm. Each  of the four section begins with a poem followed by simple art activities, games, and songs. Over two dozen arts and crafts can be completed in fewer than ten steps. Many of the supplies needed for the arts and crafts are inexpensive and can often times be found around the house. There are over twenty familiar songs and melodies which include Row, Row, Row Your Boat, I’m a Little Teapot, and Mary Had a Little Lamb. A number of games are included which incorporate fine and gross motor skills as well as encourage important social skills, such as taking turns and showing respect for one another. Highlighted yellow boxes provide Nature Notes with brief but interesting trivia, and Story Corner sidebars list two to five thematic books.

In celebration of Spring, we suggest reading Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert followed by a related fun craft activity found on page 42 of Sing! Play! Create! by Lisa Boston.
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Materials needed to make Paper Flowers:
• Paper plates
• Child-safety scissors
• Fruit Loops or other colorful cereal rings
• Glue
• Paintbrush (optional)
• Tape
• Colored craft sticks or Popsicle sticks

What you do:
1. Cut a small paper plate into a flower shape. Glue cereal rings onto the plate (Younger children may want to paint the glue onto the plate and then add the cereal rings).
2. Tape a craft stick to the back of your flower for the stem.
3. To add leaves, ask a grown-up to cut another craft stick in half. Glue the leaves to the stem.

Happy Spring!

Share your poem or song and you could win $10,000 for Raising A Reader!

Dear Raising A Reader Fans,

Have you been looking for an easy and meaningful way to put your creativity to use for Raising A Reader’s benefit? We have the perfect opportunity!

Write a poem about our mission and help us win $10,000! With $10,000 Raising A Reader could support an entire school of children to read together with their families for a full year!

Here’s how it works:
Donate a four to eight line original poem that celebrates the mission of Raising A Reader. (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/about-us/mission/)
You may submit your poem between Thursday, March 17th and Thursday, March 24th using the form below or by posting your entry to our Facebook page. (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/rarbayarea#!/rarbayarea)

Our judges will choose the winning poem from all those submitted and we’ll enter it in the CTK Foundation’s Heart and Soul grant contest. The non-profit whose poem is chosen as the National winner will receive a $10,000 prize, and their poem will be produced as a song.

All donated poems become the property of Raising A Reader. Thanks for using your creative energy to support Raising A Reader!

Read, Talk, Sing, Play

Incorporating vocabulary throughout your child’s day

Knowing many words and understanding them are important in developing thinking skills and getting ready to read.  Research shows that children who reach school age with smaller vocabularies and fewer experiences with hearing stories and exploring with print are more likely to struggle with learning to read.  Help your child to develop a deep, rich vocabulary through fun, everyday activities you can do anywhere. A book can be just the beginning.

READ
Reading is one activity that you can do with a child to positively impact their language acquisition.  Through reading children can see words (also known as print awareness (http://www NULL.multcolib NULL.org/birthtosix/elitskills NULL.html )), hear how words sound, and speak words.  It also gives them the opportunity to generate new words and grasp understanding with the help of illustration and the context of a story.  Try reading a book without using the words on the page.  What kind of vocabulary and narrative can you explore from the pictures?

TALK
Talk about EVERYTHING! Simply having a conversation with your child about the things going on around them, what they see, what they hear, and what they know (or don’t) are great ways to help explain concepts and learn new vocabulary.  Through talking you have the ability to encourage/support a child’s desire to speak while modeling the correct use of language at the same time. The more words a child hears, the more words they will learn and use. Try just talking out loud about what you see or are doing.  See what questions it provokes them to ask.

SING
Recent brain research tells us that when children sing and move to music, their developing brains are entirely engaged and stimulated. Both the left and right sides of the brain are activated when we sing.  Songs can introduce new words, often words that rhyme or repeat, which make them easier to learn.  It also gives children the opportunity to practice the smaller sounds in words, such as adding a “s” to the end of things that are plural.  Try adding new vocabulary to familiar songs/tunes to practice new words.  (e.g “If you’re grumpy and you know it clap your hands”).

(http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/3_masks_mb_sf NULL.jpg)PLAY
Games and “make-believe” play are excellent ways for children to put concrete examples with concepts.  Play creates an opportunity for children to expand on an idea themselves using reasoning (a dog wouldn’t do that!), sequence (first this happens, then that), and creativity.  Encourage children to act out pictures they see in stories.  Play “I Spy” and share lots of interesting descriptive words.

The possibilities are endless.  Choose your own book and see how many ways you can extend it through talk, song, and/or play!

Further Reading:

• How to Foster a Love for Reading at a Very Young Age (http://www NULL.daytondailynews NULL.com/lifestyle/ohio-health-news/how-to-foster-a-love-for-reading-at-a-very-young-age-1094658 NULL.html)
• Sample TALK activities – link to Washington Learning Systems parent-child literacy activities (http://www NULL.walearning NULL.com/articles/take-advantage-of-our-free-parent-child-literacy-activities/)

Read Across America (http://readacrossamerica NULL.org/)

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 2 has been designated Read Across America Day (http://www NULL.nea NULL.org/grants/886 NULL.htm).  This National Education Association annual program encourages reading motivation and awareness by asking every child in every community to celebrate reading. Raising A Reader (http://www NULL.rarbayarea NULL.org/)wants you to celebrate reading every day.  The primary goal of our program is for parents to create daily reading routines with their children.

Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday on Wednesday March 2, 2011

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OAKLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY*

10:15 AM  Elmhurst Branch, 1427 88th Avenue (510 615-5727)
Come celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday and listen to some stories. For K through 2nd grade (and their families).

2:00 PM Martin L. King Jr. Branch, 6833 International Blvd, (510 615-5728)
Celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday and his promotion of the joys of reading. Join us for story reading, a special “Seussenir” (craft), and refreshments.

3:00 PM : Montclair Branch, 1687 Mountain Blvd. (510 482-7810)
Come celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with us! We’ll have stories and crafts for all ages. Geared toward families with children aged 5-10.

3:30 PM  Elmhurst Branch, 1427 88th Ave. Oakland (510 615-5727)
Come celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday and listen to some stories. For K through 2nd grade (and their families).

7:00 PM Main Library-Children’s Room, 125 14th St. (510 238-3616 )
Wish Dr. Seuss a Happy 107th birthday with books, songs, and even more fun! For children 3-8 and their families.

*Also check out OPL’s  March Rockin Robins series – a  fun programs for families with babies (http://myemail NULL.constantcontact NULL.com/News-from-Oakland-Public-Library NULL.html?soid=1102124547538&aid=Ig4b4BMXxdU#fblike) (newborn to 12 months).

SAN LEANDRO PUBLIC LIBRARY 300 Estudillo Avenue
Children of all ages are invited to a special story time with the Golden State Warriors, in honor of Read Across America day! Beginning at 6:30pm, the Warrior Girls with special guest The Cat in the Hat will read to children, and give out books, posters and prizes! This special event will be held in the Estudillo/Karp room. Please arrive early to get a good seat.

Other Resources:

• Seusville for Parents (http://www NULL.seussville NULL.com/Parents/par_seuss_age NULL.php)
• Raising a Reader article from Parenting Magazine (http://www NULL.parenting NULL.com/article/raising-a-reader)