Calvert School Blog

November 2011 Inspire!  Have you ever stood in line at a bookstore waiting to get a book signed by a favorite author? Do you always read the book before going to see the movie adaptation? Is a bedtime story a ritual in your home? Is someone in your family a natural storyteller? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, November is the month for you!

In November, the United States sets aside several days to honor reading and all its related pursuits. November 1st is both National Authors’ Day and Family Literacy Day. National Authors’ Day was established in 1949 as the day to show “appreciation of the men and women who have made American literature possible.” Here are just a few ways to celebrate literacy with your family this month . . . and all year long.

At Kids Reads http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/write.asp, your child can find the address of a favorite author, then dash off a note of thanks for a super enjoyable story. You might also let your children get up close and personal by viewing interviews and prior presentations at the National Book Festival by children’s and young adult authors at http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/kids-teachers/. If you visit the site, be sure to view Kids Create and Kids Achieve. Your child might even want to try authoring by writing a an original story or by penning the story to a wordless book like David Wiesner’s Free Fall or any of Mercer Mayer’s books about a boy and his dog and frog.

Family Literacy Day is a day to celebrate all our means of communication: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. For a family, daily literary activities might include a book read at bedtime, a recipe prepared together, or a sing along with the songs on the car radio. For more ideas, the International Reading Association offers a number of brochures and booklets for parents. These range from “Getting Your Child Ready to Read” to “Books Are Cool!”: Keeping Your Middle School Student Reading” and can be found at http://www.reading.org/InformationFor/Parents.aspx. Reading rockets is another source for literacy ideas. There you can find ways to help your struggling reader as well as learn how to prepare your child for testing. You can even link to the Reading rockets PBS television programs. http://www.readingrockets.org/audience/parents/Find games, printouts, activities, and even podcasts that support literacy at ReadWriteThink. http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/.

Also, this year, National Young Readers Week is celebrated November 7–11. It was created in 1989 through a partnership of the Book It! Program established by Pizza Hut and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Go to http://www.bookitprogram.com/Parents/index.asp for more information on how to create lifelong readers. Be sure to explore the Book Nook. Still looking for books to interest the readers in your home? Kids Reads http://www.kidsreads.com/ and Teen Reads http://www.teenreads.com/are both great sources.

November – it’s not just for turkey.