September 19, 2016

What were your favorite books as a child? Did you stay up late imagining the fantastical worlds of A Wrinkle in Time or Bridge to Terabithia? Did you scare yourself silly courtesy of Stephen King or Edgar Allen Poe? Maybe you laughed your head off at The Cat in the Hat, or cried your eyes out at Where the Red Fern Grows.

Whatever books you loved, there’s a good chance your local libraries helped put them in your hands. Libraries make indispensable partners for educators because they provide support as children build literacy skills and develop a love of reading. We hope you’ll participate in the American Library Association’s Library Card Sign-up Month. Help children in your program find their local libraries, and encourage them and their families to get library cards today!

Libraries also support the free Open eBooks program. This piece of the White House ConnectED Initiative starts with educators, program leaders and librarians who work with in-need youth. These adults can register free; then, every child in the program can get a personal access code to download up to 10 eBooks at a time.

June 14, 2016

Help students hold on to their literacy skills by trying some or all of these easy tips:

During a summer program:

- Build literacy into your summer program. For example, if your curriculum has a STEM focus, use the Y4Y STEM Vocabulary Builder. It can help students learn math and science language and reinforce understanding of the concepts. Get other ideas from the Literacy Everywhere tool.

- During one day of the program, hold a “book swap.” Invite everyone to bring used books and take different ones home.

Outside a summer program:

- Hold a family literacy event. Use this Y4Y checklist to help you organize.

- Enlist family members to lead read-alouds several times a week. One way to structure this is with a “family book review” activity. Learn about it on the Reaching Out to Families tool. 

- Partner with your local public library to help students sign up for library cards. Families get free access to books (including digital ones that download to a tablet or computer) and a professional librarian to help readers select ones they’ll enjoy.

- Find a local partner to help you send books home to your students and their family members.

For more ideas, visit Read Where You Are and keep learning alive all summer long!