Reading Rockets: Today's Reading News

Two new studies in the United States, which combed through large sets of health and education data, show that children born just before kindergarten age cut-off dates — which range from September to December — were statistically much more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder than their older class peers. "Grouping children in 12-month age groups is almost arbitrary the way it's set up," says researcher Melinda Morrill, an economist at North Carolina State University. "In kindergarten, a one-year age difference is 20 percent of a child''s life." And it may lead to teachers unnecessarily flagging children with behavioral issues.

David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Bangor, says that new colloquialisms spread like wildfire amongst groups on the net. "The Internet is an amazing medium for languages," he told BBC News. "Language itself changes slowly but the Internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly." People using word play to form groups and impress their peers is a fairly traditional activity, he added. "Online you show how brilliant you are by manipulating the language of the Internet."

Reading specialists Janice O'Hara and Eric Rhodes are a formidable team that augments routine curricular content with special initiatives designed to first put Monocacy students at grade level and then to push them beyond that mark. Sunshine Readers and the Power Reading Team are two programs that help build reading ability and also build relationships with the community.

After all those attentive early childhood rituals — the flashcards, the Kumon, the Dora the Explorer, the mornings spent in cutting-edge playgrounds — who wouldn't want to give their children a head start when it's finally time to set off for school? Suzanne Collier, for one. Rather than send her 5-year-old son, John, to kindergarten this year, the 36-year-old mother from Brea, Calif., enrolled him in a "transitional" kindergarten "without all the rigor." He's an active child, Ms. Collier said, "and not quite ready to focus on a full day of classroom work."

The premise of Lane Smith's new work for children, It's a Book, is simple: Books are under siege. On the first page a donkey asks a monkey, "What do you have there?" The monkey replies: "It's a book." "How do you scroll down?" the donkey asks. "Do you blog with it?" Then he asks: "Where's your mouse? ... Can you make characters fight? ... Can it text? ... Tweet? ... Wi-Fi? ... Can it do this? TOOT!" No, the monkey repeatedly replies. "It's a book." Smith's book, in stores this month, may be an example of a dying breed. A book, published — and meant to be read — on paper.

About 200 Los Angeles students are getting an intensive lesson in reading and loving books during a six-week summer literacy program rooted in the civil rights movement. The free program seeks to engage students socially and culturally with a curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking, conflict resolution, social action, healthful eating, creativity in the arts and physical and mental health. Parental participation is required, and many assist in the classroom, provide snacks and chaperone field trips.

When Sneed Collard III's latest book, "The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale," was rejected by 15 big-name publishing houses, he knew the time had come to take charge of his own destiny. So committed is he to this idea that Collard didn't drown his rejection sorrows in Missoula's famous author-haunted watering holes, but instead from his Rattlesnake home launched his very own publishing business, named for the muse that started this new adventure.

It was a giant wave: Three-quarters of the states adopted a new set of common academic standards in the past six months. As that wave crests, education groups and publishers are preparing to follow with one of their own—curriculum materials that aim to embody the new standards.

Williamson County Schools has implemented a state reading program that requires students to receive a minimum of 90 minutes a day of uninterrupted, direct reading instruction.

Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Awards were announced yesterday in Brisbane. This year there are a few surprises, but no real cause for controversy. While the judges note an increase in low-quality self-published books being entered, they also emphasize the otherwise high standard of children's literature in Australia. The books they have selected as the best of those released last year are a relatively light-hearted bunch.

What is the best way for teachers to be evaluated? A "loaded" question, indeed. As an alternative to evaluation plans that would be done "to" teachers, let me share the ways evaluations are being done "with" me. The components of this positive approach to evaluation have dramatically improved my professional practice at Luther Burbank High School where I teach. LBHS is the largest inner-city high school in Sacramento CA, and over half of our students are English Language Learners.

The classic children's book series, 'Choose Your Own Adventure,' puts you, the reader, in charge of your own fate: Will you emerge king of the dominion? Or meet your end in a duel with a sea monster? Now, a new iPhone application aims to revive the series for a digital generation of readers.

Still in its infancy, Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy is supporting the establishment of literacy-based storytimes in libraries, training for library staff, exchange of support materials and publications, and community advocacy. The program has a large and growing website with numerous resources for library staff and educators. A decentralized approach allows local libraries to implement the activities they are comfortable with, thereby moving the state's entire library community forward.

For the first time in years, more than half of California's public school students are reading at grade level or above, new test results showed. Of the nearly 5 million students in grades two to 11 tested in reading last spring — including students whose first language isn't English — 52 percent scored "proficient or above," continuing a trend of yearly improvement since 2003, when just 35 percent of students read at that level. Looking at native English speakers alone, reading proficiency climbed to 60 percent — and rose to 69 percent among bilingual English speakers.

Every year, the scene plays out in classrooms across the nation. A child clings to his mother, tears welling in his eyes as he pleads with her to stay a few moments longer. The first day of kindergarten is an exciting time for parents and children, but it can also be stressful, especially for kids who have never spent significant time away from Mom and Dad. The good news is that psychologists say separation anxiety is generally short-lived and there are time-tested methods to help reduce everyone's tension.

A cheating scandal is roiling Atlanta Public Schools, casting into doubt the work of hundreds of students in at least 12 of the mostly poor, mostly minority district's elementary and middle schools. The allegations surfaced in recent days as part of a statewide review of every standardized test taken in Georgia elementary and middle schools in spring 2009. The problems have drawn comparisons to scandals elsewhere that experts say reflect the increasing pressure to meet federal No Child Left Behind standards.

With 15 million copies sold, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians children's book series has become ubiquitous in 'tween households. Now, a summertime trend is taking the popularity of Riordan's series to a new level. From Texas to Georgia to New York, independent bookstores have been running day camps for children based on the adventures of protagonist Percy Jackson — a kid with dyslexia and ADHD who discovers he is really the son of the sea god Poseidon, and dangerous monsters are after him.

Maine's first family joined a group of volunteers to package up over 18,000 books for kindergartners Tuesday. "It is like building a strong foundation on a house, if you get it right you have a strong foundation that will last them throughout their lives," explained First Lady Karen Baldacci. "If we miss those opportunities, or don't have those quality things happening in early childhood like reading, then we miss the boat."

Anyone with an interest in how children learn to read has probably heard about the critical shift from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." To capture this idea, educators have focused on reading comprehension in addition to the importance of understanding the mechanics of language. A child may be able to decode words and even read with fluency. But does he understand what he has read? If not, what should teachers be doing differently? A recent article in Psychological Science provides a pointed answer: Focus on vocabulary development.

The best books show you a new way of thinking about a familiar issue. Paul Peterson's "Saving Schools: From Horace Mann to Virtual Learning," offers a new way of thinking about education reform by recounting the histories of reformers. The book tells the story of six great figures: Horace Mann, John Dewey, Martin Luther King Jr., Al Shanker, William Bennett, James Coleman, and one perhaps-great-figure-to-be, Julie Young, President and CEO of Florida Virtual School.