Multicultural Resources and Texts: Just a Click Away!

      Are you looking for some multicultural book selections that you can pull up on your computer in just a couple of clicks? You do want to add a little spice to read aloud time up by showing an electronic version of a trade book text on your computer projection screen? I have found some gems for you!

     Two of my favorite and FREE sites for online trade books is Tumblebooks and the We Give Books Foundation.

We Give Books Foundation:

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
(Dial, 2012) 


     This true story is about a boy named William who is fourteen years old and lives in Malawi. At the time, the people of his village were struggling with a drought and losing their crops. William overcomes great challenges by going to the library and studying how he could recycle materials that he had access to in order to create a windmill. This windmill brought electricity to William's village and became a hero to his community. This book is based on the adult version of the book with the same name, which was a New York Times bestseller.

The Hallelujah Flight by Phil Bilner 
(Putnam Juvenile, 2010)


     Here is a video "sneak peek" about The Hallelujah Flight that was constructed as a project by fourth and fifth grade students at Caldwell Heights Elementary School in Round Rock, Texas. Here's the YouTube clip: 

Tumblebooks - This site is a subscription site. However, if you go to Williamsburg Regional Library website (in Virginia), they have a subscription to the site, and you can enter the site by clicking on the library's name here.

Here are a just a few samples of the various titles that you can find on Tumblebooks:

Bebe Goes Shopping by Susan Middleton Eyla
(Sandpiper, 2008)
 

     This rhyming text shares a visit to a grocery store between a toddler and his mother. If you visit Harcourt Brace's official page for Bebe Goes Shopping, you will be able to see and share a bilingual dictionary based on language from the text. For those of you who love to share how authors and illustrators draft and plan their real work, there are draft illustrations that you can share with the children as well.  Tumblebooks also has a games page to go with this text. You can play Spell Hop and Word Search in addition to watching and listening to the book. 

Suki's Kimono Written by: Chieri Uegaki and Illustrated by: Stephanie Jorish
(Kids Can Press, 2005)
   Suki's favorite thing to wear is her kimono, and she is proud to share her love of her culture and memories she shared with her obachan (grandmother.) Her enthusiasm leads her to share about a special dance with her classmates. Suki's has the best first day of school ever because of her pride of sharing her culture. You can look at the book through Google Books as well.  

I Love Saturdays y Domingos
Written by Alma Flor Ada and Illustrated by Elivia Savadier
(Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004)


     The granddaughter in this book is surrounded by the love of both sets of her grandparents on the weekends. On Saturdays, she visits with her grandparents on one side of the family, and on Domingos (Sundays), she visits the grandparents on the other side of her family who speak Spanish. Alma Flor Ada has written numerous children's books that celebrate Hispanic culture. Be sure to check out more of her titles at her website and the library!


   Here is a bonus! One of my favorite sites about early literacy, Reading Rockets, which is from WETA, the PBS station in Washington D.C.  This video is an interview posted by Reading Rockets and it is a little over 13 minutes long. It gives great insight into how she learned English and became an author. Be sure to explore her many other texts for a great author's study of her style of crafting writing. 

    Reading Rockets also has an excellent section to celebrate Black History Month, which you can explore by clicking here. There are additional video interviews with authors, book lists, activity suggestions, and sources of background information. Be sure to bookmark and explore the bounty of information here. :)

  

Read for the Record Day is Coming October 6th!

     Read for the Record day is coming this Thursday, October 6th. It is sponsored by an initiative from Pearson called We Give Books.  It purpose is to promote early literacy by having readers read online or traditional books. Then, they ask readers to go to their website and choose a literacy campaign to support. It is as easy as clicking. Once to pick a group, the foundation adds another book to their donations which will be made to that cause. What a win-win situation! There is also a page on the website dedicated to educators, including a section devoted to Llama Llama.

     One of the really neat things about the We Give Books site is there are many books that are available to read for free. They are easy to select. Classroom teachers can even include this website on their classroom webpage or newsletter, too. You can click here to read Llama Llama Red Pajama right on your computer!

     Be sure to check out all of the FREE online trade books that you can share online in your class with a computer projector hookup. You can also simply share some of these books at home on the home computer with your child. There is a wide variety ranging from pourquoi stories to bestsellers to classics.  

    Jumpstart, a Pearson campaign for supporting early literacy in low-income neighborhoods, is a partner in this initiative. You can find out more about Jumpstart at:

•      Jumpstart's Website 
•      Jumpstart on Facebook 
•      Jumpstart on Twitter

 

Reading Rockets from PBS Station WETA - Fantastic Resources!

     Reading Rockets is a well-respected, in depth website from the Washington D.C.'s WETA PBS station. This website has a focus on early learners and the primary grades, and offers a wealth of information that you can link on your Edline page for parents, too. Explore some of the features I noted below to get a feel for the site if you are unfamiliar with it. Be sure to bookmark it and check out the author videos, my personal favorite! :)

Website Highlights:

• Classroom Strategies Resources - This is a new section on the website which provides ideas and reminders on what are effective instructional strategies to apply before, during, or after reading. It also highlights whether it is directed at individuals, small groups, or whole group instruction. These components are divided within these realms of reading and writing instruction for early grade learners:
• print awareness
• phonological awareness
• phonics
• fluency
• vocabulary
• comprehension
• writing

Books and Authors:

• Author Study Resources
• Author Video Interviews
• Author Study "Toolkit"
• Themed Book Lists

Additional technological resources through the website:

• You can also sign up for electronic newsletters on updates from the website. It's current and updated frequently!
• On the downloadable free guides page, you can look at the 32 page teacher's guide. It's informative!
• You'll see two boxes called widgets on the right side of my blog from Reading Rockets that you can explore as well.

Parent Resources:
       
       You can find some good links for your Edline page here. 

• Main Page for Parents
• Parent Tips
• There are numerous downloadable free guides that are available here. The Family Guide is available in Spanish and English together. Empowering Parents is also a great, full color pamphlet available through this page, too.

Reading Rockets Blogs:

• Sound It Out - This blog is written by Dr. Joanne Meier and gives advice on raising readers both at home and in the classroom.

• Page by Page - From children's literature expert Maria Salvadore, this blog highlights best book picks and how they can be used at home and in the classroom.

Other Resources on the Internet Beyond the Website Reading Rockets:

• Find Reading Rockets on YouTube: Meet the Authors Video Clips
• Find Reading Rockets on Facebook
• Find Reading Rockets on Twitter 
• Find Reading Rockets Podcasts from iTunes

Thank-you to Reading Rockets for this fabulous resource and emphasis on involving all the influential people in a child's learning life! :)

Quick Link: Storyline

     This website from the Screen Actors Guild offers numerous well known picture books to view online for read aloud. What makes this site unique is that celebrities are the ones reading aloud the texts. They also provide activity guides to download that can give you an idea or two for your planning. There is a pop up box with discussion questions, too. There are great stories such as Thank-You, Mr. Falker, Stellaluna, A Bad Case of Stripes, and more! It would be a nice link to share with parents on Edline for family literacy fun. You could also share via your computer and screen for a twist to a read aloud and mini lesson time. :)

http://www.storylineonline.net/