Looking for a good book? Barbara Elzie has plenty. She's deputy director of Just Read, Florida!, the 7-year-old state agency that recently released its summer reading list for kids from kindergarten through high school. Summer reading should be fun, she says, but it's serious business, given that kids who don't read lose ground. "I found a study that was done at the University of California that said elementary students who read four or five books over the summer scored higher on a comprehension test," Elzie said. We talked with Elzie about the list, finding great books, and making reading a family activity.
1. We talked to a children's author recently who stressed the importance of giving children a variety of books, especially ones that are funny.
Choice is an important piece of this. What we shouldn't be doing as educators or parents is saying, "We're going to read this book." Give children some choices that tie to their interests. Read all different kinds of genres — funny books, expository text. But it's really great if the children can pick what they are interested in reading.
2. Should parents be reading these books along with their kids?
Absolutely. There's a lot of information on our Web site for parents. No. 1: Let your children catch you in the act of reading. In addition to the 20 minutes a day that you are hopefully reading to your child, let your child see you on the couch reading a book or a magazine or a newspaper instead of watching TV. … When a child is read to, they're building comprehension skills, they're building fluency, they know what fluent reading sounds like.
3. Should you read to your teenagers, too?
You know, I think so. It's more of a shared experience. My husband read to our teenage son, and he is to this day an avid reader. Maybe you read a chapter together. Or maybe your child reads a chapter to you, and then you read a chapter to them. Or maybe you both read it silently and then you come together and discuss it.
The Just Read, Florida! summer reading lists combine new books and classics, and I'm delighted to see three books that made big impressions on me when I was young are on this year's high school list.Colette Bancroft, Times Book Editor A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is a moving novel about two high school students that shows how teens during World War II were very different from today's kids — and how they were the same.
Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft, by Thor Heyerdahl, is an astonishing true-life adventure story that makes all those people on Survivor look like couch potatoes.
The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, is a beautiful novel that combines an exciting picture of life in frontier Florida with the funny, heartbreaking and inspiring story of a boy's struggle to grow up. On the Web
The Web site for Just Read, Florida! has reading lists and lots of helpful information for students, parents, teachers and anybody who loves to read. Go to www.justreadflorida.com.
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