Books for Special Occasions
Leveled Reader recognizes “Mental Health Month” by recommending leveled books that help your child understand and build self esteem
April 30, 2010
The month of May is designated to celebrate many things, among them is “Mental Health Month.” According to experts, to have good mental health, your brain needs to be physically fit and emotionally fit. To keep your brain physically fit, keep your body healthy. This will boost your self esteem, mood, and overall mental state.
At least 30 minutes a day of some sort of physical activity helps improve memory, reasoning, and reaction times in your brain. You can do things like walk 100 steps after eating, you can spread the 30 minutes out over the day. A balanced diet helps improve memory, decision making and thinking abilities, and mood. Getting enough rest helps keep your body and brain stay healthy. Exercising your mind is important for good mental health, too. Simple mind puzzles like word searches, cards, Yahtzee or crosswords, or reading the newspaper will help stimulate the brain. Deep breathing, listening to certain types of music, writing, a hobby, or reading helps your emotional state.
Maintaining a healthy self esteem is integral to good mental health. A person with healthy self esteem realizes their strengths and weaknesses, they are confident, able to act independently, be responsible, take pride in achievements, tolerate frustration, try new things, and offer help to others. A healthy self esteem improves your mood, mental ability and enjoyment in life.
To help build self esteem in your child, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Children thrive on positive attention. Encouragement goes a long way. Offer praise, teach them how to think in positive ways, avoid ridiculing or shaming, let them own their problem but teach them to recognize when they have made good decisions, show them you can laugh at yourself.
By laughing at yourself, one thing you are showing your child is that they are not alone. Another way to show them this is by reading about how other children experience similar situations and emotions and ended up okay. Leveled Reader has a Self Esteem section with books for various levels of readers. Read about “A Bad Case of the Stripes,” “Lucy on the Loose,” “Finklehopper Frog Cheers” and others. By reading, your child will be improving their mental health in so many ways!
Quote: “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends and the most patient of teachers.” Charles W. Eliot.
Why read a book? Happiness is as happiness does…
April 9, 2010
Not too long ago, a study was published confirming “happiness spreads readily through social networks of family members, friends and neighbors.” Further, it described how a person’s emotional state depended not only on actions and choices made, but also on actions and choices other people made—even persons unknown. People who are happy tend to live longer. In essence, the study “concluded happiness is like a contagious disease.” Unfortunately, other studies concluded the same for obesity and smoking: they, too, spread among groups of friends and relatives. An interesting finding was that happiness was more contagious face-to-face—not via the Internet or cell phone. The study postulated the reason was that “happy people spread their good fortune directly by being generous with time and money,” enhancing social bonds so “successful groups” were formed.
Why write about happiness being like a contagious disease? Well, it is a wonderful notion to consider. We all want to be happy. But, this is also an example of the benefits of reading. Seeing others around you read, will encourage you to read. Readers spread their knowledge gained from reading, that creates an environment of creative thinking, and, there you go: a chain reaction of the most positive kind, enhancing social bonds and potentially even society. To me, this potential is exciting!
Leveled Reader’s team of professionals and experts have selected books to stimulate young minds to encourage reading in such a way that it enhances their current reading program in an easy, yet challenging and satisfying way. Let Lily help you not only find the book to start your young reader on the road to success within their family and community, but also find some books on being happy, too.
Start the contagion, let your child see you read, get your child reading, and let Leveled Reader help.
Quote: “Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation, as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.” Inscription over the Thebes Library door.
Closing the Achievement Gaps – National Education Association Strategies for Teachers and Parents.
April 2, 2010
For those readers who are educators or teachers, you know the National Education Association (NEA) shares information on a variety of educational topics. Among those topics is C.A.R.E. and C.A.R.E. Strategies for Closing the Achievement Gaps. Those strategies include:
- Allowing students to select a reading partner.
- Showing a short video clip as a pre-reading activity.
- Reading aloud with stops for quick oral responses.
- Engaging students in challenging discussions of the meaning of reading materials that reflect on their direct experiences.
- Know your students reading level.
- Offering a child balanced reading that incorporates books about other cultures all year round.
- Reviewing with students how reading is of benefit physically, emotionally, intellectually….
- Including tasks that provide opportunities for students to apply content vocabulary and use content language in discussions or extended reading or writing assignments.
- Broadening your own palate, being a model by reading on your own (consider when you last read out of your comfort zone to explore another culture) and share your experience.
- Encouraging family involvement like providing time, space, quiet and materials for child’s studying, reading and hobbies; setting an example by reading at home and engaging in other learning activities….
For those readers who are family or friends, the NEA C.A.R.E. strategies include:
- Reading and listening to children read.
- Discussing school day, family members’ lives, and current events.
- Storytelling, recounting experiences, and sharing problem-solving strategies.
- Writing of all kinds (e.g., grocery lists, telephone messages, letters, diary entries).
- Relating everyday experiences to what is being learned in school, and using these experiences as teaching opportunities.
- Helping to expand vocabulary.
- Conducting family activities that help expand the world view.
Lily can recommend a few specially chosen books to enhance the reading program in your child’s life that pertain to culture. Explore the LeveledReader books chosen by our assembled team of educators and other professionals to bring the power of the leveling system to everyday popular literature with regard to culture…such as:
- A Bad Case of Stripes. A story about fitting in and being true to yourself. [Age Level: 7-9. Grade Level: 2-4.]
- Sacagawea and the Bravest Deed. A glimpse into what life may have been like during the childhood years of one of our most famous Americans, a member of the Shoshone tribe. [Age Level: 5-7. Grade Level: K-1. Leveled Group: G-H-I.]
- Helen Keller and the Big Storm. This book fits in with both the NEA’s literacy program and next month as “Better Hearing and Speech Month”. Among other things, it helps learn about the life of someone who is deaf and blind, helps develop an interest in learning sign language and is an introduction to biographies. [Age Level: 4-7. Grade Level: K-1. Leveled Group: G-H-I.]
And do join the NEA’s year-round Reading Across America literacy program that celebrates the joy and importance of reading by visiting their site at http://www.nea.org.
Quote: “The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones, but in the echoes of our hearts.” Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Posted in Books for Special Occasions, Buying Books For Kids | 
Tags: Benefits of reading, Leveled Book Resources for teachers and parents, parents and others purchase quality books for children | 
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Do you hear what I hear? Add a new dimension to storytelling and reading while celebrating Better Hearing and Speech month in May.
March 29, 2010
In looking at the school and events calendar, I realized May is fast approaching. Of course, we are familiar with May events such as May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day, and Mother’s Day. But there are some other days in May to learn about and celebrate. Armed Forces Day, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, and Mother Goose Day. Moreover, May is Better Hearing and Speech Month.
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASLHA), the annual May event ”provides opportunities to raise awareness about communication disorders and to promote treatment that can improve the quality of life for those who experience problems with speaking, understanding, or hearing.” To learn more about the event, you can visit their site at: http://www.asha.org/bhsm/
The American Academy of Otolaryngology has a “Hearing Information for Children” category with articles about ‘Infant Hearing Loss,’ ‘Childhood Hearing Loss,’ and “Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Children.” You can visit their site at: http://www.entnet.org/AboutUs/betterHearingSpeechMonth.cfm to learn more.
As you teach about our senses, communication, or language, what a wonderful experience it would be to expose youth to a different language, used by those who are Deaf or hard of hearing: American Sign Language (ASL).
Lily says Leveled Reader has two reworked traditional stories available, offering ASL as a medium along with written and oral presentations. The native ASL users are professional storytellers who will delight your young reader with the beauty of the language whether deaf or hearing.
In the ASL Tales category, you can view a demonstration of the ASL Tales: Princess and the Pea [Age Level: 2-8 years, Grade Level: K-4] and ASL Tales: Rapunzel [Age Level: 3-8 years, Grade Level: K-4]
Quote: “The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” Elizabeth Hardwick, American literary critic, novelist, and short story writer.
“Spring” your child (or classroom) into reading with books that reflect this exciting season.
March 15, 2010
Don’t let “spring fever” make your child lose interest in books. Literacy is not a seasonal activity. Show the kids you care about how to keep spring in their hearts all year long with stories that reflect this great time of year.
When I think of Spring, cool breezes on sunny days come to mind. And wild flowers along the road, lambs, calves, foals: baby animals. There is a feeling of wonderment.
I think of how we, as teachers and parents, can share some of that wonderment with the children who can’t get out to see those baby animals and all the newness happening…and that brings me to books. There are some lovely books available at Leveled Reader.
One look at the full-color, bright cheery photographs in Petting Zoo and the reader will feel like they are on the farm! And, better still, they will be motivated to read more with this fun book. Petting Zoo is great for readers just starting out and yet high interest enough for readers with a little experience. The recommended grade level is pre-school to first grade, leveled group A-B, and age level 4-6 years.
Remember, if you aren’t sure what level your child might be at, there is a handy chart to guide you in your selection of books to supplement the school curriculum.
As I think about, the book About the Seasons We Both Read, is a wonderful book, too. This is a captivating non-fiction story about changes in weather and the habits of animals during the seasons. It is filled with fun facts, a great storyline and intriguing pictures. The recommended grade level is K-1, leveled group E-F, and age level 5-7 years.
With Spring, we tend to want to stay outdoors more, but remember that reading is an easy way to develop language skills, writing skills, vocabulary skills, word comprehension, and good study habits. Setting aside just a few minutes every day is so important to your child’s success now and later.
Posted in Books for Special Occasions, Buying Books For Kids, Getting Kids to Read | Tags: Benefits of reading, Encourage your child to read, Leveled Book Resources for teachers and parents | Comments Closed
Leveled Reader gets a little help from “Lily” choosing leveled books for March
March 5, 2010
Lily helps parents and teachers search for great books for children!
March has so many birthdays, events and celebrations to acknowledge and, before we know it, April will be here! That’s too bad because there are so many books already leveled for you that, for instance, celebrate March’s ‘Women in History’ month. Lily just showed me the “Childhood of Famous Americans Ready-to-Read” book series. Wow. I got excited just looking at all the possibilities available in that series (even if there are a few books about men, too)!
When Lily was looking for books on women and girls, she found so many different book series with leveled books. It was difficult for her to choose just one to tell you about. You already know about the Flat Stanley book series, but did you know about the “We Both Read” book series? Lily thinks that would be great reading to celebrate “Earth Day” coming up toward the end of April. It has leveled books like “About the Ocean,” “About the Rain Forest,” and “About the Seasons.”
Personally, Lily said she prefers the book series, “Lily Quench”. It has five leveled books about a character with her favorite name! And Lily really likes a single book called “Lucy on the Loose” because the main character is A BEAGLE!
Although Lily might be a little biased about her book preferences, her main interest remains to help you select the books appropriate for your students and children important in your life so that they achieve literacy in a fun and independent way. Lily hopes she was able to help you with your book selections at LeveledReader.com.
Guided reading programs can become boring – let Flat Stanley spice things up for teachers and parents who know it is hard work to keep kids interested in reading!
February 28, 2010
Part of our goal in being a “Leveled Book Resource” is to bring our teachers, parents and others that want to encourage kids to read ideas that help encourage today’s youth to spend time reading.
Spring is almost here and Spring Fever might make your child want to do anything but read. Along with Spring, thoughts often turn to adventure and travel instead. You and your students or child may not be able to travel in the literal sense, but you can through books!
One of our favorite choices for helping children explore the world beyond their front door is the Flat Stanley books and project.
If you haven’t been involved in the ‘Flat Stanley Project’, now might be a good time to initiate the project, engaging and benefiting your student or child in many ways. Visit the Official Flat Stanley Project site to get started.
Flat Stanley not only brings back travel stories and photographs, but frequently brings back souvenirs! On a trip to Bakersfield, California, he brought back a tiny bale of harvested cotton from the cotton fields, crude oil from the oil fields and more. You can read about all the things he did and brought back from Bakersfield here. But, when you visit the official Flat Stanley Project site or go to www.YouTube.com and type in “Flat Stanley” for a multitude of videos (for example, this creative rap), Bakersfield might seem a little dull. Flat Stanley has been to the White House, the Academy Awards, a television show set, NASA, and Australia to name a few.
Students can blog about their Flat Stanley adventures and even add photographs to the photo gallery. In the classroom, they can plot Flat Stanley’s travels on maps and share the journals. Have them read about success stories.
To get started, you can order Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and Stanley, Flat Again by Jeff Brown. They are appropriate for ages 6-9 years, grades 1-4 [Level L-M]. You can also purchase a Level L-M book set that includes a Stanley book. Or get all the Flat Stanley books!
Once students become familiar with Flat Stanley’s story, they make paper “Flat Stanley’s” by coloring and cutting out the template, and then keep a journal of Flat Stanley’s adventures with them for a few days. Flat Stanley and the journal are then mailed to other people who are asked to treat Flat Stanley as a guest and add to the journal, and then return them.
The Flat Stanley Project even accommodates Special Education students. This is such a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about other parts of the country or world, other cultures, events and situations they might not otherwise be able to visit themselves.
Dale Hubert, a third grade teacher from Ontario, Canada, developed this excellent program in 1995. For hints on how to integrate the project into your classroom curriculum, visit “hints” at the Official Flat Stanley Project site.
Millions of children around the world have shared Flat Stanley’s travels. Join the Flat Stanley phenomenon and support this international literacy activity. It can include visual arts, geography, oral language skill building and more. I know young adults and their parents who have the fondest memories of Flat Stanley and still get excited telling their tales…. Lily, here at LeveledReader, hopes this helps you continue to create that safe and fun learning environment while you aim to enhance literacy and other important skills.
As a teacher, parent or guardian of a child learning to read, do you realize your value?
February 26, 2010
“Indiscriminate reading is unprofitable to the mind.” Latin Proverb
“The fact of knowing how to read is nothing; the whole point is knowing what to read.” – Jacques Ellul, 1912-1984, a French philosopher, law professor, sociologist, lay theologian, and WWII French Resistance leader.
“Choose an author as you would a friend.” – Wentworth Dillion, 1630-1985, English poet born in Ireland.
These quotes might be representative of how important your role is in helping your child or student select books or book sets. We, at Leveled Reader, are well aware of how important literacy is; in fact, it may be one of the most important keys to a child’s success. So, providing up-to-date and interesting literature that meets guidelines set by educators is of the utmost importance.
Leveled Reader brings teachers and parents the best in current children’s books leveled using the principles of today’s academic leveling criteria. When you purchase a customizable Book Set from Leveled Reader you can be sure the children in your life are getting quality books that will enhance guided reading programs and encourage independent reading capabilities.
Our expert team of educators and other professionals bring you the power of the leveling system, offering everyday popular literature in relation to your child’s academic achievement level. Our levels are not intended to match your leveled reading program lists exactly, instead, we take the time to read each book we level and place it in a level that compliments today’s most popular guided reading lists so that you can enhance your leveled book library and thereby encourage the student to actively participate in their schools official guided reading program. You can learn more about our guided reading criteria at LeveledReader.com. Share your shopping experience with your child as Lily leads the way to the books or book sets selected for each level, subject, or age group.
We are glad that you, whether teacher, parent, child, or supporter of children, have chosen to share this belief. We hope you will come often to this leveled book resource blog as well as our site at Leveled Reader.com to find inspiration and the best in current, exciting reading materials to meet the literacy needs of the youth in your life! Here are some choices to celebrate some more March events:
Albert Einstein’s birthday: Albert Einstein Genius of the Twentieth Century
Harry Houdini’s birthday: Harry Houdini Escape Artist
Baseball Season begins (includes two book sets as well as individual books): Select Individual books, book sets or design your own book sets.
We are available for comments, questions, assistance, and finding that special book just for your child. Go to LeveledReader.com and ‘Contact Us’.
Posted in Books for Special Occasions, Buying Books For Kids, Getting Kids to Read | Tags: Leveled Book Resources for teachers and parents, Leveled Book Sets enhance your childs reading program | Comments Closed
Leveled books and music – March is "Music in Our Schools" Month
February 22, 2010
As educators, teachers know how important music is to the development of our youth. As a leveled book store, you may wonder why we would encourage teachers to acknowledge a month that celebrates music. Becuase we are more than a bookstore. We truly care about providing information to teachers and parents that will help them support the children in their lives to embrace reading with passion.
There are a multitude of studies and sites dedicated to the value of music and music in education. In fact, there is a recent study indicating the brain processes language and instrumental music in the same areas of the brain and overlap each other. As a result, researchers say music education can help children with developmental dyslexia or autism more accurately use speech. “Music making is a multisensory experience, activating links to several parts of the brain,” according to Gottfried Schlaug, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. There are many benefits of music education, both in instruments and singing. Among other things, music enhances the brain’s ability to recognize voices, discern verbal nuances as well as tune out noise.
To celebrate and draw importance to music, we can recommend “A Mouse Called Wolf” by Dick King-Smith, “Dancing Dinos Go to School” by Sally Lucas, and “Mr. Putter and Tabby Toot the Horn” by Cynthia Rylant.
“A Mouse Called Wolf” is recommended for the 4-8 age group (grades K-3). It is about a tiny mouse with a big name finding a slightly chewed piece of sheet music with the words “Wolfgang Amadeus Mo”…with the family mouse hole just behind the leg of a grand piano played twice a day by an elderly woman, Wolf loves the music and, to the delight of Mrs. Honeybee and the bemusement of his mother, he becomes the first singing mouse. His special talent even enables him to summon help when Mrs. Honeybee falls and can’t get up. Young musicians will relate to Wolf’s struggles to develop his talent and share it with his not-so-musical mother.
“Dancing Dinos Go to School” is recommended for the 4-6 age group (grades pre-school-K). The dancing dinos are back, and this time, when their book turns up in a school library, they leap out and bring their musical mayhem to a kid’s classroom. This fun, rhyming Step 1 reader is perfect for back-to-school!
“Mr. Putter and Tabby Toot the Horn” is recommended for the 6-9 age group (grades 1-3). In it, Mr. Putter and his fine cat, Tabby, like sharing music with their special neighbors. But when the neighbor decides they should join a band, Mr. Putter isn’t so sure—since neither of them plays an instrument. But they aren’t going to let that stop them!
To read more about the value of music, music’s impact, and other benefits of music, you can visit http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/benefits.html
To read more about how “Music in Our School’s” got started and get some ideas about how to promote the celebration is your community, you can visit: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/music_ed/15718/1 or
http://halftimemag.com/articles/03-2009/03-2009-publishers-letter/music-in-our-schools-month.html.
Happy reading and listening!!
Posted in Books for Special Occasions, Buying Books For Kids | Tags: Benefits of reading, Encourage your child to read, Leveled Book Resources for teachers and parents | Comments Closed
Leveled reading resources for teachers celebrating February and Black History Month
February 19, 2010
February is quite the month for celebration. Not only is there Valentine’s Day, but it is the month in which two presidents are honored—and also to be honored is the history of African Americans. February is Black History Month.
From our Leveled Reading selections, readers have an opportunity to learn about two famous African Americans, Sojourner Truth and Jackie Robinson.
Did you know that Sojourner Truth’s birth name was Isabella Baumfree? She became an itinerant preacher during the mid-1800s, on a mission to abolish slavery. Our selected book, titled “Sojourner Truth: Path to Glory” by Peter Merchant, takes the reader through Sojourner’s enslaved childhood and free adult life and why she changed her name. She successfully proclaimed her message of equality for blacks and women, even though she was illiterate, through giving speeches and writing poems and a book.
This book is included in our Level J-K book set as well as available as a single book purchase. Generally appropriate for Grade Two students, but may be appropriate for some Grade One students. As you review our Leveling Criteria chart, you can best determine the Level based on various reading test scores.
For a printable resource on Sojourner Truth, you can visit the Scholastic site.
We all know Jackie Robinson is famous for baseball. Did you know he was the first black player in modern major league baseball? And, in 1962, he became the first black player to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame. Read more about how special Jackie Robinson was in our selected book, “Jackie Robinson: He Led the Way” by April Jones Prince.” In simple, engaging language, this book follows Jackie from childhood through his career as a Most Valuable Player—award winning baseball player and a hero of the civil rights movement. Perfect not only for Black History Month, but also for the start of Spring training!
This is a Level L-M book, generally appropriate for the more advanced Grade Two student, but can be appropriate for the Grade One—and even Grade Three–student. Review our Leveling Criteria chart to best determine the Level based on various reading test scores.
Choose these, and other, books to inspire your students and children.
For a printable resource on Jackie Robinson, you can visit the Scholastic site . This is a read-aloud play for Grades 4 and up.
Posted in Books for Special Occasions, Buying Books For Kids, Getting Kids to Read, In support of America's Teachers, Making History Fun for Kids | Tags: Celebrate Black History with Leveled Books, Encourage your child to read, Leveled Book Resources for teachers and parents, Leveled Reader supports educators | Comments Closed