Moms Inspire Learning

Circles of Literacy, Part 1

©iStockphoto/forestus

Do you remember, in the movie The Lion King, when Simba saw his reflection in the water? At first, he sees his own reflection; but when Rafiki asks him to look harder, it is the face of Mufasa (his father) he sees.

Welcome to Share a Story Blog Literacy Tour!

Are you ready for the big event?

To kick off the week, the theme for today is The Many Faces of Reading. You will find links to so many wonderful posts by the many faces of bloggers at The Reading Tub's Scrub-a-Dub-Tub blog.

You'll also want to check out the daily writing prompts at the Share a Story site. Today's three Writing about Reading questions are:

• What is the book from your childhood you can't wait to share with a child and why?  
• Who is the person who influenced you most as a reader?  
• Do you have any special reading-time rituals for reading aloud with kids?

You can find out how to join the conversation at the post Writing About Reading: Questions for Day 1. Please do!

I'll have more information for you about the Share a Story Shape a Future Blog Tour each day this week, including posts of my own tomorrow and Friday.

Have a fantastic week!

Read-Alouds in Middle School?

A common misconception among parents, and even some teachers, is that once children start reading independently, they no longer have the need or the desire to be read-aloud to. Well, having observed and worked in a few different 4th and 5th grade classroom settings (within low and high socioeconomic status neighborhoods), I can tell you that tweens LOVE to hear read-alouds!

Whether tweens are avid readers, or very reluctant readers, they love to hear really great stories. When you think about it, who doesn't?

Teachable Moments for World Maths Day!

Welcome to World Maths Day! Right now, children around the world are playing mental math games online.

So, I thought I'd just write a very quick post about how to extend the learning by finding the teachable moments that surround you every single day. Here are just a few off the top of my head:

Share a Story Event is Coming Next Week!

Badges created by Susan Stephenson (The Book Chook), using ToonDoo.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader.

That's the theme for this year's Share a Story week, which will take place all across the blogosphere between March 8th and 14th. It's the one time when librarians, teachers, parents, illustrators, and authors come together to blog about literacy and children's literature. So, please be sure to mark you calendar!

Literacy Lava 4 is Available Now!

The 4th edition of Literacy Lava is ready! Here is a list of the titles of the articles included in this issue:

• Nurture Creative Thinking

• Let's Give Magazines a Little More Love

• Book Loving Boys

• What do I do? My child hates to write!

• The Love of Reading

• Discovering Baskets of Hands-On Learning

• Simple Story Extensions

• The Multimedia Generation

I did not make a contribution to this current issue, but you'll find some repeating contributors, as well as some new ones, in this edition. So, grab a nice warm beverage and relax for a few moments of quiet reflection...

You can access this current issue of Literacy Lava, as well as volumes 1 through 3, here. Enjoy!