December is a time of lights, family, friends, celebrations — and sharing gifts from the heart. Celebrate this season of sharing with books and reading. This year’s list includes multicultural stories, picture book biographies, folktales and fairy tales, graphic novels, a bit of fantasy and mystery, and books about artists, science and nature, family, and friends. Books are a great way to explore our world and create memories that extend well beyond the short days of winter.
Meet 100 wonderful authors and illustrators who create beautiful and timeless books for children, contributing fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, and poetry to our bookshelves. We hope you discover some new books and learn about the folks who brought them to life.
Kekla Magoon is the award-winning author of many novels and nonfiction books for young readers, including The Season of Styx Malone, The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership and Legacy, She Persisted: Ruby Bridges, and the Robyn Hoodlum Adventure series.
Although Kekla has written about well-known people in the Civil Rights Movement, she also explores the lives of everyday heroes — the people who are engaged in their own communities and working to make them stronger.
Author studies help students develop their reading, writing, research, and critical thinking skills as well as establish a stronger community of readers. Author studies can expose kids to different literary voices and styles and are easily integrated across the curriculum. And they’re fun! If you’re thinking about doing an author study unit in your classroom after the holiday break, start planning using our step-by-step guide.
Turn travel time during a family trip into a great bonding and learning adventure with activities that build language for literacy and boost kids’ brain development. Here, you’ll find simple, fun ideas for singing, reading, and sharing family stories together. (In English and Spanish)
Looking for ideas to encourage reading and hands-on learning during the holiday break? Try our downloadable Reading Adventure Packs, where you’ll find a paired set of fiction and nonfiction books and easy activities to try. Explore more than 30 topics, including archaeology, dinosaurs, rocks, stars, robots, oceans, and cooking.
And our Start with a Book website helps you continue exploring our world with kids, through theme-based book recommendations, hands-on activities, child-friendly media, and more!
A parent asks, “My child says she hates writing, but she has a wonderful imagination. How do I help her get comfortable with writing down her ideas?” Literacy specialist Kyley Pulphus suggests a few ways for parents to encourage their children to find comfort and expression in writing.
See more Q&As about writing — including tips on organization, using more interesting words, spelling, grammar, and handwriting — in our video series Writing SOS.
This has been a challenging year for families, and many kids are experiencing big emotions. How can you support your child's social and emotional well-being through the holiday break and into the new year when schools reopen? Here are some simple ideas to try at home. We hope you'll find these tips easy to blend into your daily routines. Tips are available in 16 languages!
In the Classroom
Top Resources from 2022
More than 10 million educators and parents visited the Reading Rockets website this past year! We are grateful that so many of you are looking to us for the best, free evidence-based resources on helping young children learn to read. Here are 5 of our most visited resources in 2022:
Reading expert Linda Farrell helps third-grader Michael master the ‘silent e’ pattern to help him become a more accurate and ultimately more fluid reader. She begins with making sure that Michael can distinguish between short and long vowel sounds in spoken words, then teaches him a multi-sensory way to recognize the short vowel and ‘silent e’ long vowel patterns in written words. Ms. Farrell emphasizes the need to practice each skill to the point of mastery.
A teacher asks, “Can you provide clarification on how to promote shared reading in the structured literacy era and how that differs from shared reading in the balanced literacy era?”
Literacy expert Tim Shanahan says that there are several ways that shared reading can be used to accomplish specific learning goals in the primary grades. These include increasing vocabulary knowledge, developing print awareness, introducing children to listening comprehension strategies, building background knowledge, and creating joyful experiences around reading. Get the details in Shanahan’s blog post.
For sharing with parents (In English and Spanish):
As discussion of Emily Hanford’s new podcast Sold a Story builds, many teachers are beginning to ask questions about the instructional materials and approaches they have been using for years. In this new blog post, classroom teacher and literacy coach Margaret Goldberg says, “When we question the tenets of Balanced Literacy, teachers can unearth a trove of information. But how to make sense of it all?”
Goldberg goes on to say, “I’ve faced many of the obstacles that separate teachers from the information we need to help ensure all our students become readers.” She shares her own journey in recognizing these obstacles, and the path she’s on now to improve her teaching and coaching practice.
Reading Rockets is a national educational service of WETA, the flagship public television and radio station in the nation's capital. The goal of the project is to provide information on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.
Send your questions, comments, or suggestions to info@readingrockets.org. Our mailing address is WETA/Reading Rockets, 2775 S. Quincy St., Arlington, VA 22206. We look forward to hearing from you!
