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Best
Books for Beginning Readers
by Thomas G. Gunning
Choosing
Books for Children
A Commonsense Guide
by Betsy Hearne, Deborah Stevenson (Contributor)
Great
Books About Things Kids Love
More Than 750 Recommended Books for Children 3 to
14
by Kathleen Odean
Great
Books for Boys
More Than 600 Books for Boys 2 to 14
by Kathleen Odean
Great
Books For Girls
More Than 600 Books to Inspire Today's Girls and Tomorrow's Women
by Kathleen Odean
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Taking a Reading on Children's Reading
PBS Offers Tools to Help Early Readers Grow
Dateline: 4/23/05
By Drew B. Saunders, Education Communications, PBS
No matter what new educational theories come down the pike,
all parents and teachers instinctively know that the most important
learning skill a child must possess is the ability to read, and
to read well.
Reading is at the core of learning, and parents strive to instill
the basis of reading in their children's early years of development.
Not only do we read to our children and read with
our children, we also demonstrate to them that we like to read
for pleasure ourselves. Since parents and caregivers are the
most powerful influence on a child's future behaviors, showing
them that adults possess a love of reading is essential.
But it can sometimes be a challenging task, particularly these
days when so many other forces attract and capture our children's
attention: television, computer games, clubs and sports activities,
the Internet, and all the rest. But we keep at it because we
know that a child's ability to read is the best predictor of
his or her future academic success.
Just because parents have been charged with this responsibility
doesn't mean they can't call for some assistance. PBS, in addition
to creating great on-air programs like Sesame
Street and Reading
Rainbow to help young readers flourish, also has free
online resources for parents and teachers all about guiding students
as they learn to read and write.
One such resource is Between
the Lions, an award-winning television series that premiered
in April 2000 and is designed to foster the literacy skills of
its viewers, while playfully demonstrating the joys of reading.
Each show aims to guide kids four to seven years old towards
a love of reading and successful development of reading skills.
While watching, children learn to become excited about reading
and learning.
Based on recommendations from leading reading experts, each episode
guides young children to explore specific details such as phonemic
awareness, text structure, individual words and other print features.
Between the Lions
also features a companion Web site where parents and teachers
can find dozens of learning games, interactive activities and
lesson plans for all 70 of the series' programs. The Web site
is available at pbskids.org/lions.
Another online resource for homeschooling parents and caregivers
is PBS Parents. This
Web destination (located at pbsparents.org)
is a one-stop shop for advice, activities and fresh ideas in
parenting and helping children, whether it's improving reading,
understanding mathematics, or even how to wind children down
in the evenings so they're ready for bed!
In the Issues
and Advice section of the PBS
Parents site, parents and caregivers can find informational
articles and helpful strategies on issues like "Talking
with Kids," "Children
and Media," and "Health
and Safety." In the "Reading and Language" section parents can explore how
children from the cradle to 3rd grade react to and interact with
reading. The site helps parents know what to expect with each
age group, how to support kids as they learn, and how to challenge
them to new goals in their reading education.
PBS Parents also has recommended
books and an Expert
Q&A feature that allows site visitors to ask questions
of noted experts in the fields of child development and learning.
Later this spring the Parents Web site will be relaunched and
host even more resources for caregivers and parents, including
a book search feature and more detailed articles on a host of
early development issues.
The PBS program and Web site Reading
Rockets: Launching Young Readers is another excellent
source for parents, teachers and caregivers. Based on the latest
research findings, the program and site examine the five stages
young children go through in developing their reading skills.
From baby speech to vocabulary building to finding meaning in
texts, the Web site (found at pbs.org/launchingreaders)
addresses common concerns, highlights helpful articles and shows
how parents can interact with their children to increase literacy.
While we all hope that our students will succeed in their studies
and their reading, sometimes it's no easy task. Studies have
shown that for nearly one in five young students, learning to
read is an exhausting and frustrating struggle. These children
may be suffering from learning problems that can sometimes go
unnoticed and undiagnosed. If not addressed, these learning difficulties
can have a long-term impact on the students' self-esteem and
future academic and social success.
PBS' documentary and Web site Misunderstood
Minds shines a spotlight on this subject, following the
stories of five families as, together with experts, they try
to solve the mysteries of their children's learning difficulties.
At the program's Web site pbs.org/misunderstoodminds
parents searching for the scientific explanations behind learning
differences--and strategies to help combat them--can find both.
The site includes sections on Attention,
Reading,
Writing,
and Mathematics.
Interactive activities, called "Experience Firsthand,"
are designed to give site visitors a sense of what it may be
like for a student struggling with a basic skill. Visitors can
attempt to complete memory activities, timed readings and face
the challenge of tracing letters as if they were first learning
them. The Web site is also accessible, designed for use with
screen reader devices that render text into speech for blind
and low-vision Web users.
Granting kids the joy of reading is a gift parents and teachers
can share. Use these on-air and online resources to help your
students on this lifelong journey of learning!
NPS Highlights
There's a lot of great content to promote to teachers and
students as the school year wraps up! The schedule also
reflects our acknowledgement of two important remembrances, Holocaust
Remembrance Day (May 5) and Memorial Day (May 30). Highlights
of programs with extended taping rights (minimum one year) and
their companion Web resources for K-12 are detailed below.
May 2005
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Airs a month of new programs. "Victory in the Pacific"
is a two-hour program that focuses on the bloody battle for Okinawa,
airing nearly 60 years after the intense three-month campaign
was fought. "The Carter Family: An American Original"
traces the story of the original musical trio of Virginians and
the quartet of successors whose more than 300 recordings helped
establish what has become the country music industry. "Bataan
Rescue" explores how, after winning the 1941 battle over
the Philippines' Bataan peninsula, the Japanese imprisoned tens
of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers. Three years later
in the last days of the war, American soldiers staged a daring
mission to rescue the prisoners who had managed to survive the
brutal conditions. All programs use primary sources, images,
interviews, and feature accompanying web sites found at www.pbs.org/amex.
INDEPENDENT
LENS
Offers three programs this month featuring 20th century history
and current events. "Imelda" is the story of Imelda
Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines. The program features
primary source news clips, propaganda films, home movies, vérité
footage and revealing interviews with Marcos herself as well
as with her friends and her enemies. "The Last Letter"-In
1941, A Russian Jewish woman living in a Ukrainian city seized
by the Germans writes her son a final letter. She knows that
all the Jews will be killed within days. In this last letter
she shows her courage, dignity, fear and fierce love of her son
as she reviews her life and faces her death. This moving program
also features two short films "Zyklon Portrait" and
"The Walnut Tree." Finally, "Vietnam: The Next
Generation" introduces viewers to eight young Vietnamese,
some born in the final days of the Vietnam War, others in the
war's tragic aftermath. They are entrepreneurs and street kids,
farmers and students, artists and engineers. Through their stories,
this program takes an in-depth look at modern day Vietnam, where
communism and capitalism are meeting head-to-head. More information
can be found at www.pbs.org/independentlens.
SUGIHARA: CONSPIRACY
OF KINDNESS
This documentary is the compelling and inspirational story of
Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese Consul in Lithuania during Hitler's
rise to power. In the face of the Nazi onslaught, Sugihara saved
more than 2000 lives, using his power as a diplomat to rescue
fleeing Jewish refugees. He risked his career, disgrace and even
his life by disobeying government orders and writing visas for
these desperate refugees. Unprecedented access to Sugihara's
family and their personal films, photos and papers, allows viewers
to re-live the events during World War II as well as Sugihara's
struggles in the years after the war. The film also chronicles
the fascinating relationship between the Japanese and the Jews
during the 1930's and 40's.
PBS KIDS
and PBSKIDSGO
Offer these new programs for May.
BARNEY
The latest season of BARNEY & FRIENDS begins with ten new
episodes scheduled through the summer. More information, games,
activities and a parents and teachers area can be found online
at www.pbskids.org/barney.
MAYA &
MIGUEL
Is this season's new program for 7 to 11 year olds that presents
culture and language learning as fun, relevant and rewarding
for all children. MAYA & MIGUEL will feature four new episodes
this month to accompany their celebration of May, "Maya
MAYnia". Find interactives, activities and a teacher's area
at www.pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel.
NATIONAL
MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT
On the eve of Memorial Day, an annual tradition honors the bravery
and sacrifice of America's servicemen and servicewomen with a
broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Dedicated
to all the Americans who serve, the 90-minute event features
some of Hollywood's most prominent stars and Grammy-award winning
artists, including acclaimed actors Joe Mantegna and Charles
Durning under the direction of maestro Erich Kunzel leading the
National Symphony Orchestra. This year's concert will honor the
60th anniversary of Iwo Jima and pay tribute to our troops serving
in Iraq. The concert features uplifting musical performances,
documentary footage and dramatic readings. Information about
the history of Memorial Day is available at www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert.
June 2005
HISTORY
DETECTIVES
This critically acclaimed series returns for a third season,
premiering in June. Revealing the historical significance of
artifacts, buildings and legends from cities and towns across
America, each hour-long episode follows four gumshoes as they
tackle three intriguing and unanswered mysteries. Utilizing the
best in the fields of forensics, research, architecture and archaeology,
HISTORY DETECTIVES takes old-fashioned sleuthing into the 21st
century. The series also hosts a large interactive Web site for
kids, found at www.pbskids.org/historydetectives,
where students can learn more about each program, play games
and print out additional activities for use in the classroom.
THE NEW
HEROES
This program profiles successful social entrepreneurs and their
businesses and inventions. Students can log on to http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/
to learn more about how these social businesses are built, and
they can submit their own stories about finding creative solutions
to help their communities. The site also offers an assessment
quiz to find out where students' own talents may lie in various
entrepreneurial fields.
DECLINING BY DEGREES: HIGHER EDUCATION AT RISK
This program takes viewers behind the scenes of American higher
education to experience college through the eyes of students,
parents, professors and college administrators. Some 14 million
students attend 4,000 institutions and are, for the most part,
satisfied with the results. But how good an education are they
getting? What about the quality of teaching and learning on campus?
Is it good enough to meet the future head on? Set on four different
college campuses across the country-a private liberal arts college,
two public universities and a community college-this special
examines both the promise and the peril in higher education today.
To find out when the shows will broadcast on your pbs station,
enter your
zip code on this page.
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Explore Reading with Amazon.com
Best Books for Kids Who (Think They) Hate to Read
125 Books That Will Turn Any Child into a Lifelong Reader
by Laura Backes
- Essentials
of Children's Literature
by Carl M. Tomlinson, Carol Lynch-Brown
Reading
Lists for College-Bound Students (3rd Edition)
by Doug Estell
The New York Times Parent's Guide to the Best Books for Children
Eden Ross Lipson
Best Selling
Homeschooling Books
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