Celebrate Poetry All Month Long with Read, Discuss, Do

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  Happy National Poetry Month! We are celebrating National Poetry Month with a weekly poetry challenge all month long. To follow along, subscribe to our newsletter or check back here every Monday and Friday throughout the month of April for updates.  Kickoff: Books and resources for National Poetry Month   Week one: Read and write haiku  Article: A Brief History of Poetry by Marci Whitehurst Week two: Read and write odes Article: Eight Creative Ways to Explore Poetry All Year Long by Rebecca J. Gomez Week three: Read and write riddle poems   Week four: Poet's choice! If you and/or your children/students participate in any of our challenges this month, we'd love to hear from you.  You can  email  us or  tag us  on Instagram (use the hashtag #RDDPoetryChallenge or #RDDPoetryMonth). We will be sharing some readers’ poems in a round-up post at the end of the month, so if you’d like your poems to be considered, please let us know when you s...
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Ten Story Time Tips for a Year of Happy Reading

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by Rebecca J. Gomez

Happy New Year!

I hope that story time is going to be a part of your family's routine this year. Reading together is a wonderful way to have fun, learn something new, build relationships, and so much more! To help you kick start your reading this year, here are TEN story time tips for you.

1. Reading together doesn't have to be a "sit still" activity. Keep little ones engaged by giving them something to do with their hands while you read. Some options: coloring, playing with blocks, playing with play dough.

2. Let your children have a say in which books you read together, even if it means repeating a few favorites more often than you would like. 

3. If your toddler loses interest, it's okay to finish story time before the story is over. Keep story time a positive thing!

4. Demonstrate the proper way to handle a book while reading, even to babies! 

5. Ask kiddos to make predictions at key moments in the story. 

6. All children benefit from a read-aloud, from still-in-the-womb to teenager! With that in mind, encourage independent readers to participate by listening, discussing, and even reading aloud themselves.

7. Read and compare two or more books with a similar theme or topic. 

8. With wordless picture books, let little ones take the lead by telling the story in their own words.

9. Make story time extra fun by combining it with a snack or other fun activity inspired by the book (search our posts for lots of ideas).

10. Keep young readers engaged by pointing out details in the book's illustrations, and be sure to pause when they notice those details themselves. 

Do you have any story time tips to share? We'd love to hear them!

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