When I started to write this weeks blog post I spent a few minutes looking back on the past weeks and thinking about how important each of these Super Reader traits are; Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, and this week Kindness.  These characteristics are what help our students not just achieve academically but become good individuals who care about each other and feel connected to their community.  When I think about what I want for my own kids and the skills I want them to develop these would all be at the top of my list, with this week’s focus of kindness being number one.

Why is kindness an important trait for Super Readers to develop?  Research shows that when students are happy they can learn more, when other students are kind it makes a big impact on the happiness level of the whole classroom.  We can help model kindness in both the books we share with our students and with how we encourage and model how students behave and treat each other.

“Studying point of view in literature can have a far-reaching influence on a child’s ability to respect perspectives that may be different from his or her own”  pg.85

Here are some suggestions from Every Child a Super Reader  to help your child develop their sense of kindness:

• Borrow books from friend, family, or neighbors.  Demonstrate the proper care of other’s property and how to show gratitude.
• Let your child know when someone showed you kindness, and how it made you feel.
• Help your child keep track of acts of kindness that he or she receives.
• Encourage your child to do an act of kindness each day.
• Talk openly and honestly about digital citizenship.  What does it feel like when someone is being kind to you online?  When have you expressed kindness online?
• Find out if your local library or community offers programs to help teach reading skills, if it does see if there are volunteer opportunities.
• Encourage your child to start a digital blog or journal of kindness.

Student Book Recommendation

See You in the Cosmos

Author: Jack Cheng

by Sara Jean P.

See You in the Cosmos

    See You in the Cosmos is about a young boy named Alex Petroski. He has a plan to send his golden IPod into space like his hero Dr. Carl Sagan. Him and his dog who he named after his hero. Went to SHARF with a rocket he made. Along the way he meets some friends and doesn’t think he can make it all the to SHARF. But the big question is will the rocket he made make it to space. The real adventure though comes after SHARF. What will happen I don’t know. Read See You in the Cosmos to find out.
About the Author

Jack Cheng was born in Shanghai China. But he grew up right here in Michigan. After spending nearly a decade in New York,, working in advertising and tech,he now lives in Detroit he now lives in Detroit so much easier see you in the cosmos is his first novel for young readers.

This week’s chapter in Every Child A Super Reader focused on the strength of friendship.  Friendship is often something we identify as a necessary characteristic to support well being for kids but is over looked when we are discussing academic achievement.  Students who are able to understand the dynamics of relationships within the text and identify friendships are able to understand many more aspects of the storyline and make predictions and inferences with higher accuracy.  If a child is often misunderstanding relationships of characters with a book they may also be doing this with relationships in real life.  Helping students create strong friendships is important to their well being and happiness.

Reading can be a venue to help foster friendships and make connections for students.  Students can connect based on shared reading interests or even by identifying common themes they find in books and texts.  As you are helping develop your child’s curiosity, last week’s strength, you can help connect them with other individuals to dig into the book or the ideas that come from the book.  Maybe your child is reading a book about soccer and is curious about the rules and you know a cousin or neighbor that loves soccer that is an easy connection.  Finding those opportunities and helping your child know how to start with questions and conversation starters are great ways to help them develop relationship skills and strong friendships.

Student Book Recommendation

Colt C.

Circus Mirandus Cassie Beasly Book Report By Colt J C.

????????Why you should read this book???????? If you like a little bit of mystery, a lot of fantasy, and some adventure…This book is for you. The adventure awaits.

All about me

Here are some things about me. I am almost ten. I live in Jenison, Michigan I have two a younger sibling and an older sibling. I love to read. I love animals. I like reading under my bed that is almost as tall as me. I like nature books, fantasy books, and informational books. Thank you for reading have a nice day.

The second strength from Every Child A Super Reader  is curiosity.  When you are reading with your child how often do you take time to think about the topic in the book?  How often does your student ask questions that requires them to look outside the book for answers?  Most books give readers a snapshot of an event, culture, time era, and/or location.  Does your child ever want to go deeper into these things?  How can you help encourage them to feed their own curiosity?  One of the simplest ways is just giving them time to think about their book and ask questions.  Then encourage them to find the answers; they could search on the internet, they could go to the library and find more books about the topic, they could ask someone older, research can be done in a variety of ways.  When a child is truly interested they don’t care about a timer being set they will get lost in their topic and be excited for each new piece of information.  Here is a great hand out from the book with ideas on how to support your child’s curiosity at home.

familyguide_Curiosity

Student Book Recommendation

Riley J

Harry Potter Series

Riley has created a video recommending the Harry Potter series if you or your child have not had a chance to read one of these fantasy books we encourage you to try one this summer.

Super Reader Strength BELONGING

One of the many powerful attributes students gain from reading is empathy.  When students read they are putting themselves in the mind of someone else.  They are transported to new worlds and time periods.  A student can think about how hard it would be to live with a disability but when they read the book Wonder they can live in the skin of someone with a facial deformity and understand in a way that wasn’t possible before.  Books can also help student see themselves in the characters, many students feel like they are the only one in the world dealing with certain issues, when they find a character going through the same situation they feel like they are not alone.  This is why belonging is one of the strengths of Super Readers.

Finding stories of belonging and identifying this theme when discussing books and reading with your student will help them to realize how amazing it can be to feel connected to book characters.  It will also help them see the difference between books and movies; in video its rare to hear what someone is thinking or how they are viewing a situation in books you are in the mind of the character.

When you are creating a reading world for your child at home, helping them see reading belongs in your home is important.  Here are some great suggestions from the book on how to create a reading community at home.

Week One: Belonging
Invite children and families to create a sense of belonging as readers at home. Make a cozy nook for reading. Collect favorite books from the library or on a digital device and designate an area at home for this reading life. Create a “reading on the go” kit so that when there is a sibling’s soccer game or a long subway trip, that bag of books or tablet can come along for the ride. Encourage families to make a refrigerator chart called “We Are All Super Readers,” and feature each family member’s photo. Make the home a place of belonging and safety for the reading experience.

Student Book Recommendations

Student:  Hunter N.

Hunter enjoys reading non-fiction and learning about topics he is interested in.  Hunter is recommending a book called Lizards, from National Geographics.  Hunter really likes the great photos and the interesting facts.

Hunter book recommendation video

Happy first official week of summer 2017.  Every Tuesday on the blog this summer I’m going to work to share important information about our building and school community, and also share information to support student summer learning.

Every Child a Super Reader by Pam Allyn and Ernest Morrell is a core resource I’m going to use to help share our philosophy on reading.  This book is for educators, parents, librarians, anyone who is invested in helping support children in their community.  We know reading achievement is linked with success in so many other areas, its almost like once a child develops a strong reading foundation they have a key that can take them anywhere.  By providing your child with text to read and the opportunity/expectation daily to read you are doing the most important thing you could do to help your child be successful in school.  It seems crazy but research study after research study has shown it is independent reading and access to books that correlates with huge gains in student achievement.  As a parent myself I know how busy days can be and how many other things parents have to do, and how hard it can  be to encourage a child to read who has not found a love for reading yet, but don’t give up!  And if there is anything I or any Pinewood staff member can do to help and support you please let us know.  We want every Pinewood student to feel like they are a Super Reader.

What is a Super Reader?  From Pam Allyn and Ernest Morrell

Here is a helpful family guide on the Top Ten Ways to Nurture a Super Reader

Student Book Recommendation from Ava M.

#PinewoodPride Summer Learning

Family Guide

What Can You Do to Support Your Child?

• Set expectations and routines for summer learning for at least 15 minutes every day!  

• Ensure your student has access to books; either books you purchase, from the Pinewood library or Georgetown township library, or digital resources.

• Read the Pinewoodblog this summer and stay connected to our Pinewood community.

Help Your Student Track Their Reading

Inside of #JPSreads summer reading sheet

Outside of #JPSreads summer reading sheet

My name is Miles Smit,and I’m interviewIng Josiah Hoekstra.His favorite food is lasagna.His favorite color is hot pink.His favorite treat is angel food cake his favorite thing to do is woodwork.His favorite car is called a Jaguar.His favorite football team is the Chicago Bears.His favorite sport to do is pogo sticking. His favorite candy is
licorice.His favorite animal is an eel.His favorite game is Monopoly. These are some great things about Josiah.