Friday Fun

It's Friday and Friday's are for fun.

Many pre-school and kindergarten classes have a "share day" or "share time" where children can bring an item from home and tell the class why it is special to them. The other children are encouraged to ask questions about the item. The activity builds oral language and listening skills, but it's also a lot of fun for young children to show others the things they care about.

You can try "Friday Share Day" at home by asking your child to pick something special to tell you about. Have each family member ask a question, or two, about the item and why your child picked it. Be ready for lots of smiles, kids say the funniest things.

Verizon Foundation Grant Window Closes October 31

Complete grant guidelines are available at the Verizon Foundation web site.From the site-

The Verizon Foundation is in the business of improving lives in literacy, knowledge and a readiness for the 21st Century.

Specifically, we help people to:

• Increase their literacy and educational achievement
• Avoid being an abuser or a victim of domestic violence
• Achieve and sustain their health and safety

Eligible organizations seeking grants from the Verizon Foundation must be prepared to track and report program outcomes as well as specific results that demonstrate measurable human impact. In the grant application, organizations must indicate what outcomes are targeted through programming and what results, as specified on the grant application, the organization will measure.

Project Read Monthly Meeting

After the usual July break the Project Read committee is back in action. Please join the fun on Thursday, July 27 at 8:00 AM. We'll be meeting in Room 117 at the ISD 318 Administration Building in Grand Rapids. New partners are always welcome!

Back To School Tip #1

It may seem like we've barely had summer at all this year, but it's time to be thinking about the start of the school year. Over the next few weeks the Project Read blog will be dedicated to tips for a successful school year. If you have something that's worked particularly well for your family, please share it in the comment section.

Children need time to adjust to the school routine.
Plan to re-establish the bedtime and mealtime routines, especially breakfast, at least 1 week before school starts (young children might need two weeks) . Prepare your child for this change by talking with him about the benefits of school routines in terms of not becoming over tired or overwhelmed by school work and activities. Include pre-bedtime reading and household chores if these were suspended during the summer.

Friday Fun

Its Friday, and Friday's are for fun. Do some fun science experiments at home with your child, like making a glass of layered liquids. This University of Wisconsin web site has more than two dozen investigations using common household items.

Reading Rockets

Add PBS's Reading Rockets web site to your favorites list, we did. Reading Rockets has information on "Launching Young Readers" for parents, teachers, principals, other professionals or anyone interested in helping young people become strong readers.

Minnesota Department of Education Releases "AYP" Results

Updated with correction! This post previously said Robert J. Elkington Middle School failed to make AYP. The school DID make AYP. I regret the error. Toni Wilcox, Editor

The standardized tests our children take in public school are one of the measures used to determine if schools are making "AYP" or Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements. Attendance and graduation rates are also used, but the MCAII results form the lion's share of how schools are rated.

You can find AYP data at the Minnesota Department of Education web site here. In Itasca County the Greenway, Nashwauk-Keewatin, and Deer River school districts all met the AYP standards while Grand Rapids fell short. In Grand Rapids, Cohasset and Forest Lake Elementary Schools, Big Fork Secondary and Grand Rapids High all failed to make AYP

Friday Fun

It's Friday and Friday's are for fun. Being able to tell a story with a beginning, middle and end is an important pre-reading skill. If children can put events in a sequence from what happens first to what happens last they have an easier time understanding what they read-particularly in text books and other non-fiction materials.

The Minnesota Zoo web site has a great game called From Cow to You. Put the pictures in the correct order from cow to milk mustache. No reading required, but your child will be building reading skills!

"Agricultural Literacy"

Find free and low cost resources at the Minnesota Agri-Women web site.