Vampire

This is about two people who fall in love. They are very young.  William is a vampire.  Young girls are so gaga about this book series.  Now it has been made into a movie.  
    James Dobson's program, "Focus on the Family," did a special on this a few months ago.  The people on his program said that young girls are looking for a William to be their boyfriend.  They will not find him, according to them.  He is portrayed to be such a hero.  What kind of a role model is a vampire?  Traditionally vampires have fangs and suck blood from their enemies and friends(?)  Earlier a few months ago, there were as many "Twilight" books sold as people in the United States.  
    Stores like Macy's are selling all kind of paraphernalia like t-shirts, mugs,caps  and other items that teenagers love and so are cashing in on this fad and rage of the young teenage and preteen girls. 
    As a Christian I cannot condone this book and now movie. The movie has already taken in 130  million dollars world wide and it just came out.  The Bible clearly states that we should stay clear of witchcraft or divination.  I believe this is a form of witchcraft.  What we put our minds on does and will affect us.  It affects our spirituality and our psyche haunting us in our dreams and keeping us from the peace that Jesus came to bring us.  This is stated in the Old Testament Deuteronomy 18:10-12a where it says, " There shall not be found among you....one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.  For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord."    Again in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul when he told us what to stay away from in Gal 5:20, where it says, "The works of the flesh... are idolatry, sorcery etc."  We are to stay away from them so we can have peace and joy.  
    I would like to see young people with great, healthy role models who have good values and good morals.  This is the way to peace and joy that Jesus told us about.  I believe there are good role models out there.  There are some wonderful singing groups like "Mercy Me" and "The Jonas Brothers."  I am glad to see these groups making a difference in young people's lives.

   Jonas Brothers                                                                                      Mercy Me                           

 





    Using Puppets to Make Reading more fun.   I think kids love puppets.  Puppets can really make a story come alive or help the children write a story.  They love visuals and puppets are a great visual.  I have used sock puppets  and paperbag puppets.  You could actually make real puppets as an art project and then use them in a play or story.  Kids like it when you make it a "big deal" like using a real microphone.  Invite a class and/or parents to come and see it and the kids will be excited.  Someone could be taking pictures for you with a camcorder or even a regular camera.  I am sure a parent or teacher would be happy to do that for you.

    Children love puppet shows and are sure to enjoy making their own.  This could really cause them to be excited about reading and  make them want to read better and know the words.  

    One year my students wrote stories and we chose one of the children's stories to put on for the school.  They loved it.  Some of them even brought stuffed animals as I don't think we had enough puppets.  It is great to see their creativity in Reading and to see them excited.

    Puppets have been around a long time.  Remember Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music"?  She used puppets with those children and they made their own sets and costumes and everything.  They really enjoyed it. It can really inspire children.  

    Familiar fairytales  could be used.  Or children could do a takeoff of a fairytale and make it with a modern twist.  I remember a Reading Conference I went to where a teacher did that.  The kids he worked with were very poor in Reading and English.  He even used his guitar and played some music for them.  I am sure his kids were much more encouraged and ready to read and work on their reading.  

    Some cultures or people may not think Reading is important.  I think then you have to show them it is and that it will help their children in many other areas and ways.  It will help them in Science and in following directions as a mechanic for a car.  When parents see it is beneficial, then they are more prone to want to help and encourage their child to read.                                                            

        
Fluency
    Fluency is another aspect of Reading that is important.  It is not just reading words or reading them fast.  It is reading the wrods with understanding, acting like you know what it says.  Some children read words perfectly but have no idea what they read at all.  In fluency I think children will read in phrases and pause correctly at punctuation like commas and periods.  
    
    This is another place where teachers and parents can model it for the children.  It is also where parents can read to children helping them to see how it sounds and how it flows together.
    Also in fluency I have heard children pause between words where there does not need to be a pause.  Reading word by word laboriously is often so boring but sometimes hard to get across to children.  This is also where we are training our eye to go ahead to see what word is ahead that may connect with the word where we are. 
   
    

        
Fluency
    Fluency is another aspect of Reading that is important.  It is not just reading words or reading them fast.  It is reading the words with understanding, acting like you know what it says.  Some children read words perfectly but have no idea what they read at all.  In fluency I think children will read in phrases and pause correctly at punctuation like commas and periods.  
    
    This is another place where teachers and parents can model fluency  for the children.  It is also where parents can read to children helping them to see how it sounds and how it flows together.
    Also in fluency I have heard children pause between words where there does not need to be a pause.  Reading word by word laboriously is often so boring but sometimes hard to get across to children.  This is also where we are training our eye to go ahead to see what word is ahead that may connect with the word where we are.  If we say :The      duck      went      to     the     pond"pausing in between every word, it doesn't sound like the person knows what it says.  If we say, "The duck    went to the pond," our phrases sound like we know what it says and it flows together.  Then we are reading fluently and with understanding.  Help your child or student to read with better fluency.  Then you and the child and teacher will know that he or she understands what he/she read.  Parents can really help model this for children by reading to them and with them.  When a parent takes the time to read to and with their child, they are letting the child know that Reading is important.  Then the child or student will also see that Reading is important.
   
    

    A couple of more books you might be interested in are Mrs. Spitzer's Garden and 1st Day Jitters.  These are short books to read to children.  Then they can discuss, find words that start with certain letters or sounds of words like the "f" sound etc.  They could also write about these by making their own Garden story or a day when they had jitters.  There are many possibilities.

    I have also used a book called The Legend of the Teddy Bear.  It is about the Teddy Bear.  Children of all ages can enjoy it.  Most of them can remember their Teddy Bear or perhaps they have one now.  I know some schools have teddy bear parties or picnics in the Spring.  This would fit right in.  One could describe the teddy bear.  All the words that describe it like fuzzy, brown, soft.  This also has a great many possibilities.  Perhaps children can discuss their Teddy Bear or write about it.  This would be a good way to develop language.  Crafts could even be used to make a Teddy Bear out of something.






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    Recently I attended a class about Literacy and Reading.  This lady who is highly recognized said that Vocabulary was one of the biggest parts of a child's success in reading.  Understanding the meaning of the words is a big part.  It is also an indicator of the level of where a child is reading.  

    Another big part is comprehension.  Some children think if they can pronounce the words, they are reading.  They need to extract meaning from the words they are reading.  That is to understand what the story or passage means.  This tells me that they know what words of the text are the most important.  I have seen children struggle to pronounce words that really weren't  that important to the meaning of the text.  That is really sad because they are wasting their time in reading and not getting what is important enough to understand what they are reading.

    This lady added that it is really important for parents to read to their children.  I mentioned that on my website, www.HowtoImproveRerading.com   She said that children who are read to usually have a better vocabulary and are understanding at a higher level.  This is very significant to the success of a child in his reading.  She does a lot of read alouds, many of which are short but to the point and very helpful.  Then she uses them for vocabulary like finding certain words or questions about the text.  It is also helpful later in writing which goes right along with reading.  I have found that children who read can usually write fairly well.  There is a great connection there.

         ```Teaching Reading Strategies         

      Teaching Reading Strategies has been a challenge for teachers and parents for decades.  A strategy is a technique.  It is important to use a variety of strategies or techniques for a variety of ways children learn to read.  Much research has been done of this down through the years.  Noone still has the entire answer but more ideas have been used and brought out and things seem to be improving.  

    In the days of our grandparents and before, there was not so much entertainment.  Today children have sports events and lessons of various kinds.  There are many things that eat away at their time and the time of families.  The days when families sat around and read is not really that way any more.  However, one could take one day a week and read an excerpt or part of a book to the family.  Then have a discussion about it.  A dad could read to the kids and then later see a video of it.  A comparison could be made between the video and the book.  Typically, books give more depth and can give more aspects of the characters and background.  Children might be surprised what they were missing.  It can be an adventure.  Everyone likes adventures.  It can be an adventure in Reading for the whole family.

   There is so much to be said about good literature.  Who can forget Beverly Cleary and her works: Ralph and the Motorcyle and  Ramona and Beezus.  What imagination!  Ralph was a mouse.  How about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.  This is the dream of most boys to take off on a raft down the river.  The adventures he had.  Charlotte's Web was another one.  A spider talking to animals and people.  What a lesson Charlotte taught us.  The Wizard of Oz   has been a favorite for many years.  Dorothy walked to the city of Oz with her three friends and her dog, Toto.  
      
      I just read about Web books and Madlibs.  I have used Madlibs in the classroom and they're fun.  The children have to choose words to go in the blanks to fill in the story.  It generally turns out to be really cute and funny.  I noticed in the articleI  The Diary of a      Wimpy Kid  looks like a great book., one that kids can relate to.

       
 

Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.  Yes, Welcome to my blog.  I hope it will inform you of the things going on in Reading that will help your students and your children.  It may even help you.

    Reading is a big subject and involves a log of different parts to help your child or student become a better, more efficient and successful reader.  I will be bringing these to your attention and I hope it will benefit you and your student or child.  Reading is very important and that is why I take so much time and effort to find things that will interest you about it.  We all want your students and children to be successful and Reading is a big part that will make that happen.  I have informed you of several things on my website, How to Improve Reading,com and also in the entried in this blog.