Most days I’m not too embarrassed to admit what I don’t know. I like learning, even if I’m learning something that “everyone” knows already. But when it comes to reading and teaching I’d like to think I have some expertise (I’m well into my 10,000 hours). That’s why I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t know about “National DEAR Day” (there, I said it). If you don’t spend your days surrounded by small children you might not know that DEAR stands for Drop Everything and Read. This concept became very popular in schools in the 1970-80s as a way to motivate kids to read and enjoy books that they selected on their own. It morphed into ‘sustained silent reading’ for a while and has come in and out of fashion over the years. Now teachers work on balancing a variety of instruction and materials to help kids with their reading (word study, guided reading, reading conferences, shared reading) but sometimes we forget that reading is FUN - or at least it should be...
“National DEAR Day” was created after Beverly Cleary wrote about Ramona’s 2nd grade experience with DEAR in the book “Ramona, Age 8”. Cleary received truckloads of letters from children across the country who were excited to make a reading connection with Ramona. Soon every literary organization under the sun (The National Education Association (NEA); Parent Teacher Association (PTA); the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), Reading Rockets, and more) jumped on Ramona’s bandwagon and came up with the idea of creating a national celebration. I would guess that Harper Collins is hoping to sell some books as well. The great thing is that “National DEAR Day” is celebrated on Beverly Cleary’s birthday, April 12th...and this year Cleary will celebrate her 95th birthday! In honor of this year’s event, Cleary will be judging the 4th annual “Doodle 4 Google” contest - k-12 students submit their google doodle on the theme: “what i’d like to do someday”. The winning design will be on google on May 20th (and the winning artist will take home a $15,000 college scholarship).
So not only did I learn a few things today, I also have two great projects to celebrate with my kids at school...I’m thinking maybe a DEAR pajama day? or bring your pillow and teddy to the library for a reading party? How about cards and cupcakes for a Beverly Cleary birthday party? Who says reading isn’t fun?
“National DEAR Day” was created after Beverly Cleary wrote about Ramona’s 2nd grade experience with DEAR in the book “Ramona, Age 8”. Cleary received truckloads of letters from children across the country who were excited to make a reading connection with Ramona. Soon every literary organization under the sun (The National Education Association (NEA); Parent Teacher Association (PTA); the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), Reading Rockets, and more) jumped on Ramona’s bandwagon and came up with the idea of creating a national celebration. I would guess that Harper Collins is hoping to sell some books as well. The great thing is that “National DEAR Day” is celebrated on Beverly Cleary’s birthday, April 12th...and this year Cleary will celebrate her 95th birthday! In honor of this year’s event, Cleary will be judging the 4th annual “Doodle 4 Google” contest - k-12 students submit their google doodle on the theme: “what i’d like to do someday”. The winning design will be on google on May 20th (and the winning artist will take home a $15,000 college scholarship).
So not only did I learn a few things today, I also have two great projects to celebrate with my kids at school...I’m thinking maybe a DEAR pajama day? or bring your pillow and teddy to the library for a reading party? How about cards and cupcakes for a Beverly Cleary birthday party? Who says reading isn’t fun?
No comments:
Post a Comment