stem literacy updates
Anderson & Erickson2018-2019 NewslettersDear Parents,
There is no more important homework than reading. Research shows that the highest achieving students are those who devote leisure time to reading, even when the school day and year are only mid-length and homework isn’t excessive. Recently, the largest-ever study of reading found that the single most important predictor of academic success is the amount of time children spend reading books, more important even than economic or social status. And one of the few predictors of high achievement in math and science is the amount of time children devote to pleasure reading. Students read in order to become smarter about the world and how it works. They read to broaden their vocabularies and to become better readers - faster and more fluent, purposeful, engaged, critical, and satisfied. They read to stretch their imaginations, to escape to other lives, times, and places. And they read to become good people - knowledgeable about and compassionate toward the range of human experience. There is no substitute for regular, sustained time with books. Please sit down with your child and talk about the best time and place for reading to happen at your home. Is after school and before dinner a good point to catch his or her breath, curl up with a book, and escape into a great story? Or will your child join the book lovers who like to read ourselves to sleep at night? And whenever the reading happens, is the environment quiet? Is the technology off? And is there a good light? We’ve learned that the choices of books available to kids today are so wonderful that reading makes for joyful homework. We’ve also seen that children whose parents and teachers expect and encourage them to read are likely to grow up as happy, skilled readers. Book Recommendations: Realistic Fiction: Recommendations by students for students More Realistic Fiction Narrative Nonfiction 2018 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers 6 High Interest Books for Reluctant Readers 
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