Showing posts with label Literacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literacy. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
READING, LEADING AND CELEBRATING MARCH
As many of you know this is Reading month. Sure we celebrate literacy daily here on this blog but March is special. We take time out to connect to books that motivate us, as an author I visit schools and read my own works, we recall the passages that first reminded us that we are inspired any the words of others on pages. What are you doing to make this month memorable? How can you get your family excited about adding to their own reading lists? What special ways can you connect books to your life? Let me know!
-Read something great!
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Joseph AddisonI don't know about you but when I have something great to read...I feel smarter, happier, more confident and fulfilled. It can be hard being a writer myself and running a business to take the time to make reading for pleasure a priority. As a mom of a toddler I am very adept at making sure my little guy sees and understands the value of books. We have even began telling each other stories off the top of our heads. His stories usually consist of: Once a time Mommy and Daddy and ice cream the end. I know I know...but he is two! We are working on it. I am fascinated when he grabs a book and appears to read it. Keep in mind he has memorized most of his favorites. So if you are looking for an in-depth conversation on "How to give a mouse a cookie" or "Goodnight Moon" he is your orator. This week I got to meet up with some great readers and writers at an event focused on literacy. Bookstock Michigan will take place on May 15th-May 22nd at Laurel Park Place Mall in Livonia. Opening day will be a great day to bring the whole family. For a $20 donation you can even get first pick of all of the stock! This special admission allows you to get in as early as 8:15 a.m. and the pre-sale runs through 11:00 a.m. I am more than thrilled to take my kid and hubistrator because we will have first choice of over 100,000 books, dvds, cd's, etc. So if the quote above is true my mind is getting prepped for a great workout! I hope that you can join me! Here is the website for those who want to research more intently: bookstockmi.org Read something great!
Monday, March 4, 2013
March Is Reading Month!
If you read this blog often-you know my mantra is read something great. This month you don't have a choice. It is reading month. Please get involved by taking your literacy to the next level. Make a goal to skip a tv show and watch a book in that same time slot or volunteer at a local library and read to kids. Let's get excited about books! This month if you buy any of my books from my website-you are eligible for a special surprise with each purchase. Let's make this month magnificent!
-Read something great
Monday, May 23, 2011
Guest blog from our newest team member : Haley Jackson
Literacy is a word full of strength and importance
When I think of literacy, I think about the nights I spent under the covers with my flashlight reading Little House on the Prairie or The Big Friendly Giant, or sitting on the couch learning to read with my Dad, or the countless hours I've spent lost in a great book. I think about how great I felt when I read my very first book. I remember the frustration of learning to read the hard words; especially the word penguin. I think about how excited I was when I woke up earlier than my Dad and could just sit in my room and read on my own.
More recently I think about the excitement of the children I have helped learn how to read. The pride in their faces when they figure out the tough word they had been struggling with, or when they get through a whole book on their own. I think about how great I feel when I am able to pass on the excitement and the honor of literacy.
Literacy is about so much more than strength and importance. Literacy is about tradition, pride, and honor. It is about the excitement of learning and the love of sharing.
When I think of literacy, I think about the nights I spent under the covers with my flashlight reading Little House on the Prairie or The Big Friendly Giant, or sitting on the couch learning to read with my Dad, or the countless hours I've spent lost in a great book. I think about how great I felt when I read my very first book. I remember the frustration of learning to read the hard words; especially the word penguin. I think about how excited I was when I woke up earlier than my Dad and could just sit in my room and read on my own.
More recently I think about the excitement of the children I have helped learn how to read. The pride in their faces when they figure out the tough word they had been struggling with, or when they get through a whole book on their own. I think about how great I feel when I am able to pass on the excitement and the honor of literacy.
Literacy is about so much more than strength and importance. Literacy is about tradition, pride, and honor. It is about the excitement of learning and the love of sharing.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
My own Black History...
Readers,
February is the month that we celebrate the trials and victories of African-Americans in our society. I love this month! I enjoy seeing posters and acknowledgments of those who came before me and allowed me to be who I am today. I have talked a lot about Dr. King in this blog so now I will talk about another Black American that inspired me.
Langston Hughes may not have his own holiday but to me he was an inspiration and an icon. Langston was a poet during the Harlem Renaissance. He used his words to commemorate an interesting time in the history of America. This was before civil rights. This means that he could not sit in the front seat of a bus. He could not sit at a lunch counter either. But he could stand for something great. He expressed his dreams, apprehensions and thoughts about the African-American experience according to him. He used the pen (which is far mightier than the sword) to fight back and speak up. He was one of our great writers. I did not learn about his work until I reached high school. He was not mentioned much in my history books. I love that I can give him acknowledgment here in this forum that might not have existed if he did not inspire me to use my words to make a difference.
Who can you use today to inspire? Is there someone who looks up to you? I often wonder if Langston and others like him knew the impact that they would have on future generations. Let's continue to make history.
-Read something great
February is the month that we celebrate the trials and victories of African-Americans in our society. I love this month! I enjoy seeing posters and acknowledgments of those who came before me and allowed me to be who I am today. I have talked a lot about Dr. King in this blog so now I will talk about another Black American that inspired me.
Langston Hughes may not have his own holiday but to me he was an inspiration and an icon. Langston was a poet during the Harlem Renaissance. He used his words to commemorate an interesting time in the history of America. This was before civil rights. This means that he could not sit in the front seat of a bus. He could not sit at a lunch counter either. But he could stand for something great. He expressed his dreams, apprehensions and thoughts about the African-American experience according to him. He used the pen (which is far mightier than the sword) to fight back and speak up. He was one of our great writers. I did not learn about his work until I reached high school. He was not mentioned much in my history books. I love that I can give him acknowledgment here in this forum that might not have existed if he did not inspire me to use my words to make a difference.
Who can you use today to inspire? Is there someone who looks up to you? I often wonder if Langston and others like him knew the impact that they would have on future generations. Let's continue to make history.
-Read something great
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A guest blog from Torrie Bush...Read something great!
Full Circle
It’s easy to get inspired when you’re taught by the greats. No, I’m not talking about Milton, Shakespeare, or Keats. I’m talking about local heavyweights, Jackson, Hayes, and Waits. Yes, as a student at Southfield-Lathrup High School from 1996-2000, I was taught by literary heavyweights…scholars ahead of their time and their colleagues; scholars who inspired me to teach. So when I got my first teaching job at my old alma mater, you can only imagine the rush of emotions I felt when I found myself among the ranks of those I looked up to. I was told to call them my their first names (I can’t do that, I thought) and I did. Two out three were still there when I returned, and today only one remains.
The “heavyweights” quickly became my mentors and friends. We taught together, shared ideas & frustrations, and honed in on our craft. But what surprised me the most was when they came to me for ideas or help. Me? No really, me? I suppose I had taken for granted the fact that I was a college student during the age of blogs, wikis, and podcasts. To me these were just various forms of technology to get students interested and involved in the lesson, but to my veteran colleagues, these were foreign words. I had something meaningful & awesome to share with the people who had already given me so much. At that moment I felt like we had all come full circle. I was the teacher, and for a few moments during the school year, they were my pupils. They learned from me and I from them.
It’s easy to get inspired when you’re taught by the greats. No, I’m not talking about Milton, Shakespeare, or Keats. I’m talking about local heavyweights, Jackson, Hayes, and Waits. Yes, as a student at Southfield-Lathrup High School from 1996-2000, I was taught by literary heavyweights…scholars ahead of their time and their colleagues; scholars who inspired me to teach. So when I got my first teaching job at my old alma mater, you can only imagine the rush of emotions I felt when I found myself among the ranks of those I looked up to. I was told to call them my their first names (I can’t do that, I thought) and I did. Two out three were still there when I returned, and today only one remains.
The “heavyweights” quickly became my mentors and friends. We taught together, shared ideas & frustrations, and honed in on our craft. But what surprised me the most was when they came to me for ideas or help. Me? No really, me? I suppose I had taken for granted the fact that I was a college student during the age of blogs, wikis, and podcasts. To me these were just various forms of technology to get students interested and involved in the lesson, but to my veteran colleagues, these were foreign words. I had something meaningful & awesome to share with the people who had already given me so much. At that moment I felt like we had all come full circle. I was the teacher, and for a few moments during the school year, they were my pupils. They learned from me and I from them.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Show and Tell!
This weekend the creative community in Michigan will embark on a fun event that brings together two important subjects... Art & Literacy. We will have many talented artists in the form of photographers, jewelry makers, clothing designers, and other creators display their work, talk about it and share it with you for purchase.
Our goal is to ignite the spirit of creativity that helps Michigan to grow and florish. Each of these artists were kind enough to donate funds to help us out with our goal is supplying local non-profits books for the Holiday spirit. Are you a creative spirit? Do you enjoy learning about the work that is put into a beautiful painting? Join us! You can also donate to our effort to support Lighthouse Path, Detroit Reality Check and Detroit Parent Network. The Be A Part of Their Story Literacy Project was my idea to give back to our youth and help them to embrace the joy of reading. My hubistrator and Creative Director, Jason inspires the young people with his illustrations and talks about the way that their doodles can become more than just a past time.
If you can join us we will be at 118 S. Main (Workantile) top floor from 2-6 on Sunday November 21st. If you would like to donate but you can't make it take a close look at this page and donate a book or two to a deserving child. Lighthouse was helpful to me and my family when I was a kid and allowed me to enhance my education and everyday life so that I could be who I am today.
You might just be helping the next children's book author fall in love with reading.
-Read something great
Monday, April 5, 2010
Happy April...more than just showers!
Readers, if you are ever wondering how you can be more involved in your community-try researching the themes that coincide with the month. April brings many special topics to celebrate. I thought that today's blog would concentrate on sharing some of these with you. Many people are on spring break and this is a great time to build up your own self-esteem or someone else's in a creative way.
Take a look....
April Is Autism Awareness Month (find out more about charity walks, research, etc.)
April Is International Guitar Month (plan a concert in honor of this theme)
April Is Keep America Beautiful Month (volunteer to clean a park or neighborhood)
April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month (donate goods to a shelter or youth organization)
April Is National Frog Month(read books based on frogs, have a event w/this theme)
April Is National Garden Month (plant a herb garden, help someone with their yard)
April Is National Humor Month(tell a joke a day)
National Volunteer Month (help someone in need-many opportunities are out there!)
April Is National Mathematics Education Month(tutor a child in math)
April Is National Poetry Month(send a poem to my blog-via comments!)
April Is Stress Awareness Month(Be aware of the stress in your life and take time to relax!)
-Read something great!
Take a look....
April Is Autism Awareness Month (find out more about charity walks, research, etc.)
April Is International Guitar Month (plan a concert in honor of this theme)
April Is Keep America Beautiful Month (volunteer to clean a park or neighborhood)
April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month (donate goods to a shelter or youth organization)
April Is National Frog Month(read books based on frogs, have a event w/this theme)
April Is National Garden Month (plant a herb garden, help someone with their yard)
April Is National Humor Month(tell a joke a day)
National Volunteer Month (help someone in need-many opportunities are out there!)
April Is National Mathematics Education Month(tutor a child in math)
April Is National Poetry Month(send a poem to my blog-via comments!)
April Is Stress Awareness Month(Be aware of the stress in your life and take time to relax!)
-Read something great!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Young guest blogger....with a purpose!
I had the pleasure of networking with an inspiring young lady and thought that my readers could profit from her story and her dedication to literacy. Riley will share why it was important to her at the age of sixteen to have a book of her own and to make a difference for others with her literacy efforts. Riley is our guest blogger today and her words are unbolded below...Enjoy & Read something great!
-Tara
It was important to me to try to get published for a number of reasons:
First, I think I wrote a great fantasy adventure story, which I loved writing and which I loved reading enough to edit it repeatedly, and I’d really like to share that story with other kids.
Second, I am very involved in children’s literacy and I think a lot of kids stop reading between the ages of eight and fifteen, especially boys, and I think the fantasy genre keeps those readers interested and engaged in reading. It was important to me to publish because I hope that a boy or girl somewhere enjoys my stories enough to keep on reading.
Third, some of the proceeds from my books sales go to my nonprofit for literacy, Breaking the Chain.
Fourth, because I’ve written and published books, I am able to go to schools to speak. I am speaking at schools around the country to students in grades 3-8, and I talk to them about writing books and about literacy and Breaking the Chain. I hope to make them aware of how important their education is, what their lives would be like without an education, and to encourage them to take ownership over their own education.
I am passionate about promoting global literacy because I believe that the way to help people, especially children, break the cycle of poverty and exploitation is through literacy.
I created my nonprofit for literacy, Breaking the Chain, when I was fourteen, after learning that there are 120 million children around the world don’t have the opportunity get an education and that there are 800 million adults that cannot read or write, two-thirds of whom are women. These women and children are very vulnerable to exploitation. They are unable to get jobs and they cannot feed or clothe themselves. Only through education do they have the opportunity to make their lives better.
The mission of Breaking the Chain try to eliminate the bonds of poverty and illiteracy for children and their communities through education and sustainable development, both domestically and internationally. Building schools in places where the government cannot or will not build schools for their citizens seemed like a good place to begin. I adopted two villages in Africa, one in Kenya and one in Sierra Leone; I was able to raise enough money to build a school for each village, and to provide both villages with a water purification system. I’ve also created a children’s literacy center at a women’s shelter in Colorado, and bought over 1000 new children’s books for Reach Out and Read and The Heart of America Foundation.
This year, Breaking the Chain achieved tax-exempt status and my older brother, Nick, who is twenty, joined me (I wasn’t old enough to sit on the Board of Directors or to file the paperwork with the IRS).
I am really excited about our new projects this year. We have adopted another village in Sierra Leone, and will provide the funds to build a school and a water purification system there. We are also developing a domestic program which I think can have a direct affect on kids in the United States. It’s more difficult to dramatically impact children’s literacy in the United States because we already have schools in place, but many schools in the U.S. have very low reading proficiency rates. We are going try to have an impact on those kids. We hope to have that program in place within the next month or two.
As for my books, The Fire Stone is the first book in The Reign of the Elements series and it was just released. There are five books in the series and I have written all of them. The book is for ages nine to about fifteen, but even adults like teen fiction so there’s really no age limit. It is fast-paced and exciting, but the characters are very real; I think kids relate really well to my characters because my fifteen/sixteen-year-old voice resonates with them. I’ve also written the first book of an urban fantasy trilogy and I’m currently working on the second book.
Donations to Breaking the Chain are tax deductible and they are very welcome - even a small amount can make an enormous difference. You can find out how to donate at: www.linkbylink.org.
My other websites are:
www.rileycarney.com
www.rilcarney.blogspot.com
-Tara
It was important to me to try to get published for a number of reasons:
First, I think I wrote a great fantasy adventure story, which I loved writing and which I loved reading enough to edit it repeatedly, and I’d really like to share that story with other kids.
Second, I am very involved in children’s literacy and I think a lot of kids stop reading between the ages of eight and fifteen, especially boys, and I think the fantasy genre keeps those readers interested and engaged in reading. It was important to me to publish because I hope that a boy or girl somewhere enjoys my stories enough to keep on reading.
Third, some of the proceeds from my books sales go to my nonprofit for literacy, Breaking the Chain.
Fourth, because I’ve written and published books, I am able to go to schools to speak. I am speaking at schools around the country to students in grades 3-8, and I talk to them about writing books and about literacy and Breaking the Chain. I hope to make them aware of how important their education is, what their lives would be like without an education, and to encourage them to take ownership over their own education.
I am passionate about promoting global literacy because I believe that the way to help people, especially children, break the cycle of poverty and exploitation is through literacy.
I created my nonprofit for literacy, Breaking the Chain, when I was fourteen, after learning that there are 120 million children around the world don’t have the opportunity get an education and that there are 800 million adults that cannot read or write, two-thirds of whom are women. These women and children are very vulnerable to exploitation. They are unable to get jobs and they cannot feed or clothe themselves. Only through education do they have the opportunity to make their lives better.
The mission of Breaking the Chain try to eliminate the bonds of poverty and illiteracy for children and their communities through education and sustainable development, both domestically and internationally. Building schools in places where the government cannot or will not build schools for their citizens seemed like a good place to begin. I adopted two villages in Africa, one in Kenya and one in Sierra Leone; I was able to raise enough money to build a school for each village, and to provide both villages with a water purification system. I’ve also created a children’s literacy center at a women’s shelter in Colorado, and bought over 1000 new children’s books for Reach Out and Read and The Heart of America Foundation.
This year, Breaking the Chain achieved tax-exempt status and my older brother, Nick, who is twenty, joined me (I wasn’t old enough to sit on the Board of Directors or to file the paperwork with the IRS).
I am really excited about our new projects this year. We have adopted another village in Sierra Leone, and will provide the funds to build a school and a water purification system there. We are also developing a domestic program which I think can have a direct affect on kids in the United States. It’s more difficult to dramatically impact children’s literacy in the United States because we already have schools in place, but many schools in the U.S. have very low reading proficiency rates. We are going try to have an impact on those kids. We hope to have that program in place within the next month or two.
As for my books, The Fire Stone is the first book in The Reign of the Elements series and it was just released. There are five books in the series and I have written all of them. The book is for ages nine to about fifteen, but even adults like teen fiction so there’s really no age limit. It is fast-paced and exciting, but the characters are very real; I think kids relate really well to my characters because my fifteen/sixteen-year-old voice resonates with them. I’ve also written the first book of an urban fantasy trilogy and I’m currently working on the second book.
Donations to Breaking the Chain are tax deductible and they are very welcome - even a small amount can make an enormous difference. You can find out how to donate at: www.linkbylink.org.
My other websites are:
www.rileycarney.com
www.rilcarney.blogspot.com
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