Staff Announcement

Raising A Reader would like to acknowledge a long time staff member and tremendous member of our team as she moves forward in her career. Lynne Maes, who has been with Raising a Reader for close to four years and served as Director of Programs since January 2011 is leaving Raising A Reader at the end of this week.

The Raising A Reader staff and community have been incredibly fortunate to work with Lynne over these last several years. Her contributions to the growth and development of Raising A Reader programming have both enhanced program quality and deepened community partnerships. Her natural ability to inspire and empower young children, early childhood educators, and families has built trust,confidence and active participation among our close to 10,000 constituents. We know that Lynne will continue to impact our community in positive ways as she moves forward, and we look forward to continued partnership with her as she continues her journey.

Raising A Reader staff are fully engaged in the 2011 launch of our journey- this year we will work with well over 9000 children and families in more than 500 classrooms. After September 30, for questions about the San Francisco program, please email Jo McConnell or call 415.683.5465. For questions about the Alameda County program, please email Sara Rizik-Baer or call 510.296-6464. For all other questions, please email the Executive Director, Molly Wertz or call 415.683.5462.

Cultural Links

Latino Heritage Month celebrates the independence of Latin American countries including: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (as well as Mexico and Chile not geographically located in Latin America).

You can celebrate with your family by checking out any of the links below or snuggling up with a great book. We like I Love Saturdays y Domingos, by Alma Flor Ada.

• American Sabor at San Francisco Public Library
• Colorín Colorado salutes the rich history of Hispanic culture with games, books, activities, and fun!
• Hispanic Heritage Month 2011 Recommended Reading List from Florida Department of Education
• Hispanic Heritage Month Teaching Resources from Smithsonian Education
• KQED celebrates the richness and diversity of our community by scheduling a special lineup of programs in September, focused on Latino themes and issues.

Music, Books and Family Fun

Sunday, August 14 in San Francisco’s Civic Center/ Tenderloin Districts

The Tricycle Music Fest West kicks off for a third year of family rock concerts with Frances England, queen of kindie rock, and local favorite, Charity and the JAMband, at an outdoor event outside the Main Library on Sunday, August 14. This show is the same day as Sunday Streets Civic Center/Tenderloin, so don’t forget to boogie down to the library with your bike, skates, and scooters!

The event runs 11:00am-2:00pm with activities including Tree Frog Treks animals, a tour of the new Green Bookmobile, and more! Charity and the JAMband take the stage at 11:30am, Frances England at 1:00pm, and SF Rock Project at 2:00pm.

Find the full list of Tricycle Music Fest concerts this summer and fall at sfpl.org/tricycle.

 

click on the map below to view details about Sunday Streets

If you’re on the other side of the Bay, we recommend:

Laurel Street Neighborhood Fair
Saturday, August 13, 2011
11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Cost: FREE
Laurel Street - 35th & MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA

Book Sort Parties

Hello Friends and Fans of Raising A Reader!

Love books? Love kids? Love to help kids get great Raising A Reader books?

We’re looking for around 15 volunteers to help us prepare the Raising A Reader materials for another awesome program year! We need to unwrap, sort, divide, and sticker over 1,500 books so they’ll be ready to be delivered to each RAR classroom. It’s easy work—we just need more hands, and you’ll be helping to launch the RAR program for over 9,000 of our toughest-to-reach young children and their families in San Francisco and Alameda Counties.

We’ll be hosting two book sort days, one for each county:

San Francisco County Book Sort
When: Saturday, August 13th
Time: 10am – 2pm
Where: San Francisco Food Bank (900 Pennsylvania Avenue in San Francisco)

Alameda County Book Sort
When: Saturday, August 27th
Time: 10am – 2pm
Where: District 4 CalTrans Office (111 Grand Avenue in Oakland)

Come for 2 hours or stay for all 4 —we appreciate any amount of time you can spare! For more details or if you’re interested in participating, please let us know by contacting:

Jo McConnell
[email protected]
415-683-5465

Hope to see you there!

Message from EBCBP

The East Bay Children’s Book Project is moving and they need help from the community.

Our new address is 3612 Webster St, Oakland 94609

Our first work day is Saturday, July 23rd, 9 AM at Mosswood

We need supplies

• two 6′ladders
• power drills
• cleaning supplies
• rake
• broom
• shovel
• etc.

We have lots of volunteer opportunities available:

• Carpentry includes some demolition, removing doors, building shelves, bracketing shelves, etc.
• Cleaning includes scrubbing the shelves and counters and sweeping out the patio
• Using tape dispenser to create new bins. (We have 100 bins ready to be assembled)
• Counting and sorting books. (Books have been arriving at an alarming rate)

After 7/23, but before 7/31, we need a truck and muscles to move 300 cases of books from a warehouse on High Street to Mosswood.

Please let us know if you can help. We are eager to move in and get ready for the grand reopening on August 16th.

Thanks,
Ann & Book Team
[email protected]

Interactive Read Alouds

In honor of Eric Carle’s birthday on June 25^th, let’s celebrate by reflecting on one of his most famous books.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is a popular read aloud and easy to memorize. Raising A Reader specializes in interactive read aloud where we not only read the words but include an action (sound or movement) and/or question with each page. During an interactive read aloud, some of the questions we might ask (depending on the age group) for this book include:

• What sound does the animal make?
• Where does the animal live?
• What does the animal eat?
• What are their babies called?
• Name three things that are (color)?
• What words rhyme with (name of animal)?

For our English language learners, we invite them to share the name and color of the animals in their home language.

The book can also be read as a song. (more…)

KIT Camp

San Francisco Unified School District’s KIT (Kindergarteners In Training) Camp is up and running and partnering with local organizations to help support a smooth transition into Kindergarten for San Francisco’s youth. Raising A Reader (RAR) is offering the participating Kindergarten classes weekly read aloud sessions in the classroom and is one of the main presenters at the camp’s Family Literacy Nights. June 14^th kicked off the first Family Literacy Night; hosted by SFUSD, Raising A Reader and San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). Families were provided with a dinner, while the SFPL offered library services. Parents were able to fill out library card applications and board the Book Mobile with their children; where library cards were distributed and books were checked out. RAR and SFPL then joined forces in the cafeteria and presented two interactive stories. RAR ended the evening with the parents by facilitating a conversation about early literacy skills, brain development, and the importance of maintaining healthy reading habits in the home.

On the other side of the Bay, program coordinators have been talking to parents about preventing the “summer slide” by maintaining reading routines throughout the summer and visiting local libraries. Parent are provided handouts with tips on promoting the six early literacy skills and kindergarten readiness.

Diagram from the San Mateo School Readiness Assessment, 2008. Page 54
This core set of skills reflects the five dimensions of readiness articulated by the National Education Goals Panel.

June 21 is Summer Learning Day

This national advocacy day is a great opportunity to showcase summer reading programs and get the word out about the importance of continued learning.

Summer learning programs:

• help participants maintain and advance academic and developmental growth
• support working families
• keep children safe and healthy
• send young people back to school ready to learn

We Salute Dads that READ!

Check out these fantastic sites!

• Book Dads
• Guys Read
• Read Aloud Dad

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June is Pride Month

We know that families come in different colors and sizes. They are headed by single parents, extended family members, are multiracial, adoptive or gay or lesbian parents. At storytime we make room for everyone in the circle! Click on the book covers below to learn more about each title.

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This article appeared on page A - 11 of the San Francisco Chronicle