The Importance of Summer Reading: Some Helpful Tips for Parents

HOW DO I GET MY CHILD TO READ THIS SUMMER?
Helpful Tips to Foster a Love of Reading for Lifelong Learners - From the Desk of Mrs. Pulido

As an educator, I believe that summer reading is important in developing lifelong reading habits, maintaining literary skills, and promoting reading for pleasure. Students who continue to read during the summer perform better when school resumes in the fall.
Although I understand that when summer vacation starts, we are all tempted to put away our books altogether and be outside riding our bikes, playing softball, or cooling off in the pool. I also understand that as a parent, committing your child to reading, even just for a little each day, is a struggle especially when outdoor activities and distractions of TV, video games, and the Internet seem more exciting.

Here are some helpful tips to foster a love of reading for your child:

1. Read together. You don't necessarily have to read the same books, but by simply sharing the experience of reading with them, you are more likely to get them motivated to read enthusiastically.
2. Set aside family time to bond through reading. You can do this by going to a coffee shop, bookstore, or a library together to make reading a fun experience to remember.
3. Ask them what book they are currently reading and use this as a topic of conversation with them.
4. Help them select a book that might pique their interest.
5. Encourage them to join/form a book club. When reading becomes a social experience, kids become more enthusiastic and more motivated. Check with your local library for summer reading incentives.
6. Encourage them to keep a log/journal of their reading minutes to help them keep track of their progress.
7. Create a book trailer video by using Animoto (www.animoto.com), a video slideshow maker with music.
8. Use sidewalk chalk and draw three squares in a row to create a giant "storyboard" to draw and/or write the beginning, middle, and end of a book they just read to summarize important narrative elements. You could also do the same with 2x2 squares: top left - CHARACTERS top right - SETTING bottom left - CONFLICT bottom right - RESOLUTION
9. Check out a bilingual book that has English and another language you want to learn together. Read it in English first. Then try it in the second language and read it again to make a memory game of new vocabulary learned.
10. Find a recipe to make with your children before or after they finish the book. Edible playdough could go with any story, or find a popular book with food-related themes, such as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, or invite their friends to make a friendship fruit salad (try this recipe: http://www.grouprecipes.com/10851/friendship-fruit-salad.html)  to go with Toad and Frog.

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Junior Writers' Workshop: Summer Camp 2012

TO PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN:

Many of you have expressed an interest in my creative writing camp this summer, and I am very grateful for the response. It is parents like you who support the cause and keep teachers like me motivated to do more! It speaks volumes about how much you care for your children and their education.

This year, I am grateful to be in a position where I can offer a special discounted rate for the camp. While most art camps cost almost $200 per week (full day) to cover the cost of facilities, overhead, and payment for specialized instructors I will charge $80 for one week per child in my home. Each additional child within the family is $10. Hours are 9AM to 1pm Monday through Friday on July 23rd - July 27th. Materials are provided (including a signed copy of my second book TERRIBLE TREVOR, a $15 value), but please bring your own sack lunch, drink, and snack daily. We will have a "mini-field trip" on Friday (venue still TBD, but either a nearby park, a pastry shop, or a bookstore) to showcase our masterpieces in front of an audience (friends/family). Space is limited. Please secure your spot by turning in your registration form attached at your earliest convenience. Registration deadline is Friday, July 13th. Payment method is cash, check, credit card in person or via Paypal in our website: www.thelivingdaylightsco.com

As always, please do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions or concerns piavpulido@gmail.com. Read course description. If you would like to register, please email me.

Creative Writing Course Description:

This year’s theme is “Wake UP and Dream BIG!” Following the basic structure of common writing traits, participants will hear short stories each day relating to their lives and how certain choices affect their future. Using group discussions, multisensory activities, performance arts, and collaborative projects, the young writers will identify common elements and brainstorm how these elements will help them develop a perspective of their own personal future. Using writing prompts and illustrations, writers will create a story of what they hope to see and become, and what impact they want to secure their future.




See you all soon!

"Move Forward with Fervency" 6/10/2010

Every morning, at the hour when you've finally given up closing your eyes,
You hold on to a strong desire to keep moving forward with fervency.
But you're drifting away
Unanchored
In this massive ocean of self-inflicted
Chaos and uncertainty.

The crashing waves hit you as you hope for a second chance,
Seducing you with desire to take refuge at the Devil's Dance.
You get up to face the world, but still fear the raging storms are near,
Abruptly interrupting the soothing, melancholic
Four chords of your painful, irrevocable verse,
Prose, song, prayer
Together symbolic
Of your heartbreak.

It's easy to take refuge in some other time,
But you know better.
Time is not in anyone's hands.

So you move forward,
Despite the wind over water
Pushing you,
Holding you back
Further away from where you want to go.
Still you move forward with fervency.

Maybe when you reach the shore,
You'll find it again -
Your paradise.
The perfect blend of fortune and prosperity,
Dreams not elusive, but within reach.
The warm morning sun prickling
Like gentle kisses on your cheeks,
Bringing light in your heart again,
So you can sing the songs that make me smile
And play your guitar without the guilt.

Pia Villanueva-Pulido
©2010

My children's books were featured on NBC 5 News

I am so grateful for this:
Teacher Turned Author Realizes Lifelong Dream

Disclaimer

All posts are entirely my own and do not necessarily reflect any views of my employer.

Wild About Writing: Jack London's Call of the Wild

Objectives:
1. Through reading some excerpts and parts of Jack London’s Call of the Wild, writers will study the importance of adapting to the changes in one’s life and environment.
2. Writers will explore the theme of survival of the fittest.
3. Writers will write effectively to express personal ideas.

Summary: This novel is a classic dog story that explores the role environment plays in shaping character. Buck is a privileged, dignified dog who is taken from his southern Californian home and shipped to Alaska during the 1890’s Gold Rush. Along the way, Buck is beaten and mistreated by a series of dog owners and learns to survive as a member of a dog sled team. He becomes the leader of the pack. (refer to “Law of Club and Fang”).

Materials Needed:
Call of the Wild novel provided by the public library
Sketchbook/notebook
Writing tools
Basic art supplies
Banner paper
Posters
Big Read website and lesson plans

Sample Session Activities:

Icebreaker Activity: Give Example Questions for 15 Seconds Game. Take only 15 seconds to answer each question read aloud by the teacher. Sample questions:
1. Tell us about a real or imaginary place you’d like to visit.
2. If you were stranded in the wilderness, what would be the first thing you would do?
3. If you could transform into any animal, what would it be and why?
4. What is your favorite food? Describe as best as you can.
5. If you could be any person from any story, who would it be and why?
6. What is your favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning?
7. What is your favorite movie?
8. Describe something you like that is green.





Words of Wonder Wall: Introduce the Wonder Wall to students and model activity. Short one minute writing prompt could be used for the Wonder Wall.


Introduction to Jack London/Biography:
Mention White Fang and other famous works of author
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/pdf/call_of_the_wild.pdf

Pre-reading strategies and focus activities:
1. Distribute novels to students. Have them write their names. Allow time to skim through titles of chapters throughout the novel.
2. Book and chapter titles provide clues to content, hinting at actions to come. What does the title The Call of the Wild suggest that the book will be about? What do the titles of the first three chapters suggest? Write your answers in your sketchbook/notebook/spiral

Think–Pair–Share:
1. Pair up with a classmate and, based on the titles, predict what will happen to Buck the dog.
2. Make note of your predictions so that you can check them later.

Setting a Purpose for Reading:
Read together or separately throughout these few weeks to discover how Buck is used to living and what changes he must endure.

Discussion Panel or Writing Prompt:
Character Development (Rephrase this question in its most simplest form for the younger writers).
In many stories and novels, the goal of the main character is to improve himself or herself
in some way. In The Call of the Wild, the narrator points out that once Buck learns
to steal food, his moral decay has begun. He then says that this is vital, or absolutely
necessary, for Buck’s survival. In one or two paragraphs, explain what this means. Do
you agree with the narrator’s statement? Why or why not?









Word Storm:
(for pre-assessment in vocabulary and other content areas)
Have students jot down any word they think of when they think about the word “WILDERNESS.”
For example: WILDERNESS
Dark, woods, deep, lost, survival, wolves, animals, forest, branches, trees, hunger, thirst, death, uncivilized, wild, frightening,

Make a graphic organizer to categorize words listed per number of syllables. Assign the word: WILDERNESS and have them think of words that relate to WILDERNESS per syllable.

For example:
WILDERNESS
1 syllable: Wild, dark, woods, cold, lost,
2 syllables: forest, branches, hunger
3: survival, frightening
4: uncivilized


Writing Exercise:
Write a short scene (with the setting of the wilderness), 200 words or less, involving yourself and another character (a wild animal or any other form of character) using first person singular. Then rewrite the scene in 3rd person.

"The Melancholy of Age" - A Writing Prompt Collaboration via Facebook Friends

Looking back five years ago, seeing the world through her eyes is a little different now. She sees not through the theories of a solid education, but through the eyes of a unique experience. Five years ago, as she made her way sleepily from her bed past the doorway, she witnessed something singular which stopped her in her tracks: her mother levitating a coffee cup almost casually making a miracle in her kitchen.

Ever since then, her filter changed. The fog of sadness left her, and she began to unfreeze. Movement replaced sadness. Passion replaced complacency. Still there was no happiness because there was still pain, and the struggle continues. From the horrible shock of her lasik surgery gone wrong to the point of almost incurable blindness to witnessing something magical, the past five years have become a distant memory. But not the pain.

Today it crossed her mind quite distinctly, in fact, that when she was young, she had a strong sense of infinite possibilities. Travel the world and make her mark? Of course! Write a Pulitzer Prize winning fiction? Only a matter of time! Create positive change in children’s education? Naturally!

But the melancholy of growing older had blurred her shared vision with her companion. The back pains, the headaches, and the tired feet were all too obvious tell-tale signs of her reaching a certain age. Her tears flowed and made way for that painful longing to crawl out of the long, dark tunnel. Feeling the weight of everything and carrying the burdens of her family, she is perpetually exhausted. The only reason she gets up in the morning to fulfill the mundane list of daily tasks is because of that coffee cup. By habit, the first thing she would do is to make coffee and stare at the very same cup, hoping to accomplish the same act of miracle that she caught her mother doing. It hasn’t happened yet. There must be something else missing.