Get Ready to Read! Newsletter
October/November 2007

Feature: Getting the Most out of Picture Books
Picture books represent a unique literary form that blends stories with art. In a picture book, the illustrations are as important as the text, and both work together to tell the story. When you share picture books with children, be sure to pay attention to the illustrations—reading picture books means exploring the art as well. This article can help you get more out of picture books by showing you how to use the illustrations to engage children and enhance their reading experience.

Early Literacy Activity: How Many Words?
Try this activity to help your child learn that sentences are made up of words and practice listening for smaller segments of language.  Look here each month for a different engaging, child-friendly, and fun activity idea!

Literacy Term of the Month
Background knowledge

News Briefs
Find out about the benefits of high-quality preschool programs, read reviews on assessment choices and what states need to do to implement them, learn about a new section on the CLASP Web site with updates on how the NCLB reauthorization affects early learning, and more in this month's News Briefs.

Ask GRTR!
Look here every month to find the answers to frequently asked questions from our help e-mail box.  This month, find out why it is important to have your child's hearing and vision screened. 
 
Resources for Parents
Watch the new Get Ready to Read! video on getting your child ready to read, find out about a group of animated superheroes who save the day using their "literacy powers," read an interview with the author of a guide for parents on reading with children, and more!

Resources for Educators
This month, learn different ways that technology can improve the literacy skills of all students, build your students' vocabularies through activities that also teach social skills, find out about a home early language and literacy observation tool and more!

News from the Field
This month, Jean Ciborowski Fahey, Ph.D., education director of the Reading Partnership at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and developer and producer of the "Raising Readers" early literacy video now available on the Get Ready to Read! Web site, recounts how she became involved with hospital-based early literacy programs and how she incorporates the Get Ready to Read! screening tool and resources into her program.