Need to Read 8

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Join a reading celebration
* Annual Book Fest on March 31 brings out excitement of child literature.

As parents, caregivers and teachers of young children, we cannot underestimate the power of reading to little ones each day. Just 15 minutes a day makes such a difference.

A key to making reading a truly memorable experience for children is to bring the books we read to life.

Bringing books to life is easily accomplished during our daily 15 minutes of reading time. We can use puppets when we read, change our voices for story characters or simply act silly and have fun while reading. Another great way is to attend the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valleyís Annual Book Fest event.

The Book Fest is held each year and is a free, fun-filled family event, centering on bringing parents and children together around the excitement of childrenís books. The event includes art, entertainment and activities all based on books. Community organizations host story-related book stations. Children visit read-aloud environments based on books and story characters. Food and books are available for book Fest goers to purchase.

This yearís theme is ìWild About Books!î The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 31 at the Center Street Elementary School in Horseheads, across from the Kmart plaza. The event will include the Bookmobile, library card registrations, storytelling sessions all day, activities, book sales, refreshments and a special visit from our local author friend, Tedd Arnold.

There also will be special containers at the Book Fest to collect gently used childrenís books to help support the Bright Red Bookshelf program. With little ones, sort out the books you currently have and bring those that are no longer considered the nightly favorites to donate at the event. The special treat is that everyone who attends the Book Fest receives a free book. We can donate books for others but still receive a special treat to take home.

Making reading fun and allowing families to share in that joy together is what the Book Fest is all about.

Paige Kinnaird is the parent child resource center coordinator at Booth School in Elmira and a member of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley. His/her comments are part of a monthly series of articles about literacy.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

Read any good movies lately?
* Childrenís books made into movies provide great literacy motivator.

In the past few years, we have seen a lot of childrenís books come to life on the big screen. Preview trailers and television ads entice us to see the movie. Children canít wait; they donít want to miss this latest film event. However, what many children may not know is that this story came from a book that was written long before the movie was ever considered.

Parents can take advantage of a book-based movie and use it as a terrific motivator for getting children interested in reading. It provides a perfect occasion for families to share a book before heading out to the theater. Children can be introduced to the story for the first time, while parents may revisit an old childhood favorite. The activity can stimulate discussion and enrich the experience of both reading the book and viewing the film.

Children may ask whether itís necessary. After all, why read the book if you see the movie, but one cannot judge a book by its movie. Movie producers may or may not be true to the original book. Interpretation of books is as individual as readers themselves, and families can benefit significantly from discussions of plots, characters and settings before seeing the movie. Reading a book without any visual stimulants allows children the opportunity to use their imaginations to create their own characters and settings. After seeing the film, families can then engage in dialogue again by exploring these questions:

* Did the characters and settings look like you imagined?

* Did you get to know the characters better in the book or the movie?

* How were the movie and book alike and different?

* Were parts of the movie not true to the book?

* How did you feel when key scenes from the book were left out of the movie?

* How would you film the book if you could direct it?

* Why do you think moviemakers found it necessary to alter the book or ending?

If families have already seen a movie and not read the book, itís not too late to go back and read it. Comparisons can work both ways. Films are known to revitalize classic book interest. Publishers reissue them with new covers for mass appeal, and sales soar when movies are released. Try this the next time your family is planning a trip to the movies.

Chris Corter is head of youth services and storyteller at the Steele Memorial Library. She also is a member of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley. Her comments are part of a monthly series of articles about literacy.

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Sunday, January 21, 2007


Early detection of dyslexia pays off
* New diagnosis, remedial techniques can combat problem.
What do night show host Jay Leno, millionaire financier Charles Schwab, baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan, actress Whoopi Goldberg, brain surgeon Fred Epstein and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein all have in common? Give up? They all have ìdyslexic brains.î Despite normal intelligence and superior talents in other areas, they all had extreme difficulty learning to read, and continue to be slow readers today.

Dyslexia, as defined by the National Institutes of Health and the International Dyslexia Association, is ìa specific learning disability that is neurological in origin and characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition, and poor spelling and decoding abilities.î

Dyslexia is not a visual problem. Dyslexics do not ìseeî words backwards. Rather, dyslexic children have trouble developing phonemic awareness, the ability to appreciate that words are composed of separate sounds or phonemes that can be taken apart and put back together. The brain primarily learns to read phonetically, and phonemic awareness is an essential precursor to successfully decoding words. What all dyslexics have in common is a deficit in phonological processing, a circumscribed weakness amid a sea of strengths. Critical thinking, reasoning, problem solving, creativity and imagination are unaffected.

Dyslexia is the most common of all learning differences, with a prevalence of 15 percent to 20 percent, or 10 million children nationwide. It accounts for 80 percent of all the children identified as learning disabled. Dyslexia occurs in children of all races, nationalities and socioeconomic status, and at all levels of general intelligence. Boys only slightly outnumber girls by a 1.5 to 1 ratio.

Exciting new neurological research utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to watch the brain read reveals that when compared with a nondyslexic brain, the dyslexic brain shows a different pattern of activity during reading. There is an underactivation of the neural pathways in the back of the brain and a compensatory overactivation in the frontal areas. Dyslexic brains use neurological systems that are slower and less efficient, explaining why even mature dyslexics, who become accurate readers, never become automatic readers. Dyslexics remain relatively slow, not fluent, readers throughout their lives.

Though vulnerability to reading difficulties has a genetic component, the environment can play a major role. The classic dyslexic is born with a genetically determined ìglitchî in the reading systems of the posterior brain, a different blueprint. Other children develop into poor readers despite normal brain wiring, because of suboptimal environments at home and/or school.

New fMRI evidence suggests that the deficit in phonological processing seen in dyslexic children may occur in children with adequate neural wiring who do not receive the language stimulation early in life necessary for the proper neural connections to form. This highlights the importance of providing a language-rich environment to infants and toddlers, with exposure to rhyme, rhythm, songs, word play and storytelling.

The proper environmental stimulation can increase the functional capacity of the brain. Recent functional MRI studies of dyslexic childrenís brains one year after they received intensive, evidence-based reading instruction, as recommended by the national reading panel (www.nationalreadingpanel. org), have shown that their brain activity during reading now more closely resembled the nondyslexic brains and their reading had significantly improved. Because a childís brain is most plastic when young, early identification and intervention offer real hope that many childrenís reading difficulties can be prevented.

For more information on dyslexia and other learning differences, see ìOvercoming Dyslexiaî by Dr. Sally Shaywitz and go to www.interdys.org and www.schwablearning.org.

Dr. Ellen M. McHugh is a pediatrician and a member of the Chemung County School Readiness Project. She also is a member of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley. Her comments are part of a monthly series of articles about literacy.