Last night our Elementary school put on a literacy night. Not knowing what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised. They had some great ideas. The key note speaker went over a bunch of books that she thought were inspirational and educational for kids. Most of them were geared for grades 4-6, but we do a lot of reading aloud around here and there were some great ideas for that. Here is a list of some of the books she recommended. Like I said, most are novels geared towards grades 4-6, but some are picture books that would be great for anyone. I haven't read any of these, so I can't vouch for their content, but I am always on the lookout for some good literature and the speaker was quite passionate about these books.

*One Handed Catch - MJ Auch
* Fire Girl - Tony Abbott
* The Mailbox- Audrey Shafer
* Are you Quite Polite? -David Catrow and Alan Catz
* The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg - Linda Oatman High
* Weed Flower -Cynthia Kadohata
* The Trap - Jon Smelzer
* Dadblamed Union Cow - Susan Fletcher
* The Bravest Knight -Mercer Mayor
* Yellow Star - Jennifer Roy
* Henry's Freedom Box - Ellen Levine
* Kali and the Rat Snake - Zai Whitaker
* Anything by Gordon Korman
* The Dark is Rising series - Susan Cooper

We also learned about the a students relationship to the text of a story. There are three parts:

Text to Self = The student can relate the text to events in his/her own life. ie Cinderella really wanted to go to the ball, have you ever really wanted something? Or Little Red Riding Hood loved her Grandma, do you have grandparents you love?

Text to Text = The student can relate the text of one story with the text of another. Any faerie tale will have several different versions. Comparing one with another helps cement what your child just read and increases long term memory.

Text to World = Student can relate the text to events happening in the world around them. This takes some higher understanding and really opens up their little brains. When they can compare what they are reading to what they are seeing and experiencing in the world, they will broaden their ideas and really get their juices flowing.

When you read with or to your child and help them figure these relationships, their story comprehension will increase. Which means their IQ's will increase. =)

The last thing we learned about was for younger readers. It is Somebody, Want, But, So.
Somebody = every story is about somebody
Want = that person usually wants something
But = there is always a conflict
So = the resolution

Younger readers need to be walked through these four steps when you read a story. Again, it helps with comprehension and helps them get the point of what they just read. I tried it with Tanner and it totally worked!

So there you go. I hope this helps you, even just a little to be inspired and get out there and read!