Race and Reading: The Read-Aloud Environment

Imagine yourself in your favorite place: a place that makes you feel happy, relaxed, comfortable, valued. In that space you can be you and can find the personal resources to take risks, stretch yourself and grow. Now imagine a place where you are uncomfortable, stressed, sad or treated as lacking or inferior. That’s a place you don’t want to be, a place where you feel guarded, scared and disrespected. 

TRC wants our Read-Alouds to take happen in the former, happy, welcoming space. As we mentioned in our last race and reading post, the majority of the kids and families TRC serves are people of color, while the majority of our volunteers (and people living in the DC Metro area) are white. We believe it is important to acknowledge and respond to the impact race has in our community and in our programming. To that end, we've been examining ways to make sure our programs are inclusive and welcoming.

In June, we posted about race and reading, examining the first of three factors Marty Swaim of Challengeracism.org and Cheryl Robinson and James Sample of Arlington Public Schools identified as ways our volunteers could ensure all TRC kids feel welcome, valued and engaged. That post explored personal relationships.  In this post we’ll examine the second factor: the Read-Aloud environment. 

In 1943, Abraham Maslow identified a hierarchy of needs necessary for motivation. First, people need to have their physical needs met. After that, people need to feel safe and like they belong. Then they need to feel esteem. When those needs are met, people are free to grow and learn. 

If, on the other hand, you are in an environment that is unwelcoming or hostile, even in a subliminal way, it is more difficult to learn and grow. By being visibly different from the majority of people in our area, and certainly different from our volunteers, kids may feel uncomfortable at Read-Alouds unless we pay attention to how we set up and run them.

TRC volunteers can do a number of things to create a welcoming and engaging environment that meets our kids' needs. 

How do you create such an environment?

Manage your space.

• Arrive 15 minutes early to set up the space.
• Move tables and chairs around (if allowed and appropriate) to make the space inviting and conducive to large and small group reading. If your site uses a rug or carpet squares, set those up as well. Fold up tables for the reading portion of the evening if necessary.
• Display books you are going to use for the Read-Aloud in an attractive way to set the stage, get kids excited and designate this time and space as special for reading.
• Use TRC table toppers showing kids reading and inviting kids to read in several languages. (These table toppers are available from the TRC office and can be kept with the TRC binder at your site.)

By creating a comfortable place for the kids to sit and move around and by displaying high-quality, interesting books and welcoming signage, volunteers will be addressing Maslow’s physical needs and belonging and esteem.

Keep the environment positive and productive.

• Use name tags, call kids by name and make eye contact. These simple steps help you connect with the kids and meets their belonging and esteem needs.
• Use the TRC promises—remind kids about them and then follow up if need be. Setting reasonable boundaries and giving the kids choices helps them feel safe and independent, again meeting their safety and esteem needs.
• Feed the kids a snack—if allowed and needed. Being hungry will distract the kids from the reading experience.
• Incorporate movement and choice. You’ll be meeting kids’ physical and esteem needs and making the Read-Aloud more fun.
• Use volunteers and space strategically to meet specific kids’ needs. If a kid needs one-on-one attention, designate a volunteer to read and do the activity with that child. If some kids don’t get along, separate them with different volunteers. If the ages of your kids vary widely, use your volunteers strategically to break into small groups and read books that meet their interest and attention spans.
• Use encouraging language and be honest. Support and honor the kids’ efforts. Be genuine and specific. “I like your drawing of the tree because it is so green!” is better than “That is nice.”

By keeping the environment positive and productive, you meet the kids physical, safety and esteem needs. You show that you respect and care about them as individuals. You also build a sense of belonging to a group of readers that values and enjoys each others' ideas and company.

Manage the book give-away process. 

• Select a variety of books and spread them out on the table so that kids can easily see them. 
• During the activity, send no more than two kids at a time to the table, which is staffed by a volunteer, to choose their books.
• The volunteer staffing the table should encourage the kids to take their time, talk with them about the books available and what they like to read, giving them time to reflect on what the might like to read.
• Respect the child’s choice.

If you would like to review how to help a child choose a book, check out our blog post "The Power of Choice".

When the book selection process is calm and organized, the kids can make a relaxed and thoughtful choice. That is self-actualization, in Maslow's terms, as a reader!

As you may have noticed in the last post about race and reading, many of the ideas we include here are strategies we've talked about before. We encourage our volunteers to arrange the room, deploy themselves strategically, use name tags and manage the book give-away process because those things make for an effective Read-Aloud. It turns out they also demonstrate to the families we serve that we respect and value them. 

In our next post about reading and race, we'll explore the third factor that volunteers can control at their Read-Alouds to ensure they are culturally competent: the materials and content.

Reflect on how you would use this information at your Read-Alouds by filling out this form.

We Are Readers Summer 2015

We Are Readers successfully concluded its summer programming at the end of July, and it proved to be an exciting six weeks! Each summer, The Reading Connection (TRC) operates the We Are Readers program, with two Read-Alouds per week instead of one, as a way to ensure continued learning when school is out. All kids are at risk of losing reading skills over the summer, but at-risk kids often experience bigger losses. With double the number of Read-Alouds per week as during the school year, TRC's We Are Readers program provides a fun and enriching six weeks designed to keep kids learning and reading for fun over the summer.

Here’s a snapshot of our success.

Introducing We Are Readers kits!

One of the new elements of the program this year was We Are Readers kits. Since one of the weekly Read-Alouds at each site was conducted by new volunteers, TRC planned these Read-Alouds, providing the theme and supplies. The new volunteer teams received kits packed full of books, an interactive activity related to the week’s theme and a snack so that they could hit the ground running. 

An example of the camping kit is shown below. And check out one of the kids making shadow puppets, per the kit's directions, for the first time ever!

The other We Are Readers kits provided to volunteers were on the themes of dinosaurs, nocturnal animals, the beach, airplanes and building.

Welcoming new volunteers

For the first time, TRC recruited teams of new volunteers to conduct the additional Read-Alouds at each site. These new volunteers enthusiastically dove in to make We Are Readers a huge success. Forty new volunteers joined us for We Are Readers and 13 year-round volunteers participated in the program. Also, 98 year-round volunteers attended regular Read-Alouds during these six weeks at the program sites.

Infusing a beach feel for the summer

The theme of We Are Readers this summer was the beach. The kids got to add festive paper shapes like dolphins and seahorses on a giant poster of the beach (shown to the right) to track their attendance. This incentive to get kids to participate was backed by prizes whenever the group reached a goal. Prizes included Popsicles, toys, pencils and cookies. 

As always, each kid could choose a book to keep at the end of each Read-Aloud, which meant that participating kids got two books per week over the summer instead of one. Throughout the summer, we gave away over 550 books!

We Are Readers also provided bingo cards that the kids could mark after accomplishing different activities, like reading instead of watching TV or reading with a friend. When they got bingo, the kids got to put an extra shape on the poster, moving the group toward the next goal and prize.

Including special guests at sites

To ramp up fun and excitement, we brought special guests to the We Are Readers sites. Because TRC’s program structure focuses heavily on increasing background knowledge as a means of building vocabulary and comprehension, these special guests were the perfect addition to the program, bringing knowledge of their occupations or hobbies. Check out the summer’s special guests:

ALIVE House! was visited by Alexandria City Firefighters! 

ARHA had the pleasure of welcoming Blues musician Chet Chandler to perform and introduce the kids to the Blues. Also, Alexandria police officers taught the kids about life in the police force.

Paws To Read, an Arlington Country Library program that allows kids to read to the non-judgmental audience of a dog, visited Columbia Grove. Reading to dogs in a fun and safe environment empowers and excites kids, which was certainly the case at Columbia Grove!

At Greentree Shelter, the kids got a fun treat — an inside peek into what it's like to be a zookeeper at the National Zoo. Becky Malinsky (pictured below) taught the kids about taking care of the animals and what her experience has been like as a National Zoo zookeeper. The kids even got to try preparing and eating food that she gives to the animals!

Sullivan House was also visited by Paws To Read. The kids all enjoyed reading to the dogs in small groups. The kids also got to take a field trip to Arlington County Fire Station 4. While there, they got a tour of the station and the fire trucks, and the firefighters spoke with them about fire safety and life as a firefighter. The kids were very enthusiastic about this visit, including the books that the firefighters read to them, pictured below.

More Read-Alouds with a variety of themes

In addition to the weekly Read-Alouds conducted by new volunteers using the We Are Readers kits, seasoned TRC volunteers continued to conduct Read-Alouds at every We Are Readers site, giving kids the opportunity to attend two TRC days per week! The regular Read-Aloud volunteers prepared their own themes. The topics they covered this summer included:

• ALIVE! House: Fish, Fourth of July, Fireflies, Imagination, Exploring
• ARHA Ruby Tucker Center: Poetry, The Blues, The Future, Deserts, Birthdays
• Columbia Grove: Bees and Honey, Dr. Seuss, Bugs, Weather, Paws to Read, Picnics
• Greentree Shelter: Birds, Dogs, Zoos, Telling Time, Games and Sports
• Sullivan House: Trains, Paws to Read, Sharks, Flying, Firefighters

Throughout the course of We Are Readers, the kids displayed enthusiasm and motivation. In addition to all the extra time spent reading and the increased book ownership, we consider the kids' excitement to be one of the program's biggest successes!

This post was written by Rachel Fishman, TRC's AmeriCorps VISTA dedicated to the We Are Readers Program.

Dust Bunnies with Jan Thomas: When less is more!

Dust bunnies. Who knew they were so funny?

Jan Thomas did and let us in on their secret.  You’ll never look at cleaning under the couch the same way again.

Thomas writes picture books with bright, bold illustrations, lovable characters, humor, suspense, action and irony. She writes short, punchy text that sometimes rhymes and repeats, often with a surprising twist at the end.





The combination of bold illustration, spry text and witty story lines makes her picture books excellent read-alouds. Thomas adeptly builds suspense and drama through her characters' facial expressions and crisp dialog. And like Mo Willems' work, although her books look very simple and can be read to very young listeners, their wit and irony engage older listeners, too.

What Will Fat Cat Sit On?

The answer to that burning question drives this story. Full of suspense, emotion and animal sounds, this picture book will keep listeners predicting and laughing right up to its surprise ending.

A Birthday for Cow

Some of the same characters from Fat Cat make a cake to surprise Cow for his birthday. Duck keeps trying to add a turnip to the recipe, but Pig and Cow stop him. Does Cow really want cake for his birthday? Explore irony and birthday tradition with this winning picture book.

Can You Make a Scary Face?

This interactive book asks the reader to follow directions. Young kids will love wiggling, dancing and making faces. Pair it with Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems, The Monster at the End of the Book by Grover (and Jon Stone) or The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak for more interactive fun.

Is Everyone Ready for Fun?

Keep the kids moving after reading Can You Make a Scary Face? with this action-packed picture book, where the goats and Chicken disagree on what is fun. Encourage the kids to predict what the goats will do and how Chicken will respond, while acting out the story as you read it.

Pair Thomas' books with Mo Willems’ Pigeon or Elephant and Piggy books and Doreen Cronin’s books for a wry take on animal antics. Or, on their own, Thomas' books could be used to introduce the concept of irony to an older group of kids.

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of Thomas' illustrations or text. She has plenty of surprises tucked in her picture books. Reoccurring characters allow for inside jokes and allusions to other stories that older readers will enjoy. Even younger kids will love finding "Easter eggs" Thomas includes for her readers.

Rhyming dust bunnies? Elegance and silliness in the same book? Through her picture books, Jan Thomas proves that less is more.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Race and reading: developing personal relationships

When is a name tag not just a name tag? When it helps TRC kids and volunteers develop personal relationships even though they are divided by race and social groups. Knowing and using someone's name is a powerful affirmation of his or her value.  

TRC recently conducted a volunteer seminar focusing on racial identity development and TRC programs. In it we explored several aspects of race and mainstream culture and how they affect our Read-Alouds. With issues of race and racially-rooted conflict in the news, and recognizing that the majority of the children and parents we serve are people of color and the majority of our volunteers are white, it was a timely topic.

Currently our Read-Aloud volunteer corps is made up of 86% Caucasians, 5% African Americans, 3% Asians, 3% Hispanics and 3% mixed race individuals. Our current Read-Aloud partners report having 0 to 30% Caucasian clients. Because we have long recognized the importance of having a diverse group of volunteers, TRC actively seeks to increase the number of people of color in our volunteer pool. 

TRC Read-Alouds provide opportunities for the kids we serve to have positive, supportive experiences with caring adults who are, based on our current corps of volunteers, most likely white. It's a chance to have frequent personal experiences with adults that may counter the negativity of mainstream culture toward people of color. Based on recommendations from Marty Swaim of Challengeracism.org and Cheryl Robinson and James Sample of Arlington Public Schools, we examined three factors volunteers could control to ensure all TRC kids feel welcome, valued and engaged.  

Factor 1:  Personal relationships 

Build relationships with the kids and let them know you are interested in them and respect them as individuals. Show them you value them, their culture and their race. When you do this, you model a relationship built on communication, not on cues based on exterior appearance. As you get to know each kid and each kid gets to know you, you help the child bank positive experiences that build strong and healthy self-images.

How do you build relationships at a Read-Aloud?

Come prepared and arrive early to set up. You'll be showing the kids you've planned a special Read-Aloud for them and are excited to see them.

Welcome participants by name and use name tags. Using kids' names shows respect and interest in them as individuals.

Do a group welcoming, team building or settling activity. You'll be easing the transition into Read-Aloud time and building a sense of community.

Create a balance between volunteer control and kid choices. Provide both choice and reasonable boundaries.

Providing clear boundaries and as many opportunities as possible for the kids to call the shots helps balance the adult/kid power imbalance and demonstrates your regard for the kids.

• Use TRC's Promises to set expectations for behavior during the Read-Aloud and follow up if kids need reminding. You'll be showing the kids that you see them as responsible and capable and that you will ensure their time with you is safe and enjoyable.
• Let the kids choose books they want to read with you in small groups. An adult has already chosen the book to read to the group as a whole. Letting kids choose what to read next balances out the power dynamic.
• Provide open-ended activities that foster creativity and individual expression. You'll get to know each kid better and each kid can enjoy being herself.
• Take time to talk with the kids and answer their questions as they choose books to take home. Don't choose books for them.

Make eye contact. Like using someone's name, making eye contact creates a connection between you and the child.

Sit down on their level. Be one of the group instead of towering over the kids.




Have conversations with the kids

• Share information about yourself. When you do this, you create opportunities to connect with the kids.
• Encourage kids to share their ideas and feelings.
• LISTEN to what they have to say. You'll gain insight into their thoughts, feelings and experiences.

When you have a genuine conversation with a kid, you get to know him as an individual and he gets to know you, too. These relationships can go a long way in helping build understanding and positive experiences across racial or social lines.

You've probably noticed that all the strategies recommended are ones that TRC has encouraged you to do at your Read-Alouds already. We want volunteers to use name tags and TRC Promises and to come prepared to help the Read-Alouds go smoothly and be enjoyable. We include conversation and choice because those are important factors in reading development and motivation. It turns out they also help kids build positive racial identities and are components of culturally competent Read-Alouds.

TRC will provide more posts on this topic, exploring two more factors that volunteers can control to ensure every Read-Aloud is culturally competent.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Summer Reading: A New Take on an Old Tradition

As school lets out and kids head to the pool and camp, schools and libraries remind parents to encourage summer reading. It's a hot topic these days (pardon the pun), but it's not a new idea. What are we talking about when we promote and participate in summer reading? Where exactly did “summer reading” come from? 

Decades of research show that reading is one way to stem kids’ summer learning losses and bridge the achievement gap. But many, many years before those studies, adults were looking for ways to help children stimulate their thinking, improve their reading skills and have something constructive to do when school was out of session. 

Public libraries took the lead. The origins of the summer reading log are more than a century old! Beginning in the 1890s, libraries began concerted efforts to reach kids in the summer with special programming, including read-alouds and book distributions on playgrounds and activities themed to children’s interests. Take a look at this paper on the history of youth summer reading programs in public libraries if you are curious to know even more about “vacation reading clubs” and summer reading themes of old.


When public libraries started summer reading programs, there wasn’t any research on how best to encourage kids to read during the summer months. There’s a growing body of research on what makes summer reading effective, but not everyone is on the same page when it comes to stemming the summer slide. 

For some kids, summer reading is assigned — a list of titles from a teacher who wants certain books read and readers ready to discuss them when school begins again. Others get more relaxed recommendations and encouragement to head to the library, where summer reading is logged and rewarded with activities and prizes. Publishers and others offer incentive programs, but any one strategy to promote summer reading is unlikely to close the achievement gap all by itself.

TRC has created its own summer reading initiative, We Are Readers, that includes several strategies to prevent summer learning loss and build reading motivation. If you want summer reading to have a real impact: 

Connect kids with titles that match their interests and abilities and are books they choose to read or have read to them. Find out what they like or are curious about by asking lots of questions and waiting for and listening to kids’ answers. 

• If you need book recommendations, the free resources from Start with a Book build on what young children already like — dinosaurs, bugs, building, animals, sports, space, music and more — and provide fiction and nonfiction titles along with ideas for activities and suggestions to help get kids thinking, talking, creating and exploring.

• You’ll find similarly helpful recommendations for book titles and constructive conversations about themes with kid appeal in the Reading Road Maps featured on TRC’s Volunteer Central or in Read-Aloud summaries on this blog. Take cues from kids, then dive into topics like flatulence, superheroes, alligators or extreme weather.

Get books into kids’ hands. Kids need access to lots and lots of quality books that they can and want to read or have read to them. Do you spend your summer reading stuff you don’t want to? Don’t expect kids to either. 

• Children participating in TRC's Read-Aloud program choose a new book each time they attend a Read-Aloud. Families in the Book Club are also given a choice of books when they order each month. Get to know the titles that are available for ownership and what’s on the shelves of the reading corner so you can be knowledgeable whenever guidance is needed.

• The public library is also a great place to choose books for summer reading. Search subject headings in local library catalogs online or WorldCat to help kids find books they want to read.

• Remember that reading material doesn’t have to be a book. Magazines, comics and graphic novels may be a better match for kids’ reading abilities and interests.

Talk, talk and talk some more! Ask questions and guide conversations so you can gauge whether kids get what they are reading or listening to. Talking with kids about what they read is one of the best ways to help them learn to read and think critically.

• Talk as you would when you read aloud, with appropriate pauses, good inflection and enthusiasm. Practice turn taking in conversation and try not to answer kids’ questions until they have finished asking them.

• It can be tricky for kids (and adults) to take what they are thinking and put it into words. But this process leads to a deeper understanding. It takes practice, as does listening to the thoughts of others. Make time to talk and listen. 

As the days get hotter, summer reading might not be the first thing on kids’ minds. But get books in front of them, start reading and talking together and you’ll definitely make an impression with this old-fashioned way to beat the heat and fill long summer days.

Guest blog post by TRC Advisory Council member and Belle of the Book, Rachael Walker.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Breaking Rules: Better on Paper

While I was searching through Reading Road Maps on TRC’s Volunteer Central, looking for a theme, I came across Trouble Makers. It was perfect. My Read-Aloud team had been looking for a way to reinforce TRC’s Promises and reset expectations at the beginning of a new year.

I picked out a slew of great books, including one of my childhood favorites - Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Tales tells the story of 9-year-old Peter Hatcher, and more often than not, Peter’s mischievous younger brother – Fudge. Fudge is always causing trouble: destroying Peter’s homework, dumping food on the floor, cutting his own hair. All in all, Blume penned five books featuring Fudge and his antics (Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Superfudge, Fudge-a-mania and Double Fudge).

Picking books was the easy part. When I began to plan an activity to reinforce the theme, I worried I had made the wrong decision. Columbia Grove readers are a large, enthusiastic, vocal bunch. An invitation to engage in troublemaking seemed like a recipe for disaster. Instead, I decided to have the kids write about Fudge doing something wild and crazy – rather than doing anything wild themselves. 

At the Read-Aloud, we used the TRC Promises (especially "RESPECT") as a way to introduce the theme and start a discussion about getting into trouble. In a large group, we read a chapter from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing where Fudge gets into all kinds of trouble. In small groups, we read other books about mischief from the Trouble Makers Reading Road Map as well as M is for Mischief: An A to Z of Naughty Children.

The kids were given a prompt and each wrote one sentence about something mischievous Fudge did on his first day of school. Their responses were wonderfully all over the place, with many (mostly those written by the boys) involving various bodily functions. We compiled their sentences, added a conclusion and bound the pages together into a "book": Fudge-a-Palooza.  

For kids who quickly finished writing their sentence, we had a word search waiting with synonyms for "trouble maker". And for a snack we served, appropriately, fudge.

The Columbia Grove Fudge story

That week, Columbia Grove readers had two things to sign. As always, they signed their new books to grow their identity as readers as well as their personal libraries. They also signed the title page of Fudge-a-Palooza and, hopefully, also began to identify as writers.

The kids showing off their Fudge book and their new books

Guest blog post written by TRC Read-Aloud volunteer, Erin MacKay.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Emergency Read-Aloud kit

Sometimes a structured, well-planned Read-Aloud just isn't possible. Unexpected things happen; volunteers get sick or stuck in traffic. 

If the volunteer with materials for your fantastic pre-planned Read-Aloud doesn't arrive, don’t panic. In a pinch, all you really need to conduct a Read-Aloud are some kids, some books and some fun. The key is to use what's on hand at your site and to conduct activities that require no preparation and few or no supplies.

Books

Give-away books
Flip the regular schedule on its head and let kids choose their give-away books first. Then read those books with the kids in small groups. If children choose a chapter book, read a little bit of it to give them a taste of the story. Talk with the kids about why they chose a book, what they think will happen in the story and what they think of the characters or topic.

Books in the Reading Corner
Explore the books on the shelves in the Read-Aloud room. Talk with the kids about which books they like and which books they don’t. Talk about ways the kids could use the books (for fun reading, for doing a school assignment, to recommend to a friend who lives at the site, etc.). Then read a few of the books the kids are excited about.


On-the-fly activities


Use on-hand craft supplies

• Make posters to decorate the Reading Corner. They could show what the kids like about the Read-Alouds or their favorite books. 
• Draw self-portraits or a scene from a book they've read or heard.
• Put out a variety of craft supplies that you find on site, such as construction paper, stickers, markers and crayons, etc,. and let the kids have unstructured creative time. 

 
Play get-to-know-you games

• Alike and different — put people in pairs (volunteers and kids, kids and kids, etc.) and let them talk for a little bit.  Ask them to figure out some things they have in common (both like dogs, both born in July) and some things that are different (different favorite colors or foods, different music, different eye color). Then encourage each pair to share what they've discovered about their partner with the group.
• Two truths and a lie -- ask the kids to think up three things about themselves. Two should be true and one made up. (For example: I like coconut. I was born in the summer. I have two brothers.) Then each kid, in turn, tells the group the three things and the group has to guess which one is the lie.

Play word games

• Start with one word and see how many rhyming words the kids can list.
• Do Madlibs as a large group, or in small groups and share the results. There's even a free Madlibs app that you can download and use. Some of TRC's Read-Aloud sites have Madlibs in their binder.
  

Explore your surroundings

• Be scientists or detectives. If you can take the kids outside, look for bugs, birds, plants, types of cars, colors, shapes or any category of items. Inside, have them observe the room for shapes, patterns, small items. Help the kids to make a list or draw pictures of what they find.  
• Ask the kids to close their eyes and listen carefully — what do they hear? If there aren’t a lot of ambient noises, make some by moving a chair, shaking your keys, zipping a coat, opening a cabinet. Ask the kids to guess what the sounds are. You can also play an immense variety of sounds from the BBC stimulus sound library.
• Play I SPY or I HEAR (“I spy with my little eye something that is round.” Or “I hear with my little ear something that sounds squeaky.")

Get up and move

• Do yoga
• Have a dance party using music from your phone or Youtube.  If you have or can find a variety of genres of music, have the kids adapt their dancing to the type of music.
• Use a watch to time activities, such as standing on one leg, jumping jacks or wall sits.
• Do a unified movement activity, like Tootie-Ta or Bananas Unite. 

Play games

• Charades
• Telephone
• I Spy/I Hear
• I’m going on a picnic and I’m going to bring…
• Simon Says
• Musical Chairs
• Red Light, Green Light

The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, but fun and meaningful experiences with books can still happen at your Read-Aloud, even without your theme materials. As long as kids are hearing books read aloud. talking with you about books and get to choose a book to keep, you've accomplished your goal. And the extra good news is that you already have a Read-Aloud planned for next time!

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.