Read-Aloud planning tools

Planning a great Read-Aloud is the secret to having a great time with the kids, but we know that it can be a challenge.  We last focused on this process, in-depth, in posts from 2012. We’re revisiting those posts with some added resources to make your Read-Aloud planning a snap.

Visit TRC’s office

TRC has more than 1,000 books, activity and craft supplies, and outlines for dozens of Read-Alouds at our office.  

You can search our catalog online using LibraryThing to see if we have books you’d like to borrow for your Read-Aloud. Books are listed by title, but you can also search by key word. 

We also have premade Read-Aloud Kits from last summer’s We Are Readers program on 
• Dinosaurs
• Nocturnal animals
• The beach
• Camping
• Building
• Flight


And we have materials to support Read-Alouds on math and zookeepers.















You are welcome to come any time to use these supplies and ask TRC staff for help planning, but we’ve scheduled a Read-Aloud Planning Open House for January 20, 2016, from 5 to 8 p.m. at our new office (1501 Lee Highway, Suite 170, Arlington, VA  22209). 

Recycle your Read-Aloud themes?

Yes, please do! Please use the TRC Read-Aloud Idea Database on Volunteer Central (see below) for great theme ideas from fellow volunteers. Use themes from other sites or reuse popular themes from your own site if all your kids are new. Using Volunteer Central to see what other teams at your site have done recently can help prevent duplication.

• To update or refresh your theme, start with your book list. Check the library for any new or favorite titles on the theme that you may not have used before. Choose an activity that is different from the one you chose before.

• Expand on or narrow the theme. If you did fairy tales before, this time you could do fractured or modern versions of fairy tales. If you did frogs, you could do amphibians.  

Volunteer Central

TRC’s volunteer database contains a bank of themes collected from your Read-Alouds and Reading Road Maps compiled over the past several years. 

To search for a theme for your next Read-Aloud,

• Log in to Volunteer Central.
• Click the "Find Ideas for an Upcoming Read-Aloud" button, or select “Read-Aloud Themes List” from the Read-Alouds menu. Themes that have a Reading Road Map are indicated on the second column.
• Click on that theme. You'll find a description of the Read-Aloud and where it was conducted and a purple Reading Road Map link that will take you to a printable PDF of the information.

You can also search recent Read-Alouds that have been held at your site or at other sites by 

• Selecting "Recent Read-Alouds" in the Read-Aloud menu. The system will default to show only your site, but you can select all sites to see themes from other sites. 
• Selecting the date, which will bring you to the report summary of that Read-Aloud.
• Selecting the theme, which will take you to a compilation of books and activities used with that theme.

TRC’s blog

Sometimes TRC posts about homelessness, poverty or upcoming events, but most of our blog posts have to do with Read-Aloud planning or management. We feature stand-out Read-Alouds created by our volunteers; feature authors, genres and popular themes; and offer craft, activity and snack ideas.  We usually post every other week, so there’s always something new, and the blog has a search feature to help you find specific information.

Reading Road Maps

These outlines for Read-Alouds are designed to cover all the bases: books for different ages, activities, conversation points and movement ideas all related to a theme. They come to your email inbox every other month and are banked in Volunteer Central for your reference.

Other resources

Your local library and children's librarians can offer many ideas for Read-Alouds, but if you'd like more specific book lists, check out WorldCat, an online catalog of books available in libraries all around the world. TRC has its own book lists, and you can also search for specific titles at all the libraries near you.

If you'd like complete theme ideas, take a look at Start With a Book.  Start With a Book provides book lists and activities on themes for kids from pre-k through third grade.

TRC wants Read-Alouds to be fun...

for the kids and for our volunteers. So please, don't feel like you have do it all on your own. Take advantage of our Read-Aloud planning resources.

Happy Reading!

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

Not your granny's hand print turkey: Non-traditional Thanksgiving crafts

Thanksgiving is all about tradition, but the kids at your Read-Aloud will thank you for a new spin on old Thanksgiving crafts. We're reposting an excellent piece on the topic from 2012 to help you with your November Read-Aloud planning.


A Read-Aloud volunteer recounted that last year the kids whooped and hollered when they found out they weren't making hand-print turkeys as the craft at their Thanksgiving-themed Read-Aloud. Kids prepare for Thanksgiving at school and in other programming throughout the month of November, so chances are they've already done hand-print turkeys or that other classic craft you pull out every year. To help you mix things up a bit this year, we've provided several non-traditional Thanksgiving crafts.

Pilgrim hats:  Pilgrims often get overlooked in the realm of Thanksgiving crafts. This easy activity turns black cups into Pilgrim hats. They can also be turned into name cards by writing a person's name on the black circle. Kids may want to make one for everyone coming to their Thanksgiving meal.
Source: Origami Owls

Finger print turkeys:  Take the hand-print turkey in another direction by just using fingerprints. Offer several different colored ink pads to give the feathers variation. The instructions provide details on making front-facing and side-facing turkeys. Add some scenery around the turkey when it's all finished. 
Source: The Charmed Mom 

Pine cone crayon-holder turkeys:  Gather enough pine cones so that each child will have one. Transform the pine cone into a turkey by adding a face and feet using construction paper. The feet can be made by cutting out a heart and gluing it to the bottom of the pine cone. Tacky glue will probably work best for this project. The turkey's feathers are made by inserting crayons into the pine cone. Let the children choose their colors and let them take their turkey and crayons home.  
Source: Amanda's Parties to Go



Leaf turkeys:  Collect some fallen leaves and glue them to circles of cardstock to make the feathers. Cut circles out of two large leaves for the head and body. Add eyes and a beak and you've got a very natural turkey! 
Source: My Creative Stirrings

Paper plate turkey faces:  This is an easy craft for a young crowd. Kids can choose whichever colors suit them for the "feathers." The instructions say to use paint, but markers or crayons will work just as well. 
Source: Preschool Crafts for Kids





Pair any of these crafts with a great Thanksgiving book such as Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey.



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

Get out the vote! Election Read-Alouds

It's election time again. The news is full of election antics from candidates running for dog catcher to president. We're reposting a piece from October 2012 that describes an excellent election-themed Read-Aloud at Woodbury Park. Here's a short video of a bit of the Read-Aloud:

One of the things that makes this an especially good Read-Aloud is that the volunteers created an activity allowing the kids to experience the ins and outs of voting firsthand, and they made the activity meaningful by using the results of their elections to determine future Read-Aloud snacks and themes.

Doing a Read-Aloud on elections is a great way to connect what the kids are hearing about in the real world with books, reading and fun activities. 

Here's the 2012 post: 

In anticipation of Election Day, we organized a theme around elections, voting and democracy. We began the session by discussing ways in which the children already get to vote, whether for their favorite food at home, for a class representative at school or about what to do with their friends. 

We first read Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, in which Duck is tired of doing his farm chores so he holds elections to take over the farm from Farmer Brown. In an entertaining story, Duck continues to run for higher and higher office to redress certain grievances.  

We also read Max for President by Jarrett Krosoczka. Max and Kelly decide they both want to be class president in a tale about election processes and compromise.  

And finally, we read Otto Runs for President by Rosemary Wells.  It presents a similar theme of class elections, but shows what happens in a “race to the bottom” filled with unrealistic campaign promises. 

Other election books we brought to the Read-Aloud included: 

Vote! by Eileen Christelow

If I Ran for President by Catherine Stier

Larue for Mayor by Mark Teague

I Could Do That! by Esther Morris

Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio

Woodrow, the White House Mouse by Peter and Cheryl Barnes

Clifford for President by Acton Figueroa

My Teacher for President by Kay Winters

D is for Democracy by Elissa Grodin

Why Are Elections Important? by Jacqueline Laks Gorman

Voting in an Election by John Hamilton

Activities

We then demonstrated democracy in action by voting at multiple polling stations. To prepare for the voting, every child made a Voter Identification card and every volunteer an Election Official card. The children wrote their names on preprinted identification cards, then hole-punched them and tied a yarn “lanyard” through them. At the same time, the Central Election Official also set up three separate tables for polling places. 

When everyone had their IDs, we divided the kids into three groups and assigned the voters and election monitors to their first polling place. To be successful, following directions was important, much like in real-life voting. The volunteers helped the children understand the question they were voting on and the procedure for voting at each station. 

• Favorite Color/Favorite Sport — Ballot Box
• Choice of Snack — Cast Lots
• Future Read-Aloud Topics — Computer Tabulation (requires a laptop)

At each station, the election monitors checked the voter IDs, verified that each child had not already voted, explained the voting question and helped the children cast their vote.  

At the first polling place, the children marked a paper ballot and deposited it in a box. At the second, a marble was added to the jar representing their vote and at the third, the voters selected from multiple options on a computer. The team used this last vote as a way of determining the interest level in certain topics we were considering for future Read-Alouds. 

About every 5 minutes, once everyone had voted at their polling place, the Central Election Official called time and each group moved to the next polling place. After everyone had voted at all of polling places, the volunteers and one or two Deputy Monitors tallied the vote, and then the deputies delivered the official results to the Central Election Official. 

We then discussed the differences among the voting methods, revealed the overall results to all the children on a white board, and informed them that they (unknowingly) had voted for a treat at a future Read-Aloud (the snack choice vote). 

Everyone really enjoyed the voting. It was entertaining to see the children and volunteers take their roles seriously and to watch the children try to influence each other.  

Guest blog post written by Jason Dutil, volunteer at Woodbury Park.



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

Readers Come in All Languages

Learning to speak a new language is hard. So is learning to read. Trying to do both at the same time is doubly challenging. Understandably, this situation can end up crushing a kid's motivation and love of learning. 

The Reading Connection serves many kids who speak a language other than English at home and who may be developing their English language and reading skills at the same time. Our goal is to boost their reading motivation and fuel their love of learning, so we need to be mindful of their situation.

Feel Dumb

[My teacher] points to me, then to the letters of the English alphabet.

I say A, B, C and so on...

[My teacher] points to the numbers along the wall.

I count up to twenty...

I'm furious, unable to explain I already learned fractions and how to purify river water.

So this is what dumb feels like.

I hate, hate, hate it.

--Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

English language learners make up the fastest growing population of students in U. S. schools. How can you help English language learners become enthusiastic, motivated readers while building their new language skills at the same time? Here are a few ways to support literacy development for these kids.


Slow down and ante up

English language learners frequently coming from under-resourced communities and have to do much more with less. Under-resourced communities have fewer books available for kids, and the kids living there may also have fewer chances to build the background knowledge and vocabulary that will help them with reading comprehension. That's the "less." English language learners are also working not just to learn to read and write, but to do so (and also to speak and think) in at least two languages. That's the "more." 

To accommodate this multitasking, allow English language learners time to process what you are saying. Even if a child appears fluent in English, she may still be thinking in her native tongue. That means she may need to translate what you’ve said into her first language, interpret the meaning, formulate a response and translate it back into English before responding to you.

Provide opportunities to build background knowledge and vocabulary through life experiences and enrichment activities. Including nonfiction books in your Read-Aloud also adds variety and builds background knowledge at the same time.


Provide access to books in English language learners' native language and bilingual books with English and the English language learners' first language. Also valuable are books in English featuring characters and themes from the English language learner's native region that depict the characters in a positive, capable light.


Build the word bank

Passing Time

I study the dictionary
because grass and trees
do not grow faster because I stare.

I look up
Jane: not listed
sees: to eyeball something
Spot: a stain
run: to move really fast
Meaning:  ______ eyeballs stain move.

I throw dictionary down
and ask Brother Quang.
Jane is a name,
not in the dictionary.
Spot is a common name
for a dog.
(Girl named) Jane sees (dog named) Spot run. 

I can't read
a baby book.

Who will believe
I was reading
Nhat Linh?

But then,
who here knows
who he is?
--Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Many English language learners have limited English vocabularies, which directly affects their reading comprehension. Help kids put more words in their word banks by

• Encouraging talk at every opportunity,
• Pointing out cognates to ease vocabulary growth,
• Using pictures and real-life activities to build vocabulary and
• Teaching new words encountered in books you read together.

Be a super model

English language learners' reading comprehension develops more slowly than that of their monolingual peers. They benefit even more from modeling of comprehension techniques. 

When reading aloud with English language learners, consider including the following techniques:

• Model comprehension skills by thinking out loud and asking questions. 
• "Hmm, I'm confused. Maybe I should go back and read that sentence again." Or, "I wonder what that means. What do you think is happening here?"

• Define unfamiliar words within the context of the story and point out how you can use context to understand a new word. 
• If the book you were reading said, "The crab grabbed my finger in his pincer. It hurt!" You could say, "'Pincer' is another word for the crab's claw. We might be able to guess that because of the words 'grab' and 'it hurt,' and also from the picture."

• Make connections to other books or experiences and encourage the kids to do the same thing.
•  "What does this remind you of?" "Have you ever done that?"

• Model making predictions and encourage kids to predict what will happen next.  Retelling or summarizing what they have heard are also important skills to develop.

English language learners make up the fastest growing population of students in U. S. schools. We hope the strategies and insights we’ve provided here help you help the English language learners at your Read-Aloud enjoy reading and strengthen their language and reading skills at the same time.


Thanks to Jennifer Gray, Ph.D., of Marymount University, for her collaboration on this piece.

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

Fast food: Easy snacks for your Read-Aloud

Getting and keeping the attention of a group of children at a Read-Aloud can be a challenge on the best of days, but trying to engage a group of hungry children? That can feel nearly impossible. Over 30 percent of children in Washington, DC, are food-insecure, and those rates skyrocket in low-income families like the ones often served by TRC. Hungry kids have a harder time concentrating, but a simple snack offered during the course of a Read-Aloud can go a long way toward helping the children learn and have fun.

If your site allows snacks, consider including them in your Read-Aloud.  Remember to check with site staff about any food allergies. Just to be safe, it's a good idea to avoid peanuts, pork and gelatin to accommodate common dietary restrictions. (Bye-bye, gummy bears!)

There is no need to go gourmet, unless that fits in with your Read-Aloud theme for the evening. (There are some great picture books that include recipes, like Bee-Bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park, for example.) Some of the best snacks are grab-and-go, so go out and grab one of these to try at your next Read-Aloud!

Teddy Grahams.  These are perfect if you’re discussing bears, winter, hibernation, or even this year’s anniversary of the national parks (thank you, Teddy Roosevelt!). These cute little crackers come in several flavors, like honey and cinnamon (lots of fun if you’re “Going on a Bear Hunt”). Bury a few crackers in a vanilla pudding cup and suddenly the bears are hibernating in snow. An added bonus is Teddy Grahams can be purchased already packed in portions for easy distribution.

Vegetable tray. Prepackaged sliced vegetables + green construction paper = a garden scene! Let the kids play with their food. With celery stalks for stems and baby tomatoes or carrots for flowers, the kids can create art they enjoy first with their eyes and then their mouths. Deli-aisle trays often come with a container of dip, which can coax even reluctant veggie eaters into playing with their food. Keep in mind that small children can choke on pieces of hard fruits and vegetables. Watch any child under the age of four very carefully.

Dried fruit. Available in packages or from the bulk aisle at some grocery stores,  dried fruits are a sweet yet nutritious snack. Think of complimenting a tropical Read-Aloud theme with dried papaya, mango or pineapple.  


Trail mix. Pick up a bag of premixed trail mix, or throw together your own concoction if you’re feeling ambitious. Hearty trail mix occupies little hands while they fill bellies. Try serving trail mix in a cup to cut down on spills, and be sure to avoid peanut products in your mix.

Apples. Move beyond Red Delicious and Granny Smith into the world of Pink Lady, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp. Tie the snack in to the session’s activity by offering children the chance to taste-test unusual varieties of apples and charting their preferences. If you can't find a variety of fresh apple varieties, you can taste test dried apple rings as compared to fresh apple slices and even apple chip.

Goldfish crackers. Like Teddy Grahams, these little fishies come in a wide variety of flavors (think pizza, pretzels and birthday cake) and are an easy-to-serve crowd pleaser that ties in with a wide range of Read-Aloud themes like oceans, animal groupings and colors (yes, they come in colors).

Crackers, in general. Graham crackers, Triscuits or any basic square or rectangular crackers are great on their own or to use in an activity to build tiny, edible structures. Animal crackers or rice cracker snack mix offer other snack options. 


Oreos. Offer kids a small stack of Oreos and let them create phases of the moon by twisting the cookies apart and strategically eating away the icing.  They’ll never again forget waxing versus waning!




Next time your team is planning a Read-Aloud, think about throwing a simple snack in to the session’s agenda. It often means little more effort to a volunteer than an extra item on your grocery list, but these easy eats can have a big impact on TRC's kids!

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.