High Interest-Low Reading Level Books for Reluctant Readers via Thought Co

#GetToKnowHiLo

#HiLo Books

High Interest-Low Reading Level Books for Reluctant Readers

Thought Co: 1.09.2020 by Elizabeth Kennedy

It's been proven that kids reading below grade level are more likely to read a book that's at their reading level as well as their interest level. If your young children or teens are reluctant readers, they may be frustrated because they read below grade level and can’t find books that interest them. If this is the case, the answer to the dilemma might be "hi-lo books" (“hi” stands for “high interest,” “lo” stands for “low readability,” "low vocabulary," or "lower reading level") specifically geared to encourage reading. Hi-lo books and reading lists focus on titles that engage readers' interest level but are written at a lower reading level.

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Hi-Lo Books for for Reluctant Readers in the Upper Elementary Grades

This list from the Seattle Public Library offers ALSC School-Age Programs and Services Committee offers hi-lo books for reluctant readers in Grades 3 to 6 and has been expanded to include graphic novels and a wide range of subject matter such as comedy, sports, the arts, and science-related topics, to name only a few.

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Multnomah County Library Kids Picks and High-Interest Books for High School Students

Formerly titled "Shorter Books for Taller Readers," this list from the Multnomah County Library in Oregon offers a list of 30 hi-lo books for kids in Grades 6 to 8 (reading levels for each book are cited).

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Bearport Publishing offers educational and nonfiction books for readers from kindergarten level through the 8th Grade. An adjustable slider on their site's search function allows you to select the appropriate reading and interest levels for your young reader.

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Books for Reluctant & Struggling Readers from HIP

High-Interest Publishing (HIP) publishes novels for reluctant readers from grade school through high school.

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Capstone Press has numerous imprints that encompass a range of grade levels. Browse by brand or by genre.  READ MORE➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. Old

(college level entry)

National Literacy & Library Events :: April 2020

National Literacy & Library Events :: April 2020

Literacy & Library Events & Conferences

Events-National & International Events

Events-International: Language Magazine

National Library Week

Financial Literacy Month

National Poetry Month

School Library Month

Apr. 01      Young Child Expo Online 

Apr. 01      International Edible Book Festival - Books2Eat

Apr. 02      International Children's Book Day

Apr. 03      Color of Children's Literature Conf VIRTUAL 

Apr. 04      Young People’s Poetry Day

Apr. 04      Money Smart Week

Apr. 05      World Literacy Summit VIRTUAL 

Apr. 12      Drop Everything & Read Day

Apr. 15      Value of Play Online

Apr. 16      Plain Language for Health Online

Apr. 17      Haiku Poetry Day

Apr. 19      National Library Week: Find Your Place at the Library

Apr. 19      Cowboy Poetry Week

Apr. 19      National Library Week: Find Your Place at the Library

Apr. 19      National Volunteer Week

Apr. 20      Dyslexia Virtual Conference Dyslexia Training Institute

Apr. 21      National Library Workers Day

Apr. 22      National Bookmobile Day

Apr. 23      World Book and Copyright Day

Apr. 23      World Book Night

Apr. 25      Indie Bookstore Day

Apr. 27      Tell a Story Day

Apr. 28      Great Poetry Reading Day

Apr. 30      Dia: El día de los niños/El día de los libros Díapalooza @ Public & School Libraries

State Library Associations :: Conferences

African American Book Events

Book Fairs by State Library of Congress

Children’s Book Council Kid Lit Events

College Children’s & Young Adult Literature Conferences Festivals

Everfest Book Festival Calendar

ILA :: Literacy Calendar Worldwide

Storytelling Events

US Book Festivals

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Clarksburg WV :: Appleton WI :: Grand Rapids MI :: Salisbury NC

Literacy: Spanning the US

Literacy Volunteers 

Harrison County

Harrison County Literacy Program Reaches Out Through YouTube Videos

WDTV: 3.16.2020 by Casey Hoolahan

The Literacy Volunteers of Harrison County have created their own YouTube channel to make their services more accessible.

The group helps people learning English as a second language and adults looking to pass their GEDs.

In addition they help tutor students of all ages in reading and math.

The lessons in their YouTube videos range from children's stories to learning sign language.  WATCH 00:55

@FoxValleyLit

FOX 11 Community Cares: Fox Valley Literacy

FOX 11: 3.18.2020

Helping an adult learn to read can transform his or her life in meaningful ways. It is estimated that more than 12,000 people in the Fox Valley have low literacy skills. Some need help learning English for the first time, while others need to improve their skills in order to finish their GED.

Since 1990, Fox Valley Literacy has brought volunteer tutors and adult learners together.  WATCH: 01:06

@LCWM

Literacy Center of West Michigan Conference Focused on Kids Under 5

Rapid Growth Media: 3.19.2020 by Estelle Slootmaker

According to Dr. Wendy Falb, executive director of The Literacy Center of West Michigan, Michigan’s children have a serious literacy crisis. They rank in the bottom third of states in the nation when it comes to literacy skills. The State’s African American boys rank last. And, those numbers accurately reflect literacy rates in Kent County.

While its programming remains focused on boosting adult literacy, The Literacy Center has decided that building literacy skills among preschool children is important, too. The goal is to make sure West Michigan’s children have the skills they need to learn how to read and write when they get to school. To help launch that focus, its 2020 Community Literacy Conference adopted the theme, “Ready to read, ready to succeed: Developing literacy birth to five” on February 28 in Grand Rapids.

“Recent knowledge about the brain and cognitive development has clarified some of what is the causation of good foundations for a child to decode language,” Falb says. “With the [Kent County] millage passing for early childhood, this a really opportune time to focus on what happens between birth and kindergarten that sets the foundation for children to be ready to read by kindergarten.”  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. Old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

Rowan County 

Literacy Council

Help Others at Rowan County Literacy Council

Salisbury Post: 3.15.2020 by Donald P. Doering

In the Sunday, March 8, edition of the Salisbury Post there was an opinion piece which reported on an event hosted by the Rowan County Literacy Council (“Broaden horizons by volunteering with Literacy Council”).

The event featured David Knutson, the Community Relations Officer for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This presentation not only referred to the process of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen but also touched on the increasing need for volunteers the Literacy Council has in its mission of providing study assistance to immigrants wishing to become citizens.

The Literacy Council provides an ever-expanding scope of services to the Rowan County community — to include adult basic education, English as a second language, U.S. citizenship exam prep, GED prep, as well as youth literacy in partnership with Rowan-Salisbury Schools and Communities in Schools of Rowan County. With only a staff of two, the organization relies heavily on volunteers and community support.

Per the Rowan County Needs Assessment, there are approximately 13,000 persons living in or near Salisbury who speak little to no English. This significantly impacts their ability to find a good job, start a business, get appropriate health care, go grocery shopping or simply navigate everyday life in Rowan County. Immigrants who become naturalized citizens dramatically outpace noncitizen immigrants, earning 50%-70% more than noncitizens. Naturalized immigrants are half as likely to live below the poverty line.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. Old

(Twelfth graders)

BUSTED: 11 Enduring Literacy Myths via Canada West Foundation

BUSTED: 11 Enduring Literacy Myths

Canada West Foundation: Sep 2019 by Janet Lane & T. Scott Murray

Problem

Mention that there’s a literacy problem and most people’s eyes glaze over. “Everyone can read, so there can’t be a problem!” This belief is one of Canada’s most pervasive and enduring myths about literacy.

However, while virtually everyone can read, not everyone can read well enough to realize their full economic potential. And that’s a problem for them, for their

employers and for our country.

Solution

Almost half of the working-age population needs to improve not just their ability to read, but also their ability to understand and use what they have read to meet the demands of life and work. This is not an impossible goal – it can be done. But, some enduring myths about literacy keep us from understanding and tackling the problem.

myth 1

Everyone can read so there can’t be a literacy problem

busted

Being literate isn’t about whether or not you can read. It’s about being able to understand and use what you have read to solve a range of real-world problems in daily life and work.

Most people can read and apply what they have read when the context is familiar. However, roughly half of people aged 16 to 65 can’t use what they have read to solve problems when the content is new and the context unfamiliar.

Meanwhile, an estimated 97 per cent of the jobs created since 1994 require people to apply what they read in unfamiliar documents to solve a range of problems, with ease, every day.

An example of this is following the instructions in a memo from head office about how to help customers fix a glitch in a new product.

myth 2

More education means better literacy

busted

Generally, a person’s literacy skills improve with more education – but they don't necessarily improve enough. Children gain different levels of reading skill while in school, and the gaps can widen over the course of their lives.

Children who are not reading fluidly by the end of Grade 3 often struggle with reading all through school and may leave school early. Even high school and post-secondary graduates may not have adequate literacy levels.

A recent Ontario study showed that 25 per cent of students entering post-secondary had skills below the level needed to learn easily and efficiently; further, their skills didn’t improve by the time they graduated. What’s more, these youth had skills below the level required to perform well in over 90 per cent of jobs in the economy.

myth 3

The literacy skills built in school last a lifetime

busted

People build literacy skills beginning at home, then through school, then gain and lose them over the course of their lives depending on their activities. Some adults with little education find ways to become highly literate and others who are highly educated never reach advanced levels of literacy proficiency.

Much of the skill gain and loss in adults occurs in the workforce. People who work in jobs that demand the use of higher levels of skill tend to gain skill with time, and vice versa. However, individuals can continue to build and maintain skills throughout their lives if they practice.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. Old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

Covid-19’s Impact on Libraries Goes Beyond Books via Wired

Covid-19’s Impact on Libraries Goes Beyond Books

@LorainPLSystem

#WiFi Hotspots

Shuttering public libraries puts a strain on communities—even if it’s the only way to keep people safe.

Wired: 3.25.2020 by Boone Ashworth

For Jennifer Pearson, the choice was difficult but clear: Shut down the library, or people could die.

“My library was filled with older people,” Pearson says. “I just wanted to go out and scream, ‘Go home. What are you doing here?’ I knew that if we didn't make that move to close the building, they would never stop coming. We were, at that point, doing more harm than good.”

Pearson is the director of the Marshall County Memorial Library in Tennessee, which shut down last Wednesday. She’s also president of the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. The ARSL, along with larger organizations like the American Library Association, has issued a statement recommending that public libraries close their doors amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Library of Congress helped lead the charge earlier this month, announcing that it would close all its facilities to the public until April and suspend library-sponsored programs until mid-May. Soon after, public library systems in major cities like New York, San Francisco, and Seattle closed as well. To date, more than 3,000 libraries across the country have followed suit.

The buildings won’t all just sit empty. In San Francisco, for instance, libraries and other public facilities have been repurposed as “emergency care facilities for children of parents on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak and low-income families,” according to a press release from the office of San Francisco mayor London Breed. But, as with every societal disruption wrought by the coronavirus, the closure of libraries can create ripple effects through the communities around them.

“Shutting down libraries has a tremendous impact on the communities that we serve,” says Ramiro Salazar, president of the Public Library Association and director of San Antonio Public Library. “Until they’re closed, sometimes folks don't realize how important libraries are to them.”

═════════►

Change Is Overdue

While libraries have struggled during their time in suspended animation, more hardships may come after the coronavirus pandemic runs its course. At this point, an economic recession appears all but inevitable. During economic downturns, library patronage surges, as millions more people are drawn by free and low-cost resources, job-seeking programs chief among them. According to a 2010 report by the ALA, libraries in 24 states had their funding slashed during the recession of the late 2000s. Combine a surplus of increasingly desperate people with an underfunded library staff and things can get ugly.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. Old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

22 Creative Ways Kids Can Respond to Books via We Are Teachers

22 Creative Ways Kids Can Respond to Books

@WeAreTeachers

From mint tins to cereal boxes to T-shirts.

We Are Teachers: 2.25.2020 by Elizabeth Mulvahill

Reading about other people and perspectives helps kids learn beyond their own experiences. Students don’t need to dive deeply into every single book they read, but occasionally showing them how to dive in can help them view reading in different ways. Digging into characters (or settings or themes) from the books they read can really help them learn how to look beyond the prose. Here are 22 creative book report ideas designed to make reading more meaningful:

Fictional Yearbook Entries

Ask your students to create a yearbook based on the characters and setting in the book. What do they look like?

Current Events Comparison

Have students locate 3-5 current event articles a character in their book might be interested in.

Book Alphabet

Choose 15-20 alphabet books to help give your students examples of how they work around themes. Then ask your students to create their own Book Alphabet based on the book they read.

Reading Lists for Characters

Ask your students to think about a character in their book. What kinds of books might that character like to read?

Create a PSA

If a student has read a book about a cause that affects people, animals, or the environment, teach them about Public Service Announcements.

Be a Character Therapist

Therapists work to uncover their clients’ fears based on their words and actions.  READ MORE  ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Salisbury NC :: Fairfield CA :: Elkhorn WI

Literacy: Spanning the US

@RCLiteracy

Broaden Horizons By Volunteering With Literacy Council

Salisbury Post: 3.08.2020 by Salisbury Post Editorial Board

Compromise always seems tougher when debates are politicized and, as a result, polarizing.

There’s not many better examples than immigration. In a national survey in July by the Pew Research Center, for example, 57% of Republicans or people who lean Republican said the country loses its identity if it’s too open to people from all over the world. That’s a sharp contrast with people who say they’re Democrats or lean Democratic — 86% say America’s openness to people from all over the world is essential to who we are as a nation.

Both numbers are different than the country at large, 62% of which says America’s openness to people from all over the world is essential to who we are as a nation. But increasingly and through self-sorting, Americans find themselves living in something like 57% or 86% communities. Some Rowan Countians live in communities where the percentage is much sharper. It’s part of the reason why compromise is tougher than ever to find on any range of topics and even in casual conversations: people circulate in homogeneous communities — political, racial or otherwise.

What if, instead of automatically retreating to partisan corners, ideas and opinions were informed by personal experiences?

A good way to start broadening your horizons is to volunteer.

Consider the Rowan County Literacy Council, which offers tutors to help legal residents study to become naturalized citizens. That’s in addition to English as a second language, adult basic education and other services.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old (Twelfth graders)

@SolanoLibrary

Diane Robinson: Ruby Award

Daily Republic: 3.15.2020

Diane Robinson grew up with a secret she didn’t want anyone to know. She was dyslexic and would wonder why she was different from the other children at school.

Then, she watched as her son struggled with the same situation.

One day she walked into the Fairfield Civic Center Library and saw a flyer offering help with literacy. Now, she leads the newcomer meeting for the Women Helping Women literacy group.

Her efforts to help other women learn literacy earned her Soroptimist International of Central Solano County’s Ruby Award, given to a woman who is making a difference in her community.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 6

Reading Level: fairly easy to read.

Reader's Age: 10-11 yrs. Olds

(Fifth and Sixth graders)

WCLC

Literacy Teacher Excels From The Courtroom To The Classroom

Journal Times: 3. 6.2020 by Scott Williams

As a criminal defense lawyer, Brigette Kutschma saw many clients struggle to get their lives under control simply because they lacked basic reading and writing skills.

So, the Lake Geneva attorney volunteered with the Walworth County Literacy Council and soon found herself tutoring people.

Kutschma then launched a jailhouse literacy program, and later she started spending two nights a week teaching English language skills to Spanish-speaking students at Badger High School.

For someone who has never had any formal training as a teacher, Kutschma has dedicated much of her life to education.

Now, she is being recognized with an award as Outstanding Teacher of the Year from a national organization that promotes literacy and adult learning.

Kutschma, 43, of the town of Linn, will travel to the East Coast this summer to accept the outstanding teacher award from the Coalition on Adult Basic Education. READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. Old

(college level entry)