Tag Archives: literacy

Authentic Spanish Books List for Grades PreK-5

Check out our new printable Authentic Spanish Book List that features some of our most popular award-winning bilingual and dual language texts written by authors from the cultures featured in our books.

The read alouds featured in this list will help build a solid foundation to achieve Spanish literacy or bilingualism while also affirming and validating a child’s identity, culture, and home language. These stories celebrate cultures, voices, and experiences of communities historically underrepresented or misrepresented in children’s literature.

Included in this list are culturally and linguistically authentic books that all children can enjoy.

Authentic Spanish Book List Collections:

Authentic Spanish Book List Collection
Authentic Spanish Book List Grades PreK-2 Collection
Authentic Spanish Book List Grades 3-5 Collection

Download, print, and share the Authentic Spanish Book List here.

Watch the Webinar: Teaching Social Activism through Children’s Books

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for our webinar, “Teaching Social Activism through Children’s Books”! If you missed it live (or just want to watch again), here is a recording of the webinar:

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Oprah Winfrey Reads The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen For Storyline Online

The itch. The Hula-Hoopin’ itch. My fingers start snappin’. My feet start tappin’. My hips start swingin’. ­

The Hula-Hoopin' QueenThe Hula Hoopin’ Queen was selected by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation for the first read aloud of 2019 on Storyline Online, an interactive literacy website where world-renowned actors and celebrities read popular, award-winning children’s books to help students fall in love with reading.

The Hula Hoopin’ Queen was written by Thelma Godin, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton, and is now read by Oprah Winfrey on Emmy-nominated Storyline Online.

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Free Upcoming Webinar: Teaching Social Activism through Children’s Books

Join us for our free webinar about our Social Activism Diverse Reading List and different methods of teaching social activism in the classroom while highlighting relevant books and engaging activities on Wednesday, January 23rd at 4PM EST.

Katie Potter, Literacy Specialist at Lee & Low, and Ina Pannell-St. Surin, NYC-based special education teacher and Responsive Classroom teacher consultant, will lead a dynamic conversation about how to use books to discuss and inspire social activism in students with both historical and present-day contexts.

Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Time: 4:00 PM EST
Duration: 1 hour
How to Join: Register here.

Registration is free, but space is limited so register today! If you can’t join live, you can still register to receive a link to the recording after the webinar takes place.

Hope to see you there!

EmbraceRace and Lee & Low on Finding and Reading Great Stories with Kids

EmbraceRace

Earlier this week, Literacy Specialist Katie Potter joined EmbraceRace in conversation about how to find and share books that develop kids’ racial and social justice sensibilities and help them become the community members our increasingly multiracial democracy needs.

If you missed the webinar live (or just want to watch it again), you can watch the recording of the webinar here.

We’re offering 20% off and free shipping* for webinar registrants through December 11! Just visit the Lee & Low website and use the code EMBRACERACE at checkout.

Not sure where to begin? Start with these booklists featured in the webinar:

Books that inspire resilience in kids of color
Books that encourage kids of all colors to be inclusive and empathetic
Books that support kids to think critically about racial inequity
Books that animate kids (and adults!) to be racial justice advocates for all kids

For more about using books to engage kids in conversation about differences, click here for Katie’s tip sheet.

About EmbraceRace: EmbraceRace is a multiracial community of parents, teachers, experts, and other caring adults who support each other to meet the challenges that race poses to our children, families, and communities.

Have additional questions or comments? Please leave them below in the comments!

*Free shipping on US addresses only. Coupon code not valid on Bebop Books titles and full collections.

Reading Sight Words Automatically and Accurately

Reading Conferences #4

In the fourth post of our Reading Conferences with Beginning Readers blog series, our literacy team shares how to read sight words automatically and accurately. This post is taken from our free, downloadable Reading Conferences by Bebop Books guide.

What are sight words and why are they important?

Sight words are words that children have learned to recognize without having to decode. Sight words are some of the most frequently used words in English and some of the first words early readers learn to recognize on sight and read. Level A, B, and C books are filled with these familiar words. When children read books at these levels, they should be able to recognize the words they have learned and read them automatically. Continue reading

Behind the Novel Effect Soundscape: Baseball Saved Us

Novel Effect, a free voice interactive storytelling app, syncs theme music and sound effects to stories as you read them aloud. By now, you may have explored some of the Lee & Low titles available on the app, including Baby Born, The Story I’ll Tell, Sparkle Boy, and Baseball Saved Us (and more on the way!). What you may not know is that Novel Effect works with award-winning composers from film and gaming to custom create each and every soundscape.

Novel Effect

We sat down with composer Ian Silver and Audio Lead Matthew Boerner, two of the talents behind several Novel Effect soundscapes, to ask them about creating the Lee & Low soundscape for Baseball Saved Us.

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G. Neri on the Inspiration Behind Grand Theft Horse: “Gail’s a Superhero to Me”

This fall we released a new graphic novel by Coretta Scott King award-winning author G. Neri called Grand Theft Horse, which retells the life of his cousin Gail, a pioneer who challenged the horse racing world for the sake of one extraordinary horse. The graphicGrand Theft Horse novel has already received two starred reviews:

The graphic novel world isn’t full of true stories about nearly sixty-year-old, women of color who refuse to back down from wealthy, white men exploiting (and further corrupting) a corrupt system. Grand Theft Horse feels all the more timely and urgent because of it.” —Booklist starred review

Superb. Ruffu’s tenacity and the book’s satisfying conclusion will appeal to fans of John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell’s “March” trilogy.” —School Library Journal starred review

In this blog post, author G. Neri shares some of the inspiration behind his newest graphic novel.

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Watch the Webinar: Guided Reading in Kindergarten

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for our webinar, “Guided Reading in Kindergarten”! If you missed it live (or just want to watch again), here is a recording of the webinar:

Click below for our free Reading Conferences with Your Beginning Readers document and a one-hour professional development certificate. You can also learn more about Bebop Books and our leveled reading collections by clicking below.

Reading Conferences with Your Beginning Readers
Professional Development Certificate
Bebop Books
Leveled Reading Collections

Have additional questions or comments? Please leave them below in the comments!

Using Children’s Books to Address Anxiety in Schools

There are many different factors behind why anxiety and depression have increased in children in recent years: limitations on free play, social media use, the current state of the political climate in this country, and more. According to a study about the lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in adolescents (ages 13-18) from the United States, nearly one in three fit the criteria for an anxiety disorder. The Center for Disease Control found that 32% of teens reported persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in a study that ranged from 2007 to 2017. Mental health awareness is crucial for all of us, and it needs to be discussed with children starting at an early age.

Books are a great way to bring up these topics to let children know that it’s okay to talk about these things, especially through the lens of a beloved character or riveting storyline. Continue reading