Literacy

Virginia librarian IdaMae Craddock is using her professional research skills to keep facts at the forefront for her students and fellow educators.

We Need Diverse Books will celebrate the first We Need Diverse Books Day on April 3; senators call on acting director of IMLS to continue funding programs as directed by Congress; Suzanne Collins talks philosophy and Sunrise on the Reaping; Eric Carle Honors honorees announced; and more.

The News Literacy Project offers resources and advice to educators teaching news literacy at a time when the rhetoric around news and contentious issues has been ratcheted up to a new level.

An author proposes a simple standard for representing climate reality in books for children and teens.

A class-action lawsuit alleges Lucy Calkins, Heinemann Publishing, and Fountas & Pinnell, among others, engaged in "deceptive and fraudulent marketing" that resulted in harm to students exposed to the whole language reading method and curricular products; registration is open for LibLearnx in January; auction offers rare items and experiences to benefit We Need Diverse Books; and more in News Bites.

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, shares ways to teach vital media literacy skills without igniting controversy during a highly polarized election.

A college student finds connection through a love of reading while mentoring a New York City elementary school student with the Read Ahead literacy program.

Physical books that play narration can increase students' reading confidence. Parents also like the format as an alternative to digital devices.

As reading instruction swings toward phonics, librarians need to stay in the game with decodables. These suggestions, plus a sampling of publishers' offerings, will help.