Book Choice = Book Magic!
What Happens When Kids Choose Their Own Books?
It turns out, choice makes quite a difference! A 2017 study of second- and third-grade students published in the Journal of Montessori Research found: "...children who were given a choice in reading scored higher in reading comprehension than when they were assigned a reading." |
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At Cora Kelly School...
...for Math, Science and Technology in Alexandria, the teachers, librarians, and kids already know that!
Just watch Cathy Guthrie, Cora Kelly librarian and RIF of NOVA liaison, as she describes her November book event: Fall into a Good Book! As she says, book choice is a big factor in creating good readers.
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These Cora Kelly School sisters may have dressed in matching jackets, but their book choices were quite different! |
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This boy looked through all the offerings until he found just the right choice: a book about Nikola Tesla! |
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Okay, maybe a consult with a big brother about a good book choice can help! |
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At Dumfries Elementary...
...in Prince William County, reading specialist and RIF of NOVA liaison Marcia Brugger and her colleagues arranged a RIF of NOVA drive-by-pick-a-book distribution! Choosing a book through the car window simply added to the fun!!
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The Holidays Offer So Many Book Choices! |
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Book choices for children abound during the holiday season...not only about the holidays themselves -- Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and other winter traditions -- but also about kindness, generosity, and giving. Our pick for a wonderful book this season? A reimagined, bilingual retelling of the classic "Stone Soup" folktale. |
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The Good Stranger's Sancocho Surprise/El sancocho sorpresa del buen desconocido was written by John J. McLaughlin and illustrated by Ruddy Núñez. Set in the Dominican Republic, it chronicles a stranger who has lost his family to tragedy. When, starving, he comes to a rural town and asks for help, only a penniless girl, with no knowledge of cooking, will offer it. |
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Together they make sancocho ― a traditional Dominican soup where everything can be thrown into the pot ― using a secret recipe the stranger learned from his grandfather. From seemingly nothing, they create a miraculous banquet and teach the villagers a lasting lesson about generosity and overcoming fear. What a great tale for holiday reading!
Teachers and parents can find a full resource guide to the The Good Stranger's Sancocho Surprise here! It's full of art activities, songs, and discussion ideas about the various gifts we each bring to the table. And if that weren't enough, RIF of NOVA community members can buy this bilingual book for a 10% discount! Please click here to find that link!
To learn more about this book, including a link to the illustrator's video about the colorful illustrations, please go to our website section called, New Books...with a NOVA Connection. There, we introduce new children's books by authors connected to our region. |
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Need Other Holiday Book Choice Ideas? We Can Help!
The RIF of NOVA website is full of ideas! We have collated a page full of links to various websites and publications where you can find listings from a range of sites...from the New York Public Library to The Children's Book Review to Colours of Us. Please check it out here! |
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Your Favorite Holiday Book Choices? Our "Poll" Speaks!
In a very unscientific poll in which RIF of NOVA supporters could vote for their holiday favorites, several people offered their suggestions and memories!
Dora Sue: My personal favorite is from childhood. My father read The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore and illustrated by Catherine Barnes. My father continues to read this book every year to his grandchildren and their families via the phone. Christmas Eve is not complete before hearing the story after church services and before bed.
As a school librarian, I have several other favorites. One is Olive, the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold. This fun story is about Olive (a dog) and how she helps Santa. Another favorite is Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto and illustrated by Ed Martinez. This story is about how a precious ring is lost in the making of tamales for Christmas. My students love hearing this story.
Another book I like is Simon and the Bear, a Hanukkah Tale by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Matthew Trueman. The children love to hear about all of the different cultural celebrations through books.
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Jeuli: Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory is a charming book for older children to read and for younger children to be read to. This lovely memoir recalls the sights, sounds, smells, and all the "feels" of the holiday season. I read it aloud every Thanksgiving to those gathered. |
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Jamie: My favorite children's holiday book is Goodnight Bubbala by Sheryl Haft because it reminds me of my family, especially during the holiday season. Reading the story reminds me of many fond memories that make me laugh. |
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Krista: Santa’s Beard is Soft and Warm...such a fun book and a Christmas favorite! Like Pat the Bunny, each page had something to read and to touch. I tried to find this book again 30 years after reading it to my two little girls, but found (sadly) it is no longer being printed. We had a lot of fun with that book! |
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Inspirational Women in our Lives and Memories |
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As part of our 2020 appeal, Votes for Women -- Votes for Books, we asked you to vote for and contribute stories about a woman who inspires or inspired you. Here are a few more stories of love, dedication, and support that are sure to inspire as we approach a new year. All stories are featured on our website: www.rifnova.org/inspirational-women-stories.html. |
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From Ramunda Young:
My vote is for my mom, Brenda. She and my dad raised the four of us with intention, love, values, and a desire to be spiritually grounded. To this day, I have no idea how she managed to keep us all thriving while also working at our elementary school as an administrator. She loved working at our school primarily so she’d have summers off to spend with us.
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Fond memories of reading were when we’d all sit in a little circle on the floor and have Bible study. All our Bibles laid flat open while we each took turns reading scriptures and deepening our knowledge of the Word.
As the oldest, several of those times I’d be the one “acting up,” not wanting to read and causing a ruckus in the group, lol, but I am eternally grateful for the powerful seeds that were planted during those moments...seeds of love, family, togetherness, spirituality, learning, and, of course, reading. I stand in gratitude for you, Mom, and for your tremendous sacrifices which allowed each of us to grow up and thrive.
Note: Ramunda is shown in the red shirt with her mom, Brenda, on her right, with her sisters and her niece.
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From Julie McKinney:
My "Granny," Helen Carter Spurgeon, was the inspiring woman and great motivation in my life. Born in 1898, Granny accomplished things that were not customary for women in rural Indiana or many, many places in the U.S. at that time. A farm girl, she went to college, Earlham College, and played women's sports there as well, while attaining her bachelor''s degree in education. Later, she earned her master's degree, too. During World War II, she was asked to fill the teaching position of a male teacher who left as a soldier to fight in the war. Her teaching career then extended into her early 80s.
Along the way, she raised two daughters primarily on her own. One became a beloved teacher at the historic Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, giving her heart, time, and soul to many at-risk students and young adults. I became an educator of elementary school children as well for 20 years.I am so grateful and inspired by Helen Carter Spurgeon's fearlessness to step into unknown territory and giving her gift of teaching to so many others.
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From Rita Blodgett:
I cast my vote in memory of my aunt, Ruth McDonald, because she was such a strong woman who was able to overcome so much adversity in her life. Born in Germany, she came to the U.S. when sponsored by her aunt and uncle, who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, she met and married my father's brother. Shortly after they married, my uncle enlisted in the Navy, and while he was gone, she gave birth to a child, Nancy, who was less than a year old when he was killed.
As a single mother, Aunt Ruth moved to Florida, where her aunt and uncle were living. There, she trained to be a dental technician, a job she had until she retired. During this time, her only daughter, at 16, was killed when walking home from school by a drunk driver. In spite of this tragedy, she remained strong and continued to live a busy and fulfilling life -- even surviving cancer. She was always a role model and a source of strength for all who knew her, including myself.
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We Depend on You!
Might you choose RIF of NOVA for a donation this year? Every contribution brings books to children in our community. What a difference you can make!
Special thanks are noted here to Friends of the Sherwood Library for a very generous donation in honor of Dan Barolo for his many years of leadership with the group.
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**Send a check to our mailbox:
RIF of NOVA
P. O. Box 7012
Arlington, VA 22207-0012
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Your dollars are helping children especially during the pandemic when access to books has been severely curtailed for so many. See recent pics by clicking here!!!
$3.00 = one book = one child!!!
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Donate GENTLY used books (as like-new as possible!). Contact us at rifnova@gmail.com, and we will arrange to pick them up. So far, we have collected over 2,800 books, and they will all find new homes in the RIF of NOVA community!
West Potomac High School sophomore Addie Clift undertook a Thanksgiving gently used book drive for RIF of NOVA. To get the word out, she posted her appeal on social media, wrote an article for her high school weekly newspaper, and reached out to her younger sister and young cousins to get the word to elementary school families in her community. She soon found that if you ask, people will donate! She was able to collect 1,600 books from all of her contacts. Amazing! This is not Addie’s first contribution to RIF of NOVA. In 2019, she and several friends put up a GoFundMe appeal for NOVA RIF, and she donned the Clifford costume for our Book It for Books 5-K Race, to the delight of the children who attended the event.
Addie comes by her love of books naturally. Her grandmother, Liz Promen, has been on the board for many years and was a public library librarian. Her grandfather and great grandparents were librarians, too...so Addie has a good dose of library genes!
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Clay Waller, a senior at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School, gathered up some of his favorite Christmas books to donate to RIF of NOVA kids, donning a Santa hat to get into the spirit! (What a good sport!)
Clay's early favorites, aside from the holiday books shown in the photo, included the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Magic Treehouse series and, in the middle grades, the popular Rick Riordan adventure books.
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Combined Federal Campaign -- Through January 15, 2021 |
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Are you or someone you know a federal employee or retiree? If so, you can give to RIF of NOVA through the CFC.
First, set up your own CFC account (needed to protect privacy). Click here for the FAQs. Then, when you click on the Find a Charity link, type in our name: Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia or our CFC number #18818.
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Add us to your list with this little button...and voila! Books for deserving Northern Virginia children right at your fingertips! Easy peasy! |
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Other options to help:
*Register with smile.amazon.com. Type in Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virginia, Inc. to select us as the charity you want to support. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to RIF of NOVA. With all our current online ordering and the holidays approaching, the 0.5% can really add up! |
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*Set up a fundraiser for a birthday or anniversary on Facebook and solicit donations for RIF of NOVA. Ask us how by sending an email here!
*If your workplace holds a United Way campaign, designate RIF of NOVA as your chosen philanthropy. Our United Way # is 8959.
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Thank you for any donation -- no matter how big or small!
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Please share the RAP! Forward our newsletter to your friends and anyone interested in providing books to children who need them!
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