Aunts and Literacy, Helping Children Become Critical Readers

Aunts and Literacy (2:52) What role do aunts and uncles and extended family play in developing literacy in children? Our first guest on “Worlds Awaiting,” Lynette Christensen, professor in the BYU School of Education, says they have a big role. She cites her own experiences as an aunt, as well as important research on the topic. Lynnette Christensen works with the BYU Positive Behavior Support Initiative and has been actively involved in the implementation and research of this program in the public schools. Helping Children Become Critical Readers (14:57) Next, Rachel visits with elementary school teacher, Ed Spicer, about helping children become critical readers – critical about what they’re reading and why they’re reading. As a teacher, Mr. Spicer spends most of his time with his own first grade students, but also loves building young high school authors through the Tiger Tales literary contest (which he has coordinated and judged for 15 years). Visit Ed’s Teen Book Review, called “Spicy Reads,” at  Ed Spicer has also served on the Caldecott,  Printz, and various other award committees of the American Library Association. Here is a video of Mr. Spicer’s student, Brycen, who talks about why he likes “Snowman Magic” by Katherine Tegen. Incidentally, Brycen wasn’t interested in reading until he discovered “Snowman Magic.” Now, he checks it out all the time! Winnie the Pooh (25:07) We finish up the show today with children’s librarian Shauna Mundinger from the Orem, Utah Library, who reviews a picture book that tells the story about the real bear behind A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh. The book is called “Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear” by Lindsay Mattock.