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Meet Your Host: Vanessa Levin

I’ve made a career out of teaching, both as a classroom teacher and an educational consultant and trainer. As an early childhood trainer, I have spoken to thousands of teachers in person at popular early childhood conferences such as Frog Street Splash, I Teach K! and NAEYC. But I can only reach a limited number of teachers in person, so that's why I decided to host the

Soar to Success Summit. Through this online venue we can reach teachers around the world and help them have their best year ever! I'm thrilled to have you along for the ride on this groundbreaking adventure!



Jodie Rodriguez: Using Interactive Read-Alouds to Engage Young Children from the First Day Take a moment and reflect on your group read-aloud time. What are some of the behaviors children are doing during this time? Which of these are wanted and which are unwanted? The 5 qualities that Jodie looks for in a great read-aloud book are B.R.E.A.D: bold bright pictures; rhythm and rhyme; engaging and entertaining; amount of time; dialogue or different characters so you can do voices. Examine the books you have in your classroom. Which ones do you think exhibit these qualities best?



During one-on-one time, Jodie likes books with more detailed pictures but during group read-alouds, this can cause problems because the children can’t see from far away. Looking over the books in your classroom which ones might be troublesome for those children sitting at the back of a group? At the beginning of the year, children like funny and silly books because they are very entertaining. Why do you think it’s important to capture a young child’s attention early in the school year? How might you expand their attention span throughout the year? To make the book “Don’t Press the Button” interactive, Jodie puts a red sticker onto the back of a child’s hand and gets them to press it while she is reading. Look over your collection of books, what are some ways to engage your children’s whole body and make your books interactive?



There are two main story-time goals that teachers need at the beginning of the year are: teaching kids how to listen to a story and getting them to fall in love with books. How often do you think about these goals in your planning? Jodie says that when she reads the book “Tiptoe Joe” she has the children stand up and tip toe in place. Why might this be a useful strategy to prevent behavior problems during storytime? Vanessa says with books like “Groovy Joe: Ice Cream and Dinosaurs” there are free downloadable songs to go along with the book. When in the past have you used songs and books together in your classroom?



Sometimes teachers feel like they need to read a book about the first week of school since it is the first week of school. Why might this plan miss the mark when thinking about the children’s perspective? Jodie says that she doesn’t like the children to come up and touch the book in front of the group because then all the students want to touch the book. What is an interactive activity you could get the students to do instead of coming up and touching a book? Jodie mentions that it is a good idea to read books with characters that the child might be reading at home (eg. Llama llama) because it builds a home-school comfortableness and lessens their anxiety. How might you find out what books the children are reading at home?



How often do you prescreen the books you read? How often do you just pick a random book off the bookshelf to read to the children? If a read-aloud is just not working, Jodie will stop the activity and do something else with the students. Have you ever done this? Why might this be more beneficial than trying to forge ahead with the read-aloud? Jodie mentions Pre-K Pages, Growing Book by Book, public libraries, and instagram hashtags #ClassroomBookOfTheDay and #PictureBookOfTheDay as places where she find book lists for young children. What are your favorite places to learn about new books?



Jodie says that a good read-aloud is like a magic reset button for the day. They can even be used in an emergency like a fire alarm to keep the children’s attention when you are outside. Knowing this, how might you use these B.R.E.A.D. books to manage classroom behavior in the upcoming school year? Write down a list of your own ten go-to books that fit the B.R.E.A.D. criteria and that you love to read. Jodie says that you can return to a book over and over again to teach different ideas. What is a book that you have returned to over and over again? And what concepts did you teach each time?



Allison McDonald: Moving Beyond The Snowy Day: The Importance of Diverse Picture Books in the 21st Century Classroom Talking about race and diversity can bring up big feelings for many people. Take a moment to check in with yourself and write down how you are feeling right now. Also write down what you hope to get out of this talk. Allison’s definition of diverse picture books includes more than just race. It includes categories such as religion, language, sexual diversity, and also subtle categories like a child wearing glasses, adopted families, or what a child calls their mother. Reflect on your past classrooms. When you look beyond race, what are some other examples of diversity you have experienced?



Allison says that all teachers want to give their students tools to be more empathetic. Why might a diverse children’s picture book be useful in accomplishing this goal? Empathy is a developmental skill that needs to be scaffolded over time. If a young child is shy and likes to play alone at the beginning of the year, what might be some smaller skills that child needs to learn over the course of the year before they become empathetic? Allison says that books are useful to connecting children to experiences they don’t have and also to experiences they have had. What books have you read that have had experiences you don’t connect with? And which books connected with you because you had experienced something similar?



When children feel like they belong, they are going to be more engaged and they will learn more. At the beginning of the school year what materials might you include in your classroom to make a child feel like they belong? Vanessa shares a story about a child in her classroom with a breathing machine and a trachea tube. She said that the adults and parents were very concerned about including this child with the other children. However, once the child was in the classroom the other children were very accepting and understanding. When has a young child surprised you with their acceptance? Allison taught two and a half year olds that their birthday celebrations and words for their mom may be different than their friends and other kids in class. Why is it developmentally useful for young children to understand that what they do in life is not the only way something can be done?



Allison says that books can be mirrors and windows. When you think about the books you are going to be including in your classroom this year, how many books are windows into a new experience that is not their own? If the number is low, how might you add more diverse books? Allison says that lots of teachers find talking about diversity to be uncomfortable. A first step she recommends is bringing books into your classroom with diverse families. When you think about diverse families, how many different types of diverse families can you think of (eg. foster families, extended families, refugee families, etc)? Allison mentions the importance of having books about age diversity and multigenerational families. Think back to the children you have had in previous years, how many of them had grandparents or other adults play a large role in the child’s life? What is missing from your classroom when you fail to include these people?



When selecting diverse books Allison says you have to look at your student’s experiences and ask: Where are the gaps? Think about who is going to be in your classroom this upcoming year. What perspectives will be missing from your books? Vanessa says it’s important to have books that feature a strong female character because if a child doesn’t see themselves represented it can hurt their future success. When you look in your classroom, how many of them have strong female characters? Books with strong female characters are not just important for girls to read, but also for boys to read. Why do you think this is true?



Allison says there is a gap in the book industry for books about strong African American boys, empathetic dads, and also books written by a person of color about a person of color. When you think about the books in your school and at your library, what other gaps in diversity do you personally think are missing? How many of the books in your classroom are about caring fathers? What messages are sent to children when they don’t see adult men with a full range of emotions? Vanessa and Allison talk about “cringe-worthy” older children’s books that had gender stereotypes (eg. man in suit smoking a pipe), racial stereotypes (eg. asians eating rice), and outdated punishment (eg. spanking). What are some older books you remember that make you cringe now? How might you address these books if a parent or child asked you about this book?



Allison talks about how stereotypes of clothing can be a very tourist view of diversity. Why might this superficial level of understanding be harmful to a young child if they are trying to understand another person’s perspective and build empathy? Children are always curious about the world around them and adding diverse books can help the children in your classroom meet their social and emotional needs. If you had more diverse books when you were growing up what might have shifted for you? The first question of this workbook was checking in with ourselves. Take another moment to check in with yourself after watching the talk and write down your feelings again. What comes up for you when you compare your two answers?



Dr. Danny Brassell: How to Create Passionate and Proficient Readers Danny was passionate about working with young preschoolers because they don’t know what they can’t do yet. When has a young child surprised you with their abilities? Danny believes that if you want kids to be excited about reading, you have to know what they like reading. How have you found out what excites your children? Children’s librarians and bookstore employees are really great resources to find out what books are suitable for your classroom. When was the last time you had a conversation with a children’s librarian or children’s bookstore employee?



Enthusiasm and character voices are important parts of selling a book to a young child. What are your favorite ways to keep a child engaged during a read-aloud? Danny believes that if children believe books are fun they are more likely to be excited by reading. It is not just important to teach kids how to read, but also to make them want to read. How might you plan your classroom this year so that books are a treat to be desired? Danny mentions having parents read a book to a child before they watch television. How might you encourage the families in your classroom to read more often with their children? What barriers might they put up and how might you overcome those barriers?



Danny used the technique of asking for books as well as writing thank you cards to receive free and discounted books from a variety of sources. Who can you reach out to for free books or a donation to buy books? Danny describes making his own books with the children in his classroom. This activity gives students a sense of ownership. Why do you think this ownership is important for children to fall in love with books? Danny mentions going to garage sales to find children’s books for a cheap price. It is often a good idea to have some criteria when going to a garage sale because the selection can be hit or miss. Jodie Rodriguez’s talk mentioned a B.R.E.A.D acronym for read-aloud books. Do you remember what that was?



Danny is an extroverted teacher who has stories about convincing law firms, carpet salesmen, rotary clubs, and other strangers to give him money and books. If you are not as extroverted, how might you work with your school or other teachers to achieve some of his same goals? Danny says that he wrote letters to a baseball team and also to the National Oceanic Society to receive free gifts for the classroom. If you were to write a similar letter with your students, who would they be excited to receive a package from? Danny trained older children and adults to work with younger struggling readers one-on-one to encourage them to be better readers. In your classroom what are a few ways you support struggling readers so that they don’t feel discouraged?



Vanessa believes that all parents want to help their children read better but not all parents know how. What are some ways you can communicate effective learning techniques to parents so that they feel comfortable helping their children?



David Catrow: Elevating Art David tells us that when he was young he was not great with words or reading but he had a drive to tell stories with pictures. David has now created a successful career out of illustratiing. When have you seen a child struggle with writing and reading, but have talents in other areas? David said he got better at drawing through lots and lots of practice. For students who have talents outside of writing and reading, how have you encouraged those skills to develop? As David got more skilled at drawing pictures he says that he became more skilled at communicating verbally with words. From a developmental perspective why do you think this happened?



There can be many different types of learners. Some children are visual learners, while others are verbal, kinesthetic, musical, math-logical, interpersonal, etc. What kind of learner are you? Going into the new year how can you make space in your classroom for all kinds of learners? David says that he was fascinated by the natural world and used to observe and draw plants, trees, frogs, and insects. Why do you think it’s important for young children to be outside and exposed to the natural environment? Young children inherently have limited language skills but art and pictures are a visual means of communicating. Looking forward into the new year how might you encourage your students to communicate and express themselves with art so they feel competent?



When David talks about his creative process he says he is inspired by others before him and that he hopes he inspires others after him in a “pay it forward” chain reaction. When have you used a children’s book as inspiration for a lesson plan or an art project with your students? David says that every idea has within it problems you have to solve. He enjoys the process of solving those problems. During the course of any day there are many problems an early childhood educator has to solve. When you take a step back from that daily grind, how might you get to a place where you found joy in solving those problems? When answering the last question was there any support you needed from co-workers, administrators, or even people in your personal life? If so, how might you communicate those needs with them so that you are able to be the best teacher you could be?



David was a child who struggled with math as a young child. He wished that his math teachers were able to see themselves in his shoes and speak to him as if he were speaking to himself. When there is a child struggling in your classroom how might you ensure that you are empathetic to their perspective?



Jennifer Cummings: How to Make Your Public Library Work For You At Jennifer’s library they offer webinars with continuing education credits for teachers. Have you researched if your local library offers anything similar? If you library doesn’t offer webinars or (or another service you’d like) and you are interested in them how might you kindly request this service? Jennifer says that if a teacher is reading books on a specific theme then they could ask the library to pull out a stack of books on that theme for them to browse. Why might it be useful to tap into the librarian’s expertise?



If your public library doesn’t have a book you want there are two options: you can request that book to be purchased or it can be brought in through an inter-library loan from another library. Have you used either of these services before? At Jennifer’s library they have “storytime backpacks” where you can check out a bag with multiple books, flannel, songsheets, and more all together in a package. Why might this be a very useful time-saver to teachers? Have you ever asked if your library has a similar service? In what ways might a storytime backpack also be useful to parents? And how could you encourage parents and families to also participate?



If you are in administrative position, have you ever considered inviting your local library to your school or done a field trip to the library? What might be some benefits of having your students have their own library card from a young age? Jennifer closes by saying that public libraries are “your library” and wants teachers and students to believe they have ownership over the books and materials. Why might it be important for young children to feel ownership over the library and the resources it provides?



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