Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/250321
CTA &You Recommended reading from California Teachers Bringing reading out into the community BY ALICIA GARCIA P R E - K– G R A D E 2 The Day the Crayons Quit By Drew Daywalt, Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Crayons have feelings too! GRADES 3–5 Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco This autobiographical story is the author's personal song of thanks to teachers like Mr. Falker, who quietly but surely change the lives of the children they teach. GRADES 6–8 Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick Ben and Rose wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known; Rose dreams of being an actress. This highly illustrated novel weaves together their stories, set 50 years apart, which take them on a quest and lead them to a common place. (Review by Mike Heyl, reading specialist and Read Across America committee chair.) G R A D E S 9 –1 2 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz Ari is an angry 15-year-old loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents and his family that he has never asked before. reading in our local community, we worked with our partners from the 2012 Campaign and joined Calipatria's annual "Christmas in the Park" by hosting a reading event using one of the California Reads recommended books: The Day the Crayons Quit. Volunteers from the American Legion Women's Auxiliary Post read to eager children from all over Imperial Valley who came to take part in the festivities. TO H E LP P ROMOT E After listening to the book, some children insisted their friends or siblings come and listen to the funny story about the naked peach crayon. Imperial County Teachers UniServ and the Calipatria Unified and El Centro Secondary teachers associations donated hundreds of boxes of crayons as giveaways for the young audience, who drew pictures about the book while waiting for Santa to arrive. The volunteer readers loved the story and experience so much, they said they planned to buy the book for their grandchildren as Christmas gifts and wanted to know when they could volunteer for the next reading event. In fact, it was such a success and everyone had so much fun, we are planning to do it again next year. One of the volunteers, Marcia Carter, is a retired special education teacher and a Calipatria school board member, while another volunteer, Virginia Amadon, worked as a paraprofessional at the elementary school for over 20 years. Alicia Garcia, Calipatria Unified Teachers Association, is a thirdgrade teacher at Fremont Primary School in Calipatria. FEBRUARY 2014 Educator 02 Feb 2014 v2.1 int.indd 49 www.cta.org 49 1/27/14 3:52 PM