• Belle Isle, 5501 N Villa – Sept. 5, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Bethany, 3510 N Mueller – Sept. 7, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Edmond, 10 S Boulevard – Sept. 12, 1 to 5 p.m.
• Warr Acres, 5901 NW 63 – Sept. 14, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Midwest City, 8143 E Reno – Sept. 19, 1 to 5 p.m.
• Choctaw, 2525 Muzzy – Sept. 20, 1 to 5 p.m.
• Northwest, 5600 NW 122 – Sept. 27, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Village, 10307 N Penn – Sept. 27, 1 to 5 p.m.

The Child Guidance program at the Oklahoma City-County Health Department will offer developmental screenings for children birth to five years old at the following libraries and on the corresponding dates.

• Northwest – Thursday, July 26, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Belle Isle – Wednesday, August 1, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Capitol Hill – Thursday, August, 2, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Bethany – Friday, August 3, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Warr Acres – Friday, August 10, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Del City – Tuesday, August 14, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Edmond – Wednesday, August 15, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Midwest City – Wednesday, August 15, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

These will be individual sessions lasting approximately 1 hour with a Child Development Specialist, Speech/Language Pathologist and/or a Behavioral Health Specialist. Sessions include discussion about the normal range of early development as well as any parenting questions that the parent may have in the areas of Speech, Language, Development, and Behavior. Sessions are by appointment only. There is a small fee for screenings. Medicaid is accepted. No person will be denied services for inability to pay.

• Edmond – 1 to 5 p.m. July 11.
• Warr Acres – 9 a.m. to noon July 13.
• Midwest City – 1 to 5 p.m. July 17.
• Choctaw – 1 to 5 p.m. July 19.
• The Village – 1 to 5 p.m. July 24.
• Northwest Oklahoma City – 9 a.m. to noon July 26.

The private sessions last about an hour. The professionals check your child’s speech, behavior and other developmental milestones. There’s a small fee depending on income, but nobody is turned away because of the inability to pay. Medicaid is accepted. Appointments are required. To schedule one, call 425-4412.

I took my daughter to a screening a couple years ago – when she was just about to turn 1 – and it was great. I learned so much. I would recommend this to any parent. In fact, I recommend this to myself. My daughter’s almost 3 now. Maybe it’s time I take her back.

Birth to one year:

• “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?” by Bill Martin
• “Inch by Inch” by Leo Lionni
• “Grow Flower, Grow!” by Lisa Bruce

3 years and older:

• “Fireflies in the Night: Revised Edition” by Judy Hawes
• “Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor” by Joanna Cole
• “All the Colors of the Earth” by Sheila Hamanaka
• “Energy Makes Things Happen” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
• “Peanut Butter and Jelly” by Nadine Bernard Westcott
• “What If…?” by Cheryl Steele
• “The Falling Raindrop” by Neil Johnson and Joel Chin
• “In the Small, Small Pond” by Denise Fleming
• “Growing Vegetable Soup” by Lois Ehlert
• “A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee” by Chris Van Dusen
• “If You Give a Pig a Pancake” by Laura Joffe Numeroff
• “My Five Senses” by Aliki

“Illiteracy is both a cause and a consequence of poverty,” said Steve Davis, state director of Reach Out and Read Oklahoma, in a statement. “If we are going to truly prepare our babies to enter school ready to learn, we must first make sure they can recognize letters, have a nurturing home environment and develop a love of reading. It is our belief that if a parent or loved one gives a child a love for books, they will develop a love for learning that will lead to success in school.”

Children’s books

• “Heroes for Civil Rights” by David A. Adler
• “Amazing Grace” by Mary Hoffman and Carline Binch
• “Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Crab Cakes Later)” by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard
• “Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky” by Faith Ringgold
• “Baby Says” by John Steptoe
• “Chicken Sunday” by Patricia Polacco
• “Barack Obama: United States President” by Roberta Edwards
• “Black Pioneers of Science and Invention” by Louis Haber
• “Afro-Bets: Book of Black Heroes” by Wade Hudson
• “Amazing Peace” by Maya Angelou
• “Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope” by Nikki Grimes
• “Just Like Martin” by Ossie Davis
• “Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World” by Mildred Pitts Walter
• “Mama, I Want to Sing” by Vy Higginsen

Adult books

• “Learning While Black: Creating Educational Excellence for African American Children” by Janice E. Hale
• “Young, Gifted and Black: Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students” by Theresa Perry
• “Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and Life” by Baruti K. Kafele
• “Black Children: Their Roots, Culture and Learning Styles” by Janice E. Hale-Benson
• “The Power of One: How You Can Help or Harm African American Students” by Dr. Gail Thompson
• “Through Ebony Eyes: What Teachers Need to Know but Are Afraid to Ask About African American Students” by Dr. Gail Thompson
• “Marva Collins’ Way: Updated” by Marva Collins

When I first saw the book, I was perplexed. What did Twilight have to do with vocabulary? Then I peeked inside and saw that Author Brian Leaf uses passages from Twilight to quiz students and show them what the words in Twilight mean. There are more than the words vampire and blood in that book for sure; words students need to know.

The Twilight series has encouraged many young people to read more and it seems Leaf has found a way to help them learn even more while doing it.

- Staff Writer Dawn Marks

More than 55,000 students in the United States have signed up and have recorded more than 49 million minutes of reading. As part of the program, 500 books were donated to fourth and fifth grade students at Rockwood Elementary School. 

To join the effort this summer, students can log on and record their minutes of reading. Happy reading!

-Staff Writer Dawn Marks

And second, two stories related to reading. TIME magazine reports that reading — by all accounts a sedentary activity — may actually help young girls lose weight. And this New York Times story talks about the new idea of linking books and video games together.

Share your comments on these stories below, or share links to other national education news that caught your attention.

Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter

The reading time with students is part of a national effort to break the world record for the number of children reading the same book with adults on the same day.

A nonprofit organization called Jumpstart is spearheading the “Read for the Record” event. Jumpstart also raises money to provide books to children in low-income families.

Some of my favorite books to read at the age of Garrett’s audience today — prekindergarten through second-grade children — were the “Amelia Bedelia” stories.

What are your favorite childhood books?

Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter

That’s why the Education Writers Association is planning a glossary of terms for journalists.

Some of the terms EWA may define for reporters like me are: scaffolding, data-driven decision making, intervention, mainstreaming, critical thinking, rubric and formative assessment.

I used to have a rubric’s cube …. but not sure what those other words mean. (Yes, I know it’s a Rubik’s Cube!)

Of course, journalists have their own brand of jargon that educators may not understand. A “lede” is the beginning of a news story. A “mug” is generally a head-shot and not a police line-up.

What edu-speak do you use or not understand? Let me know and we’ll figure it out.

Susan Simpson, Education Writer