1. Take the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge

The Common Core State Standards are challenging schools nationwide to raise the bar. I love the playful nature of the Scholastic Summer Challenge to enroll every classroom in this mission. Beginning May 6, kids of all ages can track their reading minutes online (at scholastic.com/summer) to earn rewards for themselves and their school. Let’s get our students ready to reach their own goals.

Friendly competition gives children something to strive for, and the Summer Challenge also invites them to work in teams and be part of something bigger than themselves.

Read the rest of Pam's summer reading tips here.

LitWorld is proud to support the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. We encourage our community to sign up and share your progress with us on Twitter and Facebook. We look forward to tracking your extraordinary reading goals and sharing in your reading joy!

For daily updates, photos and reports from the field, read the LitCorps Ambassador Blog and follow LitWorld on Facebook and Twitter. We are profoundly grateful for the generosity of our extraordinary partner, Vibal Publishing, for sponsoring what will be a truly magical LitCamp.

Hip hip hooray for the Hackley School!

"Moses was my student in Brooklyn, N.Y. He came from Guyana, was 10 years old, and deaf. His mother, who spoke no English and knew no one in New York, had made the treacherous journey to the United States to give him the opportunity to go to school. He was the skinniest boy I had ever seen, with longer-than-long legs that he sometimes tripped over when he ran. Moses was not getting enough to eat at home, so I started bringing him food. Some days, he did not eat from the time he left me until the next morning at school.

Moses and his mother lived in one tiny room where the heat sometimes did not work. His mother worked two jobs and was rarely home for more than an hour when Moses returned from school. Yet here he was, at long last, in a school for the deaf where he could finally thrive and learn."

Read the full article to learn about five ways that we can equip children and schools to fight poverty.

Click to watch a two minute LitWorld film that captures the spirit of our work.

Four hundred people strong, stories everywhere, love abounding. We are deeply grateful for the dear friends that attended, and those that supported us from afar, and the profound generosity of all who donated beautiful items to our silent auction.

The LitWorld community came together and stood up for the world's children and their right to learn, and to use their own stories to change the world. This support will launch twenty new LitClubs around the world. Click here for photo highlights from this magical celebration.

Learn about LitWorld's innovative solutions to the global learning crisis. 

Click here to download the LitWorld Annual Report 2012.

 

As an educator and advocate for children, I get many queries after tragedy, especially about how we can help our children cope with what they have heard and seen. I hope these simple messages help.

1. Most of the time, people are trying to do the right thing.

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'"

This message from Mr. Rogers is particularly helpful for a child who needs a strategy to counteract the horror of the image he sees on television or right before him. Day after day, friendly people give up seats on a train to someone who needs it more, share a gift with someone or run in the direction of danger to help, as many did in Boston. Tell these stories to a child. Put the spotlight on the helpers.

Read the full piece on the Huffington Post.

Gotham Magazine knows the pulse of Manhattan and chronicles "the best of New York." We are thrilled to see the LitWorld Gala 2013 featured on gotham-magazine.com. Please join us for a warm evening to celebrate the power of story, and the power of coming together to create change.

"The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation." - Ray L. Wilbur

"Hurricane Sandy caused many layers of destruction across New York, some too brutally seen under the harsh spotlight of loss, others more hidden, their own kinds of sadnesses becoming more visible as the weeks went on.

One of these sadnesses was the total destruction of the Bellevue Hospital's Children's Library. Due to severe flooding, a lovingly and painstakingly collected library of books was destroyed. When our friends at Bellevue let us know about this devastating loss it struck us at LitWorld to the core. We know how long it takes to build a library, and how much the child in the most vulnerable circumstances treasures the stories she loves. Those things are sorely missed when they are gone."

Read the full piece on HuffPost Impact.