Books Archives - GoodFitFam

Teaching Vocabulary With Chapter Books

February 2, 2018 by Karen Leave a Comment

We are always looking for chapter books that appeal to our 6-year-old twin boys for shared book reading.

Whether it’s on the couch, in the hammock or a bedtime story. We can’t get enough of a good series that keeps us looking forward to what’s going to happen next.

We’re super excited for the upcoming 4th book of Upside Down Magic, Dragon Overnight by Sarah Mlynowski,‎ Lauren Myracle, and‎ Emily Jenkins

The fourth book came out January 30th. If you haven’t read the first 3, we highly recommend it. The Upside Down Magic series is about a group of misfits that learns to foster, embrace, and celebrate their differences.

Nory can’t control her wonky magic and turns herself into a dritten (yes a dragon/kitten hybrid) instead of a perfectly formed cat.

After many misadventures, she learns being out of the ordinary is extraordinary. It’s a great read to support kids who are just starting school and provides teachable moments for embracing differences in learning styles and abilities.

Looking to amplify learning from shared book reading? Here is a research-based strategy to explicitly teach vocabulary, it’s called Text Talk. I use this with my kids, preschoolers, and Kindergarteners. It’s easy and fun, the kids eat it up!

Find a Tier 2 word to teach your children.

Once you find a Tier 2 word:

Contextualize the word.
Provide a simple definition of the word.
Have the child(ren) repeat the word.
Take turns using the word in different context with your child(ren).

This is just one of the many fun teaching activities you can use with children to increase their success and enjoyment with literacy. You can learn more by registering to take the Building Blocks of Literacy workshop at http://www.buildingblocksforliteracy.org/

Teaching Social Thinking With Graphic Novels

October 9, 2017 by Karen Leave a Comment

Graphic novels are a great way to teach adolescents and adults social communication. Lorena Alvarez’s brilliant graphic novel, NightLights, demonstrates subtle but complex nonverbal language. The novel’s captivating visuals paint a landscape rich with social interactions. Did you know 84% of our communication is non-verbal language? It’s the downfall of using text messages when trying to start a romantic relationship.

From NightLights by Lorena Alvarez

Scenes such as the one above demonstrated the hidden rules of social communication. These are the rules we don’t talk about but are supposed to know. There are a number of distinct social interactions we can pull from this single scene. They range from positive to negative, and some ambiguous ones up for interpretation.
For example, Who is already in trouble? Who is about to get into trouble?
Who has exciting news and how do we know?
Which girl is interested in hearing this exciting news?

This artwork pairs emotion with explicit tone via text.

Nightlights follows a young girl struggling to find confidence and fighting off negativity. There is a distinct similarity yet opposition in the metaphoric character, Morfie. A subtle distinction that introduces internal perspectives. The possibilities for teaching social communication and thinking are endless.

The story is a gripping metaphor. Vague enough for many readers to layer their own personal experiences. There are many graphic novels to choose from for all ages but Nightlights deserves to be highlighted. I have used this one with a wide range of clients. It has captured their attention as well as mine time and time again; allowing for repeated exposure which provides scaffolding opportunities and application of learned skills.

A masterpiece in graphic novel literature and therapeutic materials!

Enjoy!!!!

Children’s Book Find – Looking for Atlantis

December 7, 2016 by Chris Leave a Comment

Looking for Atlantis Children’s Book

Recently the kids checked out Looking for Atlantis, by Colin Thompson at the library and we took nearly an hour to make it through a short mostly picture book. The art in this 1994 lost classic was so precise and lovely we were captivated.

We’ve been reading a stack of books every day since they were born and in the early days, I appreciated an illustrator who places hidden items to find on every page even when it’s not obvious we should be searching. My favorites are ones that hide bugs. Normally it’s ladybugs, but in one there were little roaches that were up to all sorts of shenanigans.

Looking for Atlantis has plenty of distinct items we can see but also lots that aren’t so evident. It’s fun to find hidden themes Mr. Thompson has provided. He has a slightly twisted sense of humor and is apparently quite a prolific illustrator who should have probably garnered more respect.

But has Mr. Thompson makes it quite clear on his website he’s not into social media. He’s too busy producing. He has coloring books, puzzles, adult books and even cross stitch section. He’s an interesting guy, to say the least.

Though, you may not find it at the library, Looking for Atlantis is on Amazon. It is a somewhat melancholy book about a boy who discovers his imagination. Worth checking out if you’re into a deeper experience that most picture books offer nowadays.