This gallery contains 15 photos.
Originally posted on No Facilities:
My one-liner is inside the video below. That’s my favorite Christmas commercial, and has been on the air for the past 39 years in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Some people say it isn’t the Christmas…
It is the season of giving. I can’t tell you how much it meant for me to give to Read Aloud West Virginia. This would not have happened if I hadn’t been a guest on the Kelly Clarkson Show. Her mother was a teacher, and grew up in West Virginia. We have a terrific connection. Kelly is a genuine giver.
This newsletter from Read Aloud West Virginia tells the story of me, back home. More importantly, it tells the story of Dollar General. The co-founder was functionally illiterate. It was his grandson who wanted to give to literacy in light of his grandfather, and founded the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
This is just like Dolly Parton! Her father could not read. She has been instrumental in giving books to children and her Imagination Library.
Appalachian roots are strong, from West Virginia to Tennessee. Giving is, too. I’m glad I brought some of that along with me when I moved to New England. Giving is everything.
By Amanda Schwartz
When The Kelly Clarkson Show chose to celebrate preschool teacher Jennie Fitzkee — a West Virginia native and longtime Read Aloud WV supporter —Read Aloud’s Executive Director Dawn Miller was asked to video call in to the filming as a surprise.
“Anything for Jennie Fitzkee!” she replied.
Miller was excited to be part of recognizing a dedicated supporter and local literacy champion, but had no idea there was a surprise in store. Both Fitzkee and Miller were shocked and deeply touched by Dollar General’s announcement of a $50,000 gift to Read Aloud in honor of Fitzkee and World Teacher Day.
Fitzkee became involved with Read Aloud in 2012 after the passing of her childhood friend, Read Aloud champion Candy Galyean. Fitzkee (born Jennie Lively Lytton) grew up with Galyean in Huntington, but moved to Groton, Mass., where she has been a preschool teacher for almost 40 years. When her sister sent Galyeans’s obituary in 2012, Fitzkee saw it suggested donations to Read Aloud West Virginia.
“I thought, ‘This has got to be someplace else!’” Fitzkee recalled. “I just can’t believe this! I never knew about this wonderful place.”
Fitzkee called and spoke with Read Aloud founder and then Executive Director Mary Kay Bond. They had much in common, including an inspiration, Jim Trelease, author of The Read Aloud Handbook, first published in 1979.
Eager to give back to her home state and support her friend’s legacy, Fitzkee began collecting books. She and her students and community gathered so many she and husband Steve Fitzkee rented a truck and drove them all the way from Groton, Mass. to Charleston.
After that momentous donation, Fitzkee has continued to support Read Aloud, nurtures readers through her blog “A Teacher’s Reflections,” and has contributed to this newsletter.
“This gift means so much to us,” said Executive Director Dawn Miller. “It is an acknowledgment of the lifelong value of our work to help children develop an intrinsic motivation to read, and it will help Read Aloud to stay strong and flexible, of course.
“But with this gift the Dollar General Literacy Foundation also recognizes the efforts of every volunteer, every teacher, every school coordinator, every principal, every donor — every friend of Read Aloud who has contributed to the effort to help children discover joy in reading,” she said.
“On top of all that, we are touched and honored to still be part of remembering Candy Galyean, who even now plays such an important role in bringing us together in this cause.”
Over the past 28 years, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has donated more than $203 million to provide funding and resources to support literacy advancement and has helped more than 14.8 million individuals learn to read. In both 2020 and 2021, they granted funds to Read Aloud to support shipments of self-chosen books to low-income children across the Mountain state, keeping them reading through the pandemic and beyond.
Dollar General’s co-founder, J.L. Turner, was functionally illiterate and never completed a formal education. In 1993, J.L.’s grandson, Cal Turner, Jr., founded the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to honor him and support others’ educational journeys.
Dollar General and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s $4.5 million investment to help students, teachers, and nonprofit organizations working to support and improve youth literacy across the country includes more than $3 million in youth literacy grants from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and a new $1.45 million partnership with education nonprofit Donors Choose.
To watch the announcement and Fitzkee’s heartwarming reaction, click here.
Red and Lulu, by Matt Tavares is the story of two cardinals who live in a mighty evergreen tree. They love their home, their tree. Best of all, they love it when winter arrives and Christmas carolers sing close by. Red leaves to get food, and when he returns, the tree is being cut down and hauled away. He tells Lulu to stay, and he desperately follows the truck as it drives the tree away – but he can’t fly fast enough. The tree becomes the tree at Rockefeller Center, and the story behind finding Lulu and what happens is fascinating. It’s Christmas, nature, love, adventure, and never giving up.
This is a repost of my favorite Christmas books. Every year they grow stronger, because children love them. These are the books children and adults want to read over and over again. That’s why they’re the best. Please, go to the library if it is open. Get some of these books and read them aloud to your children. You will be hooked, too.
I want to share with you my favorite Christmas books. I love books, and I love reading to children. After a gazillion years, these are the ‘tried and true’, stories that children love. Me, too!
Grab tissues, laughter, and wonder, and some history. Some books you will recognize. Others might seem new, but they’re not— they’re just better.
The first time I read The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg was in 1985, when the book was published. I was at a huge family Christmas gathering. Someone put the book in my hand and asked me to read it to the crowd. This was a new book for me, and as I read the words I was on that train ride. The ending was hard to read aloud with my heart in my throat. The movie is good, but the book is superior.
On Christmas Eve, by Peter Collington is a captivating wordless book, in the style of The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. It is based in England, with fairies and Santa Claus traditions. It is fascinating to follow the fairies helping Santa!
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, by Robert Barry is a delightfully predictable tale of a tree that is too tall. Each time the top is snipped off, it goes to someone else who has the same problem, and so on. The mouse gets the very last tree top. The story is done in rhyme, always a delight to the ears of children.
Morris’s Disappearing Bag, by Rosemary Wells is the story of Morris, the youngest in the family, who is too little to play with his sibling’s gifts. He discovers one last present under the tree, a disappearing bag. I wonder if J.K. Rowling read this book- perhaps it was the inspiration to create Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.
Carl’s Christmas, by Alexandra Day is one of the Carl book series. It is beautifully done with full color illustrations. Of course Carl is a dog who is often left to look after the baby. That beginning alone is a story grabber. Best of all, it is a wordless book, leaving much to speculate and talk about.
Santa Bruce, by Ryan T. Higgins is the newest book on this list. Bruce is a grumpy old bear, and is again the victim of mistaken identity. He is not the real Santa, yet all the animals are convinced that he is. The book is absolutely hilarious.
If I had to pick only one out of the pile of books, it would be Apple Tree Christmas, by Trinka Hakes Noble. The story takes place in New Hampshire in the 1800’s. A blizzard, a farm, a tree, and a child who loves to draw. It is thrilling from beginning to end… grab the tissues, it’s a true story.
My almost number one book is The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, by Gloria Houston. The story takes place in rural Appalachia, close to my roots. It is a story of rural traditions, WWI, a train, and what a mother does on Christmas Eve. And, it’s a true story. Recommended for kindergarten and above.
Merry Christmas, Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola is a favorite. Everyone loves Strega Nona and Big Anthony. This book incorporates the culture of Italy and Christmas, and the lessons of life.
Night Tree, by Eve Bunting is a modern tale that tells the story of a family and their tree in the woods. Every Christmas Eve the family bundles up and heads from their house to the woods. They find “their tree”, the one they have decorated every year for the animals. It is a well written story, weaving adventure and giving, and family being together.
Dr. Seuss has always been one of the best. He outdid himself with How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The message of the true meaning of Christmas shines through in this book. Please skip the movie, it doesn’t hold a candle to the book.
Every adult should read these books. Period. They are that good. Then, spread the joy and learning by reading aloud these books to children, young and old. They will love the stories. You will, too.
Merry Christmas!
Jennie
At school, December has been a month of learning about the planets, stars, and light. We have watched a video of the Atlantis Space Shuttle launch in 1985, and hoped to see the new James Webb telescope launch into space. Unfortunately that has been delayed.
Just when we were filled with knowledge about the sky, we looked up last Friday evening on the playground to see a perfect arc. Perfect. It started against the full moon and ended on the opposite side of the sky. It was a contrail, but unlike any I have seen.
Children were ‘star struck’. Nothing is better than the real deal, looking up into the sky. What a fitting finale to our December unit of study. Eyes on STEM at its best.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
– Carl Sagan-
Jennie
Thank you to Darlene at Darlene Foster’s Blog for sharing this wonderful Christmas Commercial! Yes, I recommend having a tissue on hand.
Merry Christmas,
Jennie
Here is my all-time favorite Christmas Commercial. I have watched this hundreds of times, and it fills me up – always. I hope it brings you the same joy. You might want to have a tissue handy for those happy tears. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!
Jennie
In Part 1, I introduced how reading aloud at the last few minutes of Book Bears became a ‘thing’, something very popular with the children. That year the book was “Summer of the Monkeys”. A few minutes of reading aloud turned into ten and fifteen minutes, often more. This has since become a mainstay.
A few years later, the book I read aloud after Book Bears was “Bob”. Part 2 tells the story:
Book Bears is my library reading group. These second and third graders read a book each month, and we have a discussion about the book. We talk about everything. Everything! Let me tell you, this group is terrific. Everyone is different. I sit back and watch as they talk and laugh. The best part is that I’m included in the group. Reading is a magnet.
In September, our first meeting of the year, everyone brings their favorite book they read over the summer. Me, too. I brought “Bob”, by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead. Frankly, I think it’s the book of the year. Fingers were crossed for a Newbery nomination.
I picked a random page to read aloud, and I watched the children as the words went into their ears. Oh, those words were hitting their brains. They were wide-eyed and silent. Finally one child asked, “So who is Bob?”
I had hit the trigger to the brain. They had no idea the trigger to the heart would come later.
“Bob” is the story of a girl, Livy, who travels with her family to visit her grandmother in Australia. The problem is, Livy is eleven years old, and the last time she visited her grandmother in Australia, she was five. She doesn’t remember much, and when she finds Bob in the closet, she certainly doesn’t remember him.
He remembers her. And the story unfolds. The back of the book cover are Bob’s words. While he was in the closet waiting for Livy. It reads:
The chapters alternate between Bob and Livy, in their own voices. Each one has a story to tell, and reasons for remembering and not remembering. The story line is gripping and real, and the writing is so well done that putting the book down is nearly impossible.
I only read the books I really love to my Book Bears. This one is a winner!
The Book Bears decided that at the end of each meeting they wanted me to read aloud “Bob.” And I did just that. They know when it’s 4:30, time to finish and go home. We decided together that at 4:25 I’d read “Bob.” Five minutes.
Well, it didn’t worked out that way. By 4:20 the clock watchers get ready and start to bang the table, chanting “Bob! Bob! Bob!…” in the best of ways. That is the most genuine testament to a good book! Of course I keep reading, and those five minutes turn into fifteen or twenty, all in what feels like an instant.
“Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire.” -William Butler Yeats-
Jennie
Sally posted her Christmas memory as a child (oh, I would have loved that cowboy suit), the two best Christmas songs ever, Christmas foods from Carol, and favorite Christmas gifts from fellow bloggers. She remembered my GI Joe Aircraft Carrier story…oh, it was good. I still cry. And then there are the Mermatrons and wedding dancers…yes, I was a wedding dancer. Please read on, the memories and stories and food are the best!
Children’s Books #1 – #4 have been about the all-important things that children need – kindness, giving, empathy… those social and emotional skills.
#5 is two books that I discovered at the Eric Carle Museum last month. I always find great books at their bookstore. Always! One is fun and whimsical, one is nature and beauty.
I wish you could be there alongside me when I find a great book. For me it’s akin to finding hidden treasure.
Red Sled
by Lita Judge
In a nearly wordless book, Bear discovers the red sled by the cabin, He cannot resist a ride, and animals along the way hop on the sled. These are but a few illustrations.
The animals climb aboard bear on the sled one at a time, and each animal changes the ride in a delightful way. The ‘scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch’ as the bear takes the sled, and the ‘scrinch scrunch scrinch scrunch’ as the bear returns the sled are perfect. This book will delight any young child.
Trees
by Tony Johnston
The cover alone draws in the reader. Those golden title letters, ‘Trees’, are raised. Children enjoy feeling the letters as they look at the beautiful cover. Who wouldn’t want to open the cover and discover something about trees? I did! The end papers have detailed drawings of roots and sprouting trees.
Trees love sky. They love all that blue above them.
Well, this is enough to make everyone smile a really deep smile, the kind that makes your cheeks hurt.
Trees love clouds. They reach high to touch them.
The illustration reminds the reader of being a child and looking up, way up. Isn’t that what we should all do? When was the last time you stood under a tree, close to the trunk and looked all the way up? It is glorious.
Days, they hold out their limbs for songbirds to come.
Nights, they hold out their limbs for stars. And moon.
Perfectly crafted words and beautiful illustrations take trees through day and night, sun and rain, bark and blossoms. Blossoms make people happy, like snow.
Some trees are old, old, old.
Their ringed cores hold stories.
Of summers. Winters. Years.
My goodness. Those words spark a long conversation. Children want to talk about old.
Trees are friends. Their branches say,
Come. Come. Climb.
Ah ha! Now children learn about animals that live in trees. This is another whole discovery, from bigger animals to insects. On one of the final pages, the words say,
Like friends, trees stay.
They do not go away.
I love those words. This book will delight any nature lover and tree enthusiast. I think most children fall into that category.
Jennie
Stay tuned for my updated post of favorite Christmas books.
Today was the 122nd Army-Navy football game. I watch it every year. I am glued, because it is far more than a football game. It is a rivalry between brothers. I call it a ‘band of brothers’, much like how it was in WWI and WWII. They are warriors on the football field, and the war field. They live their lives with respect, purpose, honor, integrity, and kindness.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Our son was a Naval Academy graduate in 2003. When he was in high school, he was assigned to a Blue and Gold Officer, someone who could answer his questions, and judge if he had the ‘right stuff’. The three words he said have resonated with me ever since:
Ship. Shipmate. Self.
It’s what the Navy lives by. It’s Life-101. First take care of your ship, then take care of your shipmate. Lastly take care of yourself. Ever since I heard those three words I have incorporated that philosophy into my teaching and classroom. Modern terms say ‘kindness’ and ‘giving’. The Navy knew that well over 100 years ago.
I was lucky to attend the 100th Army-Navy football game. That was when I understood. The stands were full of people who could have been my dear friends. Honestly, I could have left my seat and asked someone nearby to watch my belongings. There were ‘Spirit Spots’, spoofs made by the Midshipmen and Black Knights on the giant video screen. Parachuters landed on the 50-yard line. The home team ran the football from Annapolis to the stadium. I got an email today from a friend who was stuck in traffic outside of New York; Army (this year’s home team) was running the football into the stadium. Our son was part of Navy’s 13th Company who ran the ball from Annapolis onto the field in 1999.
Army was cheering today.
‘
Navy was cheering today. That is my great nephew.
Tradition runs deep. Tradition is a foundation. It builds who we are. The tradition at the end of the Army-Navy game is singing the Alma Mater. That’s ship. The team who wins joins the other team as they sing their Alma Mater. That’s Shipmate.. The team who wins then sings their own Alma Mater. That’s Self.
The Naval Academy has a beautiful Japanese brass bell on the campus (now a replica), a gift from Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854. The bell is only rung when Navy beats Army. It has been a number of years since the ringing of that bell. Tradition lives on. When that bell rings, winning the football game is important, yet what that win means is far more important – hard work, brotherhood, team work… and all the values of Army-Navy football.
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 