2010 Holiday Reading List Highlights Festive Season
Families encouraged to read
during the holidays
The Department of Education’s Just Read,
Florida! office released its 2010
Holiday Reading list today covering a broad array of seasonal
topics such as lights, snow, winter animals and the many
holidays celebrated by families at the end of the year. Released
annually, the holiday reading list provides suggested literary
works to encourage families and students to both share and enjoy
the gift of reading and literacy throughout the holiday season.
Research suggests that students who continue to read while on
school breaks and vacations maintain their academic progress
made during the school year.
“There is no greater gift than sharing the
love of reading and literacy with students of all ages,” said
Education Commissioner
Dr. Eric J. Smith. “I highly encourage all
Florida
families to choose some selections from the list, cozy up around
a fire, beach umbrella or other handy location and start
spreading the wonder and enjoyment of reading with their
children.”
Families can also use “Find a Book,
Florida” to supplement the holiday
reading list with other books tailored to a child’s interests.
Tens of thousands of fiction and nonfiction books are available
through the “Find a Book,
Florida” resource at
http://florida.lexile.com. The Department re-launched the
book search this fall as a means to match a child’s reading
ability with a book’s text complexity using LexileŽ measures.
Lexile measures are the most widely adopted reading metrics used
in the country, with more than 30 million Lexile measures
reported annually from reading assessments and programs -
representing more than half of
U.S.
students.
The Department of Education’s Recommended
Reading List is located on the Just Read,
Florida! website at
www.justreadfamilies.org. The site also offers parents
the tools they need to nurture a reading-friendly environment at
home, and in day-to-day activities. Resources include links to
county and municipal public libraries and tips for parents on
how to make the most of the time they spend reading with their
families.
The Department of Education’s Just Read,
Florida! office makes reading a priority
in Florida's
public schools and the community groups and volunteer
organizations that support them. For more information about the
Just Read, Florida!
office, please visit
http://www.justreadflorida.com/.
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