NCTE Supports Día

From April 5 issue of the NCTE Inbox:

Celebrate El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day)

In its 2005 Resolution, NCTE supports El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) because the day recognizes that students who participate in culturally and linguistically diverse literacy activities at home, in school, and in the community are more successful readers. Use the ReadWriteThink calendar entry and celebrate Día on April 30!

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día

Let’s thank and celebrate our partners again and again.

I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia’s 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Día Events in New Mexico and San Francisco

Flo Trujillo at the Farmington Public Library and Barbara VanderBorght at San Francisco Public Library sent in news about Dia events.

Día events throughout the month of April in New Mexico are a kick off to Summer Reading at NM libraries!

Libraries, community centers, 21st Century afterschool, Boys & Girls Clubs and faith-based communities along with New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez recognize the importance of literacy.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the San Francisco Día 2011, we will be at the Main Library for our big celebration on April 24. Putting the event together this year was a challenge, as the downturn in the economy had a big effect: planning group members had to drop out, no new funding came in and there was a big increase in permit fees as we attempted to go back to our community park location, but we were determined to make Día happen!

Using remaining funds, trimming our operating costs and with the free use of the Library, we are putting on a celebration that still features wonderful multiethnic performances; our Spanish bilingual child/family issues radio hosts; literacy based hands-on art activities and a children’s book giveaway for all participants.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día

Let’s question our assumptions about how to reach our goals and who our appropriate partners can be.

I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia’s 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Cinco Puntos Press Celebrates 25 Years and Día

We asked Lee Byrd to talk with us about publishing, creativity and Día.  
My name is Lee Byrd. My husband Bobby and I are both writers. In 1985, we started Cinco Puntos Press. Funny, how things start, take root and grow—we were sick and tired of working for other people, we had three kids to support, and we wanted more time to write. (If you need more time to write, don’t start a publishing company!) We had no idea what publishers did, but luckily we had a lot of friends whose work we admired who weren’t getting published; and we had another friend who knew how to design books.

Our first book was Winners on the Pass Line, a collection of short stories by Dagoberto Gilb; our second, a book of poems by Joe Somoza. Then we met Joe Hayes. He was traveling all over the Southwest telling stories to kids. They loved him! We asked him if we could publish a book of his and he said it would have to be La Llorona / The Weeping Woman because that was the story the kids wanted to hear the most. And we would need to do it in a bilingual format because that was the way he liked to tell stories. Thus began our journey into children’s literature. Twenty-five years have passed and we’re still learning, each book—whether for kids or adults—taking us into new and miraculous territory.

Publishing is very creative work. Like writing, it’s a marvelous act of self-discovery. A manuscript comes to us. We love it. We see it opening up new doors of understanding to readers. But how to present it, how to get it illustrated or designed and who will do that? Who is the audience and how best to present it to that audience? When the book arrives from the printer, we all feel like its proud parents. It’s such a creative and collaborative process, no one knows exactly where his or her work started and where someone else picked it up.

At Cinco Puntos, we love El día de los niños, El día de los libros because we see the festivities surrounding it and the excitement that the kids have as a way of raising up the next generation of readers, who will, hopefully, read books that we—and our colleagues in this incredible work—have created.

John, Lee and Bobby Byrd

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día.

Let’s attend and support an annual Día celebration and experience the joy of honoring children and of linking children and families to books.

I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia’s 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

For many years, Jeanette Larson has been helping Día grow, and now she has completed El día de los ninos/El día de los libros: Building a Culture of Literacy in Your Community Through Día, published by ALA Editions.  Gracias, Jeanette.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día.

Let’s reach out to new partners including elected officials, school administrators and faculty preparing future librarians and teachers.

I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia’s 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día.

Let’s explore new ways to share what we’ve learned or are trying to implement.

I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia’s 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día.

Let’s learn together to be more compelling in articulating the importance and relevance of our goals to our various communities.

I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia’s 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.

15 Día Nuggets: #12 Día Literacy Games

To assist those of you planning Día celebrations at your schools, libraries, etc., we’re sharing 15 Día Nuggets, 15 lists of 15 items to assist you in your planning. This month during our second Díapalooza, we’ll finish with Nuggets 11, 12, and 13; showcase the 15 Día Dynamos, and share Bookjoy quotes from kids, our final Nugget.


All 15 Nuggets are available as completed on Pat's web site, individually and as a single downloadable packet.

15 Día Nuggets for Día’s 15th Anniversary

#12 Día Literacy Games

Winners receive books, of course.


1. Book Bingo
2. Book games based on games from other countries such as a book lotería
3. Book Walk rather than Cake Walk
4. Piñata celebration adding a book connection
5. Charades using book titles or familiar book characters
6. Día–themed word search or crossword puzzles
7. Book-themed scavenger/treasure hunt
8. Matching games using book covers
9. Name the Story or Name the Character based on a series of clues or from passages from various books
10. Snag a Book: game using an extended grabber for book prizes
11. Who’s the Villain: (safe) dart game in which the target is a picture of different “villains” in children’s books
12. Name the Famous Characters: identify children’s book characters on a poster
13. Wheel of Fortune with book connection: Land on a villain and lose points
14. Tape Your Book in the Book Return: like Pin the Tail on the Donkey but blind-folded children tape the book cover they created on a book return image
15. Timed word-making contest: Children and families race to make as many words as possible from Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children's Day, Book Day/ Celebremos El día de los niños, El día de los libros

Today's Día Reflection

Day by day, día por día.

Let’s affirm home languages and diverse cultures.

I'm posting a Reflection each day during April in honor of Dia’s 15th Anniversary. All thirty Reflections will be available as a downloadable pdf at the end of the month.