Quotes from 2008-9 Feedback Forms
Featured Read With ME. Book - A Place to Sleep
Read-Along with Read With ME. Videos
Read With ME. Volunteer Opportunities
Read With ME. Follow-Up Form
Teachers needing additional book bags should email Read With ME. coordinator Connie Cushing at connie.cushing@gmail.com stating the quantity needed and the complete mailing address. Please include a contact name.
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| Governor John Baldacci and Mrs. Baldacci and some of the more than seventy Read With ME. volunteers who helped pack bookbags for kindergartners statewide in August at the Augusta Armory |
Read With ME. is a statewide Maine Reads program aimed at improving literacy and reading skills among Maine’s students. Read With ME. is made possible by FairPoint Communications.
Through Read With ME., every kindergartner in the state has the opportunity to receive a book bag, which includes a selected book as well as literacy information including an activities sheet, and a bookmark developed by the Maine Department of Education. Schools have been provided with videos (captioned versions available) about reading aloud produced by Maine Public Broadcasting.
Since 2000, Read With ME. has reached more than 18,000 kindergarten students in Maine annually. The Maine Army National Guard and more than 100 volunteers help to deliver the books. All of the books and information are provided at no cost to the schools or students.
If your child’s kindergarten class is not participating in Read With ME., please speak to the school principal and suggest they contact Maine Reads.
2009-10 Bookbags to Feature A Place to Sleep
In fall 2009, kindergartners will receive this year’s featured book A Place to Sleep, which was written and illustrated by Holly Meade, a resident of Sedgwick, Maine. A Place to Sleep explores how and where different animals sleep. Meade’s illustrations are collaged watercolor paintings. Meade has produced more than twenty-five books and is the recipient of several awards including a Caldecott Honor and a Charlotte Zolotow Award for Creative Writing.
A Place to Sleep has been specially-designed and reissued for Read With ME. to include activities for young readers. Each book bag also includes literacy information and a bookmark developed by the Maine Department of Education and illustrated by Meade. School libraries will be provided with DVDs produced by FairPoint Communications in collaboration with Maine Public Broadcasting and the Maine State Library. These DVD’s offer tips about reading aloud. In addition, for the first time a clip of the First Lady reading from the book with the words captioned at the bottom will be put on the Web site of Maine Reads so that children may read along with the First Lady; this online addition is part of the FairPoint Communications Digital Enrichment program. An interview with the author/illustrator will also be available.
Quotes from 2008-9 Feedback Forms for The Cat at Night book bags
"Thanks for your support! I love giving my kindergartners books right from the start!"
"The Read With ME. program provides a positive connection with parents as their child enters kindergarten. It also emphasizes the importance of literacy and the role that parents play in the development of literacy skills."
"We live in a poor, rural community with few resources, so books and fresh input are very much appreciated!"
"I love the Read With ME. program. It warms my heart to be able to hand those book bags to the families and tive them the gift of a book and time together while reading it. "
"At our open house, all the parents' eyes lit up like Christmas trees when they saw the book bag hanging in their child's cubby and heard it was to take home."
"Many of our children were very excited about getting their own book. Lots of then do not many books."
Read With ME. featured the book Shape Capers by Cathryn Falwell in 2007. See a Web cast with author illustrator Cathryn Falwell and read along and learn how to create books with her.
Read-Along Read With ME.Videos
Read With ME. Volunteer Opportunities
We are looking for volunteers to help with the following Read With ME. activities every August. We look for volunteers to:
- Help pack book bags and boxes at the Augusta Armory
- Deliver books to one or more schools in a particular area.
Sign up as a volunteer using our online form or for more information on volunteering, please contact:
Connie Cushing
Read With ME. Volunteer
connie.cushing@gmail.com
The following is for participating 2009-10 Read With ME. teachers and librarians only. If you participated in the 2009-10 Read With ME. program, we would appreciate hearing back from you. Please download this form (microsoft word), save it to your hard drive, fill it out, and email your completed response to info@mainereads.org.