Quotes from 2006-07 Feedback Forms
Featured Read With ME. Book - Shape Capers
Shape Capers Read-Along Videos
Read With ME. Volunteer Opportunities
Read With ME. Follow-Up Form
Tips for Reading Aloud With a Child
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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 Verizon.
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 Verizon technicians help to deliver the books together with more than fifty volunteers. All of the books and information are provided at no cost to the schools or students. Through their support of Maine Reads, the umbrella literacy organization, the Verizon Foundation has supported Read With ME.
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.
Quotes from 2007-8 Feedback Forms
"Maine Reads starts our year off right because it focuses both on the partnership we have with families and the fact that reading is the key to success!"
"Thank you so much! I think this book will be read and reread. Good choice – rhyming is fun and an important early skill."
"I’ve encourage parents to use the book, practice hand claps and jump rope, etc. Any program that puts fun books in the hands or families is enormously valuable."
"I wish you had heard the giggles as I read some of those rhymes! Priceless!"
"The book is a great way to kick off the year with my class. It shows that reading is not only important at school, but at home also. With school budgets being very tight, free books are always a nice thing!"
"I feel like the Pied Piper each year when I pass out the Read With ME. materials to our kindergarten students. I feel that putting these materials directly in to the hands of children makes for a richer experience. They are always delighted and proud that they have a special book that they can leave at home."
This year's featured Read With ME. book is Shape Capers by Cathryn Falwell. See a Web cast with author illustrator Cathryn Falwell and read along and learn how to create books with her.
Shape Capers
Written and illustrated by Cathryn Falwell
This exuberant picture book teaches preschoolers about shapes and what they can build with them if they use their imaginations.
Picture Book Fiction
Ages: Newborn to 5
Grades: Preschool ISBN 13: 9780061236990
Cathryn Falwell - Biography:
Cathryn Falwell's first book, Where's Nicky?, was published in 1991, and since then many books have followed, including the popular Turtle Splash!, which Kirkus Reviews called "a lovely example of multidisciplinary bookmaking showing how science, art, and literature can all connect." She lives in Gorham, Maine. Check out her Web site www.cathrynfalwell.com.
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
PO Box 45
Sumner, ME 04292
Phone: (207) 388-2574
nidoba@megalink.net
The following is for participating 2005-6 Read With ME. teachers and librarians only. If you participated in the 2005-6 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.