Lowndes Schools addressing reading woes
The Lowndes County School District is taking steps to ensure that every child is reading on his or her grade level.
April is brimming with First Book reads
Leslie Webber stood in front of a classroom of third-graders at Fairview Elementary School in Columbus April 1 and asked, “Who likes math?” Somewhat surprisingly, almost every student thrust a hand up.
Little Free Libraries: A senior class works together to leave a legacy for their community
Take a book, return a book. The concept is brilliantly simple. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by, pick up a book to read, then bring it back, or leave another to share in its place.
Imagination Library begins in Columbus
A free book mailed each month to every child under the age of 5 in Lowndes County.
That is the ultimate goal of Lowndes County Imagination Library, a non-profit effort The Dispatch launched last week in partnership with the Arts Council.
Study: 4 of 5 fourth graders are not proficient readers
A recently released Kids Count study shows 4 out of 5 Mississippi school children are not proficient readers by the time they enter the fourth grade.
Pulitzer Prize winner to read at MSU
Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler will serve as the first Mississippi State University Institute for the Humanities Writer in Residence, reading selections from his fiction on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in McCool Hall’s Taylor Auditorium on the MSU campus.
It all starts with that first book: One Columbus group is on a mission to make First Book a household name in the battle against illiteracy
A troop of zany aliens is headed to Earth, but not to take over the planet, oh no. They’re just out to steal underwear — from woolly long johns to pink frillies. And what do you call a grandpa who drags his grandson to a monster truck show in the middle of a tornado? Awesome, that’s what.
‘Mississippi Roads’ to feature T.K. Martin Center Thursday
Mississippi State’s T.K. Martin Center will be featured on “Mississippi Roads” airing Thursday at 7 p.m., on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. An original production of MPB,
NYC library offers list of 100 great kids’ books
NEW YORK — Beloved authors Judy Blume and Eric Carle helped the New York Public Library celebrate children’s literature Monday as the library released a
At-need districts to receive state reading coaches
The Columbus Municipal School District will have to wait another two months before it learns if it will receive the help of one of the 24 reading coaches recently approved to help failing districts.
Empowerment: A two-week immersion in braille can open worlds of learning for children with low vision and blindness
“Look at you go, man. You’re doing great!” said Wingfield Bouchard, encouraging 11-year-old Kobi Cook. Kobi is blind, but his long, tapered fingers tapped rapidly across the seven keys of the Perkins Brailler. With each stroke, the typewriter-like machine transferred raised dots of the Braille alphabet to a sheet of white paper, creating a tactile document.
Volunteers needed for ‘United We Read’ program
Volunteers are being sought this week for the culmination of a United Way-coordinated project aimed at encouraging reading and promoting literacy in the community.
Questions hang over details of Miss. reading plan
One of many ambitious education plans being considered by Mississippi lawmakers is a focus on reading in early grades, including holding back third-graders if they can’t read on at least a basic level.
Monday profile: Bus driver’s unofficial reading program is a hit with students
The final bell of the day rings, and about 30 third through fifth-graders are on their way to meet another Bell.
Pauline Bell warmly greets her children as they climb aboard Bus No. 16 at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary on Friday.
They aren’t really her children, of course, but it would be easy to make that assumption based on how she interacts with the kids.
Tail-wagging tutors: New therapy dog reading program is turning pages
“Oh, look! This one is about a gorilla and a kitten,” chimed Emma Tally to her furry companion. The 5-year-old sat cross-legged on a plump pillow on the library reading room floor. With small hands, she held up her big book, all the better for her four-legged friend to see. Turning to the first page, young Emma was soon eagerly sharing the story with Roscoe, the therapy dog. Roscoe, to all appearances, absorbed every word.
Reading renaissance: Books continue to thrive in a progressively digital world
If you spend much time online, reading media pundits, you might be lead to believe that books are an antiquated novelty relegated to dark, musty environs as people flee in droves to the digital world.