Tea Honoring Leonard Marcus
   The Center for Children's Literature at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, invites you to a tea in honor of Leonard Marcus on September 16th from 4:30-6:00 pm in the Hedberg Library. The author of "Golden Legacy" will imformally speak about his creation on the history of Western Publishing. There is no attendance fee, but due to limited space, please contact John Stewig, (262)-552-5480 or jstewig@carthage.edu, if you are able to join us. More information can be found at Tea.

Mini-grants for Public Schools and Public Libraries
   Ezra Jack Keats Mini-grant Program for Public Schools and Public Libraries supports educators, parents and children in their efforts to spread literacy and love of learning. Maximum Award: $500. Eligibility: public schools and libraries anywhere in the United States and its protectorates. Deadline: September 15, 2008. Ezra Jack Keats Mini-grant Program.

Kids In Need Foundation: Teacher Grants
Kids In Need Foundation (formerly SHOPA) Teacher Grants provide funds for classroom teachers who have innovative ideas but lack the budget to bring them to life. Projects may qualify for funding if they make creative use of common teaching aids, approach the curriculum from an imaginative angle, or tie nontraditional concepts together for the purpose of illustrating commonalities. Innovation and merit account for 40 percent of the evaluation. Maximum award: $500. Eligibility: K-12 teachers. Deadline: Sept. 30, 2008. For more information: Teacher Grants.

The Business of Children's Publishing
   The Center for Children's Literature is pleased to offer a conference, "The Business of Children's Publishing" on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18. The conference offers an inside look at how children's books get made and will feature a publisher, marketing manager, editor, agent, art director, and illustrator. Authors Gary D. Schmidt and Jan Greenberg, as well as author/illustrator Timothy Basil Ering will offer their perspectives as book creators. For further information, contact John W. Stewig at (262) 552-5480 or email jstewig @carthage.edu. A downloadable registration form that contains more information can be found at the Center's website, Children's Publishing.

Poet Laureate
   When the Library of Congress announced Kay Ryan as its pick for 16th Poet Laureate Consultant last week, the poetry community went all atwitter. Mention the title "poet laureate" outside the poetry community, and you'll find it has an appeal that's, well, poetic. But even cognoscenti who can rattle off the rhyme scheme of a sonnet in their sleep might be hard pressed to answer the question: What exactly does the poet laureate do? Find out at Poet Laureate.

Status of U.S. Kids: A New Annual Report
   The federal government's latest annual report on children and youth, "America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being," has been released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Described as "an accessible compendium of indicators drawn from the most reliable official statistics," the report will be expanded in 2009. In addition to education, topics include health and health care, family and social environment, economic circumstances, physical environment and safety, and behavior. See the report at Status.

Early Learners Can Handle Big Words
   Researchers now believe that students in primary grades can acquire more advanced words earlier than previously thought, reports Laura Pappano in her article "Small Kids, Big Words: Research-Based Strategies for Building Vocabulary from Pre-K to Grade 3" in Harvard Education Letter. It is now felt that the mechanism for learning new vocabulary isn't the same as that for learning new math skills, where easier concepts are the building blocks for more complicated skills. "Words are not related hierarchically," said Isabel Beck of the University of Pittsburgh. "You can learn 'saturated' before you learn 'soak'." What's more, children seem to enjoy it. More advanced words also enrich conceptual understanding and enhance reading ability as a student progresses. It's especially important in closing the achievement gap for students who arrive to early grades with a limited vocabulary, and for English Language Learners. More details.

Gender Gap?
   The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has issued a report that corresponds to research by the American Council on Education and other groups detailing that while girls have been graduating from high school and college at higher rate than boys, there is no "boy's crisis," writes Tamar Lewin of the New York Times. The more significant disparities in educational achievement, the report says, are between different races, ethnicities, and income levels. The AAUW's report is a follow-up to their widely discussed 1992 report that described how boys in the classroom were educated at the expense of girls, and is also a response to the notion put out recently by conservative commentators that boys are in turn being shortchanged. "Many people remain uncomfortable with the educational and professional advances of girls and women, especially when they threaten to outdistance their male peers," the report states, but "The most compelling evidence against the existence of a boys' crisis is that men continue to outearn women in the workplace." Read more

FactHound Safari Contest
   Get involved in science and research. Each month three clues and a photograph with an amazing African animal will be posted on the contest web site. Students use clues to undertake research and fill in the missing information, and all those with correct answers are entered into a drawing to win books for their school. Safari.

Live Monarch Educator Outreach Program
   The Live Monarch Foundation Educator Outreach Program provides funding for teachers throughout the United States to enroll in the National Campaign to bring monarch butterflies into the classroom. This program provides education and materials to strengthen the monarch's 3,000-mile migratory route within North America by creating self-sustaining butterfly gardens and refuges. Materials will be provided for each participant to raise a virtual butterfly and start a real butterfly garden with professional instruction on each level for its maintenance and care. Maximum Award: n/a. Eligibility: teachers and classrooms in areas on the monarch migratory route. Deadline: rolling. Apply

Books Across America
   The National Education Association's Books Across America Library Books Awards Program enables public school libraries serving economically disadvantaged students to purchase books. Maximum Award: $1,000. Eligibility: Practicing pre-kindergarten through grade 12 school librarians, teachers, or education support professionals in a U.S. public school in which at least 70 percent of the students are eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program. Deadline: November 7, 2008. Learn more.

Free Teaching Resource
   Recently the U.S. Department of Education launched a new and improved version of the much acclaimed web site, Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE). FREE provides educators with lesson plans, primary documents, science visualizations, math challenges, literary works, paintings, music manuscripts and many other vital classroom resources. The tool also combines important educational elements culled from the Library of Congress, Smithsonian, National Science Foundation, NASA, National Archives, and other federal agencies. Free Teaching Resources