Can Reading Prevent Violence? YES!!!

Did you know that 85% of youth in trouble with the law have reading difficulties?  This statistic is from The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment.  The Literacy Alliance believes strongly in providing literacy programs and books to all children, including those in distress.  Our programs at Boys Town, the Homeless Shelter, and the Juvenile Detention Center are examples of our dedication to getting books into the hands of children and engaging them in positive literacy activities.  

I recently became aware of The Melissa Institute that promotes literacy as a tool to prevent violence.  

The following is from their website:

The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of violence and the promotion of safer communities through education and the application of research-based knowledge.  

Evidence shows that students who do not learn to read on level by 3rd grade are much more likely to develop low self-esteem, drop out of school, and engage in antisocial, and aggressive behavior. To help prevent this spiral of failure The Melissa Institute has introduced The Balanced Literacy Diet website to support educators in developing effective and engaging literacy programs across the elementary grades.

This website was developed by university-based literacy experts and school-based practitioners – literacy specialists, classroom teachers as well as district and school administrators. The Balanced Literacy Diet framework is designed to provide a comprehensive multifaceted internet resource to support the development of research-informed reading and writing instruction in schools. 

The Balanced Literacy Diet website is free for educators and parents everywhere!

Do you have a balanced literacy diet?

Check out this new online resource for literacy. It is called The Balanced Literacy Diet and can be found here - www.balancedliteracydiet.org. It has real examples for parents and teachers that can be used in the home or classroom. A sample lesson which promotes phonemic awareness and includes puppets (which you know we love at The Literacy Alliance) is called “Picky Puppet”. For this lesson, choose a fun puppet to play the part of Penelope the picky puppet and prepare picture cards with familiar objects that start with the letter “p”. Put the two together and have fun with sounds.

The Balanced Literacy Diet knows that students who do not learn to read on level by 3rd grade are much more likely to develop low self-esteem, drop out of school, and engage in antisocial and aggressive behavior. The Balanced Literacy Diet website supports educators in developing effective and engaging literacy programs across the elementary grades. 

The Literacy Alliance understands this connection between literacy and aggressive behavior. Our programs with youths in trouble at several Seminole County facilities strive to bring literature into their lives in a fun and rewarding way. Our newest program with the Eugene Gregory Memorial Youth Academy will engage teens, who are on conditional release from residential commitment programs or who have been suspended or expelled from school, in a movie production using puppets and children’s books. We are very excited about this program. Please look for the teens' puppet movie this summer!

Have you used a puppet to share a story? What puppet? What story?