Skip to main content
AIM VA Accessible Instructional Materials logo

News You Can Use

Never Give Up!

This is a message from a famous author born in November.

Did you know that the author of A Wrinkle in Time waited 2 ½ years to find a publisher for this famous book? Madeleine L'Engle won the Newbery award in 1963 for her book A Wrinkle in Time. When she wrote the book, the idea of space travel was new. It was a time when the Soviet Union and the United States were in competition for space exploration.

Who was born in October and writes scary children’s books?

What famous author has written more than 300 books, wrote the Goosebumps series and was born Oct. 8?

If you guessed R.L. Stine you would be right! At age nine, Stine found a typewriter in his attic and began to type stories and joke books. In high school, he joined the school newspaper. When he went to college, he was the editor of a humor magazine. After college, he moved to New York City to start his career as a writer.

It’s Roald Dahl’s birthday!

Did you know Sept 13 is Roald Dahl’s birthday? The famous author wrote books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, and the Fantastic Mr. Fox. Roald Dahl was a famous British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, an ace fighter pilot, and a chocolate historian.

Activities to Encourage Summer Reading for Your Students

Did you know that whether or not a child reads during the summer is a predictor of summer learning loss or summer gain? Summer reading is important, but not always fun, for a child who struggles with reading. Summer loss can equal about a month of academic learning. As a teacher, you want your students to practice their skills over the summer and learn about new topics. It’s important to make summer reading entertaining so that they want to read. The more they like to read, the more they will read. Here are a few ideas of ways to increase reading this summer.

Prepare for Summer Reading

Now is the perfect time start thinking about Summer Reading for your students to nurture reading for enjoyment, battle the summer slide, and establishing lifelong good habits. Yet, reading for enjoyment is often not first on the list of fun activities for our students who struggle with literacy. How do we, as educators, make sure our students have the opportunity to select reading as a choice?

Drop Everything and Read Day and Beverly Cleary’s Birthday – April 12

You might already know the D.E.A.R. means Drop Everything and Read. But did you know that Beverly Cleary’s birthday is April 12 and a great way to celebrate her birthday is to D.E.A.R. on this day? Families are encouraged to spend 30 minutes reading on her birthday.

Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss Day - March 2

Do you know how Theodore Geisel got the name Dr. Seuss? While he was in college, he became the Editor-in-Chief of the school magazine. Due to some misbehavior, he was forced to resign. However, he kept writing for the magazine under the pen name “Seuss” and that’s how he got the name Dr. Seuss.

International Book Giving Day 2019

With winter and snow days upon us, celebrate International Book Giving Day by providing the book Granite to your early elementary school readers. Librarians can buy a copy of the book for the school library. Parents can get the book for their child. After obtaining the book, teacher can order an accessible version of the book from AIM-VA.

How Wordless Books Can Help Your Kid Learn to Read

Anyone who's "read" a picture book can tell you that you don't need words to tell a story. Prereading toddlers and preschoolers can follow a story told in pictures, a parent or child can narrate the action, and the cozy, empowering experience can help kids develop positive associations with books.

Designing for Accessibility with POUR

We at AIM-VA know that many of the learning materials you use in your classroom are self-created. That is why we included the option to submit Curriculum-Based Materials to our Production site to have them made accessible. However, for those of you who would like to make your own materials accessible, the following video may prove helpful!