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Caroline Brewer Author · Artist · Literacy Advocate

Tag: literacy

  • Nature-wise – Reading, Writing, Probing And Playing In The Outdoor Classroom

    Nature-wise – Reading, Writing, Probing And Playing In The Outdoor Classroom

    INTRODUCING Nature-Wise! Well, sort of.

    Nature-Wise kicked off virtually during the spring of 2022 with my friends at the Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education. We held our first in-person training in early February in Ocean City. I’m now expanding the training nationally with Conservation Nation on March 29 virtually. This first session with CN is for DC Public Schools teachers only and all are FREE to teachers. Click here to register.

    But wait! I’m inviting schools and youth organizations across the country to book trainings for the spring, summer and fall 2023 – right now.  Simply Email: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information.

    What is Nature-wise? Nature-wise is a professional development training for educators and youth leaders designed to help children and teens understand and practice, on creative levels, that human beings are included in the definition of the environment. We, too, are nature and from our earliest days, we practice literacy. And that opens a world of wondrous possibilities and opportunities to explore all the literacies — reading, writing, speaking, seeing, hearing, visual arts, music, dance, games, and so many more – as we explore the natural world, our place in it, and our power to be climate activists and better protect all living things.

    Teachers will enjoy opportunities to introduce students to children’s literature on the environment; Help students tap into the power of poetry to articulate feelings and observations about the environment; Bring local, national, and global environmental champions into students’ lives through picture books and online resources; Lead students on fascinating nature exploration journeys outdoors; Help students evaluate wildlife (colors, shapes, patterns, textures, and behaviors) in their school and home neighborhoods and create a neighborhood nature encyclopedia — and have fun!

    Teachers will have opportunities to address fears about being outside and about various forms of wildlife; Create and play vocabulary games based on books and other literature; Help students write class and individual letters to authors and environmental champions; Help students create interview questions for environmental champions and authors; Help students create artwork inspired by stories and the work of environmental champions.

    Email: caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information about how to bring Nature-Wise to your school or organization.

    WHAT TEACHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NATURE-WISE!
    Dear Caroline
    Just a note to thank you for your workshop last week. I had the most wonderful time and got so many great ideas. I’m a new-ish teacher (switched from journalism mid-career) and am always looking for ways to better my craft. Thanks to your ideas, I’m now using rhythmic poems every day and putting lyrics up on the board for my learners to read. They love it! I’m also halfway through your HTHS manual and am putting more of those ideas into practice. Thank you so much for doing what you do and for inspiring so many of us. It is helping countless numbers of children! All the best.

  • Children are Embracing Priceless Gifts in SAY THEIR NAMES

    Children are Embracing Priceless Gifts in SAY THEIR NAMES

     Media Opportunities December 6 & 7

    Immediate Release – December 5, 2022

    Contact Caroline Brewer, caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com for more information

    Washington, D.C. – When Children’s Book Author Caroline Brewer speaks to children about her new picture book, Say Their Names, she brings priceless gifts. Some are on the backs of a bookmark, or a special card, inside a gift bag printed on paper, or made of sparkly icing emblazoned on a sugar cookie. The gifts are words, such as hope, courage, peace, love, and light – representing some of the 30+ “gifts” readers can find inside the story of Say Their Names. The new picture book by Reycraft Books features the fictional 7-year-old Aliya on her quest to lead a love-inspired Black lives movement. Aliya’s gifts, Brewer says, are the elements of a positive identity, which researchers say can lead to smoother transition to adulthood. “A positive identity is what Say Their Names is all about, and it’s a gift that couldn’t be more appropriate given the challenges our children face today,” she added.

    Children, parents, and educators agree.

    “And what I really like about it is how you put a little kid on there and you made (Aliya) strong and brave and independent to do what she got to do and she’s wonderful,” Andreya, a 5th grader at Simon Elementary in D.C., wrote after Brewer’s author visit in November.

    ” Teaching the value and dignity of all is at the heart of our school’s mission and this book says to our scholars that their lives matter and that  they, even in their youth, are powerful and can transform the world,” said Nicole Peltier Lewis M.Ed, Principal of Annunciation.

    Brewer, a DC resident and literacy consultant, will visit two schools this week to offer gifts that children can make their own:

    9:30 – 10:30 a.m. – Tuesday, December 6, 2022 – Annunciation Catholic School, 3810 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington D.C. 20016

    1:00 – 1:45 p.m. – Wednesday, December 7, 2022 – Truesdell Elementary, 800 Ingraham St. NW Washington, D.C. 20011 (Pen-Faulkner Author Visit)

  • Midwest Stop – Say Their Names – Four Events in Three Days!

    Midwest Stop – Say Their Names – Four Events in Three Days!

    WE’RE CELEBRATING THE LAUNCH OF SAY THEIR NAMES
    and DARIUS DANIELS: GAME ON!
    IN THE MIDWEST
    At three Fort Wayne, Indiana locations, November 25, 26, and 27 — Join Us!
    FRIDAY, NOV. 25 – 4-6 pm – Family Event- Invitation-Only Event – Contact Joanne or Liz for details.
    SATURDAY, NOV. 26 – 11 am – 12 noon —Brief talk and autograph session for Say Their Names and Darius Daniels: Game On!

    BIPOC Business Weekend, sponsored by Clydia Early.
    3402 Fairfield Ave, Fort Wayne, IN 46807-1823

    SATURDAY, NOV. 26 – 2 pm – 5 pm —Bring the children for an inter-active musical presentation of
    Say Their Names and Darius Daniels: Game On!, plus powerful writing activity, Q & A, and autographing session. Refreshments will be available for purchase during our break.

    BIPOC Business Weekend
    3402 Fairfield Ave, Fort Wayne, IN 46807-1823

    PLEASE ORDER YOUR BOOKS IN ADVANCE TODAYfrom websites or stores below or Amazon.

    EMAIL poadec.comm@gmail.com for more details on Saturday’s events – Sponsored by the People of African Descent Elders Council

    SUNDAY, NOV. 27 – 10:30 am – UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, 5310 Old Mill Rd, Fort Wayne, IN 46807 – Delivering the morning’s sermon: Why We Say Their Names, followed by Q and A, and book-signing.

    READ The Washington Post’s feature story here!

    Watch television news coverage of

    Say Their Names here!

    Photo courtesy of MF Photography

  • Seeing Them Fall In Love with Themselves

    Seeing Them Fall In Love with Themselves

    This is Part II of my answer to the question, Why did you write Darius Daniels: Game On!? It’s a great question and one that I often get from readers, whether students, teachers, librarians, parents, or adults, in general.

    In Part I, I said my mother’s love helped me find the strength to persevere over 14 years to finish Darius Daniels, because the book began as a tribute to her remarkable life.

    And then, remembering what I regularly witnessed in children also helped me to persevere.

    I’ve said before that I’ve never met a child who wasn’t hungry to learn to read or read better. Many either didn’t have a lot of experience with reading or they didn’t have good experiences. So, as the children and I worked together, I quickly saw their fears and angst dissolve. What held them back disappeared into the ashes of time as confidence with the force of a wildfire fueled them on. They had fallen in love. They had fallen in love with themselves as readers.

    I watched them declare themselves capable, good, and motivated. And that pushed me to persevere, to keep going, to pick up the manuscript again after it had sat on that proverbial shelf for 10 years.

    I persevered because I loved seeing children who were diagnosed with disabilities – mental, emotional, and physical disabilities, children four, five, six grade levels behind with no diagnosed disabilities –  become inspired to open up books and explore new worlds.  I loved seeing them discover that reading for pleasure was a form of play, and they were utterly qualified to participate.

    I persevered because I wanted to write a book for these children that I call hungry readers. I wanted to write a book about these children. I wanted to write a book for and about all of us as human beings who need to go somewhere special and come back loving ourselves a whole lot more.

    Have you ever seen a hungry reader transform right in front of your eyes? I’d love to hear the story.

  • Five Things You Should Know About Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale

    Five Things You Should Know About Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale

    In honor of President’s Day and the need to learn about presidents 365 days a year

    ***

    Five Things About Barack Obama:

    A Hip Hop Tale of King’s Dream Come True

    In a nutshell: The artwork is a conversation starter; it has 60 sets of rhyming words (sure to send any child’s vocabulary and comprehension soaring); you can teach  more than a dozen English language learning skills; it’s full of surprises, including fun facts about animals; and opportunities to learn about social activism and politics in ways that are very cool. (To purchase, click here.) (more…)