"Students, today I will be utilizing approaches from the crypt of dry curricula I am mandated to implement in the classroom and you are going to write about something you don't feel connected to, can't see any point in, and which will live in 'the cloud' forever after I grade it to assess skills you've never actually been taught." —Said out loud by no teacher ever

Some facts about how we learn: 80 percent of what we know is acquired through listening, which is closely connected with reading comprehension.

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with Dollar General Literacy Foundation, recently honored ourBRIDGE for KIDS in Charlotte, North Carolina, for demonstrated excellence in helping develop literacy skills of English language learner students.

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with Dollar General Literacy Foundation, recently honored The Bridge Project in Denver, Colorado, for demonstrated excellence in helping develop literacy skills of English language learner students.

Jesse Burne, Executive Director, offers an inside look at his program's work.

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with Dollar General Literacy Foundation, recently honored the Columbus State Community College's ESL Afterschool Communities (ESLAsC) for the program's demonstrated excellence in helping develop English language learner (ELL) students' literacy skills.

I've always loved reading, and I've always especially loved reading during the summer. One of my best memories from childhood was the summer I discovered Nancy Drew books.

There's a new tool on the scene speeding up the development of reading skills for kids in preschool through third grade—and it's done through a video game!

This is a photo of me, today, on my 47th birthday, holding my very first journal—written when I was 10 years old. My fifth grade teacher asked us to buy a notebook that inspired us and, every few days, she gave us a topic to write about.

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo are just a few well-loved, high-quality pieces of young people's literature. They are also great read-alouds—who doesn't love listening to a great story?

Gene Luen Young—author, two-time National Book Award Finalist and National Ambassador for Young People's Literature—invites you and your students to take the Reading Without Walls Challenge, a challenge encouraging readers to explore books of diverse voices, genres and formats.