| Poems Of The Month
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| Love
Literacy?
Intern At Open Books!
Are you looking for the kind of internship experience that allows you to work with students, explore Chicago, collaborate with a dedicated team, and learn the ins and outs of an innovative nonprofit organization? Then consider spending a semester with us at Open Books! Read more and find out how to apply.
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Eye On Fluency
To be on level,
a 4th grader
should be able to read
100 - 210
words per minute.
15% of all
4th grade students
across the USA read
less than 74
words per minute.
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V Is For...
Volunteering!
You read. You write. You care about literacy. Take your
enthusiasm to the next level by becoming an Open Books volunteer! We would be
thrilled to help you share your
love of reading with students in Chicago.
Check out our volunteer opportunities and sign up to join us!
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Student Perspective
This fall, VWrite students have been going on outings all over the city with their mentors, exploring colleges, cultural institutions, and possible jobs.
Check out what student De Leon had to say about his day with his mentor, as the pair traversed Northwestern University. They explored a science lab, visited the law school, and even found time to eat a hot dog while overlooking Lake Michigan.
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Dear friends of Open Books,
Join us this November as we continue to offer a cornucopia of exciting programming for students in Chicago. From 2nd graders to teens, we're putting books and pencils into the hands of every young reader and writer we come across!
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Little Buddies Express
Their Gratitude
This month, we decided to invoke the wisdom of a younger set by asking our Little Buddies what they're grateful for. Check out some of our favorites below!
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In The Hot Seat: A Day Of Mock Interviews with Gage Park VWrite Students
This past week, two teams of Open Books staff and interns donned their power suits and traveled to Gage Park High School to 'interview' our VWrite students and give them a taste of what to expect in a real professional interview. The mock interviews were an important step in preparing students for the career world and in helping them to defy sobering data and sinking graduation rates (68.8% nationally, and considerably lower in Chicago).
Each candidate was judged on his or her demeanor, eye contact, and ability to fully answer all of the interviewer's questions. The students, all dressed to impress, rose to the challenge. They were a little nervous about having to sell themselves for the first time, but performed admirably by telling us about their skills, their unique interests and experiences, and giving us the chance to see them as future leaders.
Keeping in mind that a recent study reports that students who do not finish high school can expect to earn at least $10,000 less ($13,276 per year for females, $17,426 for males) than high school graduates and at least $20,000 less than students who graduate from college, we hope to see our mentees use the valuable knowledge they've gained through VWrite -- including email etiquette, interview techniques, and resume writing -- to persevere and not only graduate from high school, but go on to college and/or a professional career.
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Literary Ladies
This fall, Open Books had the opportunity to begin a new collaboration with girls serving probation in the juvenile justice system. Every Tuesday evening we spend two hours reading novels and discussing their themes with a group of savvy teenagers. The girls range in age and reading interest and ability, but their desire to make smarter life decisions and succeed has been nothing short of inspiring.
This term, we are solely working with novels that feature minority protagonists in urban settings, whose characters have challenges that echo the lives of many students in our group. We're focusing on teen violence in Rita Williams-Garcia's Jumped; talking through beauty, appearance, and peer pressure in Sharon Flake's The Skin I'm In; and delving into the power of writing in Nikki Grimes' Bronx Masquerade.
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