By Renee Thessing, Hood River County Library District media release
Updated
HOOD RIVER — Oregon’s Poet Laureate, Ellen Waterston, will lead two special events — a morning writing workshop and an evening poetry reading — at Hood River Library on Saturday, April 4. Both are free and open to the public.
THE DALLES — The North Wasco County Education Foundation has announced the recipients of its 13 Spring Classroom Mini-Grant awards utilizing the $7,500 available for this round of grants.
Writing is a lifelong skill that children can start developing as early as preschool and kindergarten. The foundation for writing begins with language development and the ability to share information verbally. Activities like Show and Tell encourage this by allowing children to describe items.
Have you ever encountered a preschooler or kindergartner who reads effortlessly? Often, they are quite intelligent and are very aware of their surroundings. However, the question remains: Are they truly readers? How well do they spell? Sometimes, they are deceiving the adults around them.
Reading comprehension is the ultimate, but it can be challenging. Children must develop text understanding. While struggling readers often find comprehension difficult, even proficient readers can face issues. Identifying the necessary skills can help pinpoint where children may be struggling with reading comprehension.
For five years, Equity and Outreach Training Services (EOTS) at The Next Door (TNDI) has worked with hundreds of people and partners in the healthcare, education, business and non-profit sectors. EOTS has held strong to The Next Door’s values of equity as it grows to meet the needs of the community. This fall, EOTS is adding Plain Language services to their offerings. 
When you think about learning vocabulary, what comes to mind? Word lists, dictionaries, writing meanings? Over generations, education has turned vocabulary learning into a reading and writing skill. While vocabulary is a key reading skill, many students can increase their vocabulary through reading.