Dr. Seuss was onto something when he said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Reading helps develop our minds just like physical activity helps strengthen our bodies. As we enter a new year, is reading one of your resolutions? Daily reading has many benefits. Reading supports our memory and our ability to focus and concentrate, it increases our knowledge of the unknown, develops our vocabulary and analytical thinking skills, all the while being a natural stress reducer. Daily reading is a fundamental need for all Midtown students. In the library, we continue to focus our attention on reading strategies that students can incorporate in the classroom to help them better understand what they are reading. Students are asked to read a wide range of texts from literature circle novels, to short stories, to curriculum based reading, to passages on data assessments such as iReady. This month, we will continue our discussion of utilizing context clues as we read to support vocabulary development keeping in mind that “vocabulary is the glue that holds stories, ideas, and content together…” (Rupley, Logan, & Nicholas, 1998/99, p. 339). Students will participate in a variety of hands on vocabulary dissecting activities as we continue our word detective adventure together in the library.