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Globalizing the Common Core State Standards Exemplar List

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and their variations influence K-12 curriculum, particularly in the teaching of literacy, across the U.S. and internationally. With funds from the Center for Educational Resources in Culture Language and Literacy (CERCLL), Worlds of Words (WOW) in the University of Arizona College of Education offers an alternative to the CCSS text exemplar list to assist educators searching for ways to globalize their classrooms and libraries.

Globalizing the Common Core State Standards, Odyssey Graphic Novel

Tucson High Magnet School senior, Parrish Ballenger, reads the graphic novelization of The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds based on Homer’s epic poem. Worlds of Words pairs this book with the CCSS exemplar The Odyssey by Homer, along with Here Lies Arthur by Phillip Reeve, Sita’s Ramayana by Samhita Ami and Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis.

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Stitching Stories: New Exhibit Featuring Hmong Storycloths

By Daniel Geffre, Editorial Intern, Worlds of Words

Worlds of Words’ new exhibit features traditional Hmong storycloths from WOW’s Mary J. Wong collection along with children’s books and hands-on activities for all ages. Stitching Stories: Hmong Customs and Symbols as Told through Storycloths highlights the oral and textile storytelling traditions of the Hmong people. Examples of storytelling through textiles from Vietnam, Panama, Peru and Turkey are also on display. The free, all-ages exhibit is open to the public now through May in Worlds of Words, an initiative of the University of Arizona College of Education.

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WOW Launches Teen Reading Ambassador Initiative

By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator of Outreach and Collections, Worlds of Words

Worlds of Words opened applications for a pilot program that positions local teens as reading ambassadors in their own high schools. Teens in the program interact with published authors of young adult literature, receive books by that author and share their experience with their peers to promote reading in their school communities. The Teen Reading Ambassador (TRA) initiative is administered by WOW in the University of Arizona College of Education.

Carolina Hoyos reads Refugee by Alan Grats, the inaugural book for the Teen Reading Ambassador initiative. Continue reading

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Resolve to Read More with Worlds of Words’ New E-newsletter

By Grace Fell, Online Content Marketing Intern, Worlds of Words

The new year is almost here, and many people will set reading goals for 2018. In fact, “read more” was the second most popular resolution of 2017, according to Harper’s Bazaar. Those who find children’s literature critical to expanding global perspectives can resolve to stay current with news, trends and events by subscribing to Worlds of Words’ free new e-newsletter. Continue reading

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Hello, Dear Enemy! comes to University of Arizona College of Education

By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator of Outreach and Collections, Worlds of Words

The news is bleak. Even in homes where comfort and security are the rule, the media confronts children and adults with images of war, animosity and displacement. Some are directly affected while others have many questions, and all seek answers. The traveling exhibit, Hello, Dear Enemy!, does not provide answers, but it does provide a path to conversation. Worlds of Words in the University of Arizona College of Education is the first stop for this powerful collection from the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany.

Hello, Dear Enemy!

Hello, Dear Enemy! is a traveling exhibit created by the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany and makes its first stop at Worlds of Words in the University of Arizona College of Education. WOW invites the community to come tour the exhibit, which is free and open to the public. Photo by Jen Ryder.

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Visit Our New World Language Collection

By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator of Outreach and Collections, Worlds of Words

Worlds of Words in the University of Arizona College of Education added a World Language collection of over a thousand texts to its main collection of 36,000 global books. Due to what the book industry refers to as the “translation gap,” it’s likely that fewer than 3.7 percent of WOW’s new World Language collection has an English version.

World Language Collection
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Joan Sandin’s Long Road to Publication

By Maya Patterson

Worlds of Words’s exhibit, Inspiration to Celebration: Publishing Journeys is now open to the public. The exhibit features the publishing journey of Coyote School News by Joan Sandin, an award-winning author, illustrator and translator. Sandin’s original artwork for Coyote School News hangs in the WOW Studio, and the Mary J. Wong Collection showcases her journey of publishing the book. Newspaper covers from two publications that feature the voices of young reporters, the Little Cowpuncher and Bear Essential News, also hang in the exhibit in the WOW Hall Gallery.

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Imagination to Celebration: Publishing Journeys Exhibit

By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator of Outreach and Collections for Worlds of Words

Award-winning author and illustrator Joan Sandin reflects on the experience researching, writing and publishing the children’s book Coyote School News from 3 to 5 p.m. on January 28 in Worlds of Words. The event celebrates the opening of Worlds of Words’s new exhibit, Imagination to Celebration: Publishing Journeys.

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Worlds of Words Secures Donation of Original Art from Award-winning Illustrator, Floyd Cooper

By Rebecca Ballenger, Coordinator, Outreach and Collections

In a collection already bursting with important works by children’s book illustrators, Worlds of Words added one more. The untitled piece from In the Land of Milk and Honey by award-winning illustrator, Floyd Cooper, recently went on display where visitors can see his unique oil wash on board technique.

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