Lit Up Literacy

Could it be DLD?

Some signs to look for:
🔹 Difficulty understanding instructions
🔹 Trouble expressing thoughts clearly
🔹 Struggles with storytelling or conversation
🔹 Challenges with reading and writing
🔹 Limited vocabulary compared to peers
🔹 Difficulty following or remembering verbal information

DLD is not caused by hearing loss or intelligence differences. It’s a language disorder with no obvious cause.

Early support makes a big difference. For more information about DLD and resources go to DLDandMe.org

Share to spread awareness 💬

What can I say? I love what I do, and it‘s pretty awesome when kids love it, too!

Happy New Year!

While I've never been much for "New Year's Resolutions," I guess I have made one this year. I've decided to make an effort to read more for pleasure (reading for fun seems to have been replaced with reading for knowledge, and on my computer, since becoming a mother . . . 16 years ago!).

So! I've compiled a list of 90+ books, aiming to read 52 this year (about one per week). I went with a Canadian Author theme, which was immediately complicated by my overthinking (do I limit it to authors born in Canada? Does it count if they were born here but moved away?). Ultimately, I concluded with "Whatever. If they seem to have Canadian citizenship, that's good enough," because frankly, I've got to get reading if I'm going to check off 52 books from this list.

Who's in? Join the challenge, track your reads, and share your progress! Maybe 52 isn't the right number for you, so pick what works. What Canadian books do you love that I missed? Share your recommendations below so we can crowdsource the ultimate list and inspire each other. Bonus points for pics of your stacks or reviews. Is 2026 going to be your year of Reading For Fun?

If you, like me, enjoy a good spreadsheet (I know there must be others out there) you can make a copy of my Google Sheets to keep track of your own reads. Check off what you've read, arrange it alphabetically by Title or Author, let it work its spreadsheet magic on your weary soul. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aRTPMMcMwm4AgGkGt-gWaIAgEup8cd48uABX1ApvGn8/edit?usp=sharing



No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
The Birth House by Ami McKay
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Mosionier (Beatrice Culleton)
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Unless by Carol Shields
Ties That Bind by Carolyn Arnold
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
Louis Riel by Chester Brown
Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
What We All Long For by Dionne Brand
Generation X by Douglas Coupland
The Tiger and the Cosmonaut by Eddy Boudel Tan
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Traplines by Eden Robinson
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy
Lions of Al Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan
Reproduction by Ian Williams
Everthing is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe
The Riviter by Jack Wang
The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
Ducks by Kate Beaton
The Break by Katherena Vermette
The Strangers by Katherena Vermette
Annabel by Kathleen Winter
Ru by Kim Thúy
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre
February by Lisa Moore
Still Life by Louise Penny
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
Bear by Marian Engel
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Bunny by Mona Awad
Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler
Dirty Birds by Morgan Murray
We the Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Dante's Indiana by Randy Boyagoda
Original Prin by Randy Boyagoda
Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
As for Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock
Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
Head Hunter by Timothy Findley
The Wars by Timothy Findley
Moon Of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Canadian Lit

Warm words on a cold winter's day for our fantastic online tutor, Dawna.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GvUNFKi1Y/

This may be alarmist. I don’t know if the study took into account that perhaps brains with short attention spans are the brains more likely to seek short form videos and the dopamine rush from constantly changing entertainment. However, I think there are some good points here - particularly about developing brains. About what we put into our bodies and minds impacting our health. Please, help your kids find other outlets for entertainment. Please.

Okay, I'm pretty excited. While it doesn't really look like much, it has taken me a long time to get this done (because I'm not a web developer, but I made my own website). I have had a store of 90+ games that (mostly) align with our approach here at Lit Up Literacy (which aligns with EBLI Speech to Print). I have finally got around to listing them ALL on my website and added some filters so you can search for games by sound, tags, type of game, etc. These games are NOT going to align with an approach that is not Speech to Print. Some may not make sense to you if you are practicing something like UFLI, OG, Barton, etc. However OUR students have been hounding me for a few months to add more games to my website, and our students know this approach. Enjoy!

*games are based on my Western Canadian accent which may differ in some ways from some Canadians further East (or accents from any other English speaking country). If you find something is *off* for you, no biggie - find a different game that makes sense to you. The letters on the page do not determine our accents (or we'd all speak with the same one).

Game Library | Lit Up Literacy On your turn, flip cards and read the words to ear points. Keep flipping to rack up your score, but watch out! If you reveal a BOOM card, you lose all the points from that turn. Stop and "lock in" your points before you explode!

Friday and feeling good ❤️💙💜💛💚

Discovering that sometimes more tools in the toolbox isn't the solution. Instead, it’s about knowing how to use the right ones effectively! Read more about my journey of finding simplicity in complexity. https://wix.to/XaKiB5O

When More Tools in the Toolbox aren't Helpful I’ve always been a person who thrives on categorization and organization. As a kid, my room was usually messy (like any normal kid’s), but when I did clean, I deep cleaned. I’d empty drawers, reorganize everything, and make systems where none existed. Mismatched hangers in my closet drove me c...

And off they go . . .

Learning about how we learn is fascinating, and should be required knowledge for anyone in any teaching position—whether that’s school teachers, job trainers, sports coaches, or tutors. I wanted to just pick out a few highlights, but I feel like so much of this video is gold.

Start at minute 11….

Things that stand out to me:

🤯 Instruction that appears to make learning happen rapidly, often fails to support long-term results (retention).

🤯 Instruction that appears to make things difficult for learners often produces better long-term retention.

🤯 Desirable DIFFICULTY supports learning and comprehension.

🤯 Retrieval practice produces better long-term retention than reviewing material repeatedly or being “taught” repeatedly.

🤯😳🤩 In MANY cases, what learners and instructors report to be the most effective learning scenario is NOT the method that actually produces long term retention. I think this is important - what “feels good” or “seems right” about studying or learning something new, isn’t always what produces results.
- Reading material multiple times makes us feel like we know it more than struggling through multiple mini-tests after a shorter study period (but tests help us remember better).
- Practicing the exact scenario (like throwing a beanbag to a target 3ft away) is less effective than varying the practice (practice throwing in 4ft and 2ft will get better results when you’re tested on that 3ft target than if you only practiced from 3ft).
- If we are practicing retrieval (testing) after learning, and we are making many errors, the overall learning retention is still higher than reviewing the information repeatedly without practicing retrieval (testing).

This, and more, are also in the book “ Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning” by Brown, Roediger II, & McDaniel

What are your takeaways? How can this apply to something you teach or are trying to learn?

How We Learn Versus How We Think We Learn Robert Bjork, Distinguished Research Professor in the UCLA Department of Psychology, shares insights from his work as a renowned expert on human learning. Bj...