Ventura County Reading Association

RESOURCE CENTER

Local Libraries

Albert H. Soliz Library  2829 Jourdan Street OXNARD   (805) 485-4515    LINK
Avenue Library   606 N. Ventura Avenue  VENTURA  (805) 643-6393    LINK
E. P. Foster Library   651 East Main Street   VENTURA  (805) 648-2716    LINK
Fillmore Library   502 2nd Street   FILLMORE  (805) 524-3355    LINK
Hill Road Library   1070 S. Hill Road  VENTURA  (805) 677-7180    LINK
Meiners Oak Library   114 North Padre Juan   OJAI  (805) 646-4804    LINK
Oak Park Library   899 North Kanan Road   OAK PARK  (818) 889-2239    LINK 
Oak View Library   555 Mahoney Ave.  OAK VIEW  (805) 649-1523     LINK
Ojai Library   111 East Ojai Avenue  OJAI  (805) 646-1639     LINK
Piru Library    3811 Center Street   PIRU   (805) 521-1753    LINK
Ray D. Prueter Library   510 Park Ave.  PORT HUENEME   (805) 486-5460     LINK
Saticoy Library   1292 Los Angeles Ave   VENTURA  (805) 671-5148    LINK
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Blanchard Community Library   119 N. 8th Street   SANTA PAULA  (805) 525-3615    LINK
Camarillo Public Library   4101 Las Posas Road   CAMARILLO  (805) 388-5222   LINK
Colonia Branch Library    1500 Camino del Sol #26   OXNARD  (805) 385-8108   LINK
Moorpark City Library   699 Moorpark Ave. MOORPARK   (805) 517-6370    LINK
Newbury Park Branch Library  2331 Borchard Road  NEWBURY PARK  (805) 498-2139    LINK
Oxnard Public Library   251 South A Street   OXNARD  (805) 385-7507   LINK
Simi Valley Public Library  2969 Tapo Canyon Rd   SIMI VALLEY  (805) 526-1735    LINK
South Oxnard Branch Library  4300 Saviers Road  OXNARD  (805) 385-8129   LINK
Thousand Oaks Library   (Grant Brimhall Library)  1401 E. Janss Road   THOUSAND OAKS  (805) 449-2660   LINK
COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
California Lutheran Pearson Library  60 West Olsen Road #5100 THOUSAND OAKS  (805) 493-3937   LINK
CSU Channel Island Library (John Spoor Broome)  1 University Drive CAMARILLO  (805) 437-8561     LINK
Moorpark College Library  7075 Campus Road MOORPARK  (805) 378-1400     LINK
Oxnard College Library  4000 S. Rose Avenue OXNARD  (805) 678-5800     LINK
Ventura College Library   4667 Telegraph Road  VENTURA  (805) 289-6382      LINK

EDUCATOR Resources

Kahoot! is a game-based learning and trivia platform used in classrooms, offices and social settings. Sign up to create, play and share engaging quizzes on any topic!    LINK
Educreations is a unique interactive whiteboard and screencasting tool that's simple, powerful, and fun to use. Annotate, animate, and narrate nearly any type of content as you explain any concept.    LINK
More than 95% of students who learn with Quizlet report improved grades. See how Quizlet’s simple tools can help you learn anything, from beginning algebra, to AP US History, to college level econometrics — and beyond.    LINK
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Reading aloud to children has been shown to improve reading, writing and communication skills, logical thinking and concentration, and general academic aptitude, as well as inspire a lifelong love of reading.   LINK
American Association of School Librarians Best Websites for Teaching and
Learning  
Best Websites for Teaching & Learning honors websites, tools, and resources of exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning. Best Websites for Teaching & Learning foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.  LINK

LITERACY RESOURCES

Florida Center for Reading Research explores all aspects of reading research—basic research into literacy-related skills for typically developing readers and those who struggle, studies of effective prevention and intervention, and psychometric work on formative assessment.  LINK
Common Core Standards   LINK
Here at ReadWriteThink, our mission is to provide educators, parents, and afterschool professionals with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials.  LINK
READING ROCKETS  We bring the best research-based strategies to teachers, parents, administrators, librarians, childcare providers, and anyone else involved in helping a young child become a strong, confident reader. Our goal is to bring the reading research to life — to spread the word about reading instruction and to present "what works" in a way that parents and educators can understand and use.    LINK
School Library Journal is the premiere publication for librarians and information specialists who work with children and teens. A source of quality journalism and reviews for more than 60 years, SLJ produces award-winning features and news coverage on: literacy, best practices, technology, education policy and other issues of interest to the school library and greater educator community.   LINK
NEWSELA   We solve the problem of reading engagement holistically for students, teachers, and principals.    LINK
ReadWorks is committed to solving America’s reading comprehension crisis and student achievement gap. Driven by cognitive science research, ReadWorks creates world-class content, teacher guidance, and integrated tools that improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement.    LINK
GOODREADS   You’re in the right place. Tell us what titles or genres you’ve enjoyed in the past, and we’ll give you surprisingly insightful recommendations.   LINK
KidsRead   This website includes a variety of information including book reviews, author info, find your next series and series updates. Folks can subscribe to monthly newsletters for Kids, Teens, Graphic novels, Parents, and Librarians.  LINK
Common Sense Media publishes independent ratings and reviews for nearly everything kids want to watch, read, play, and learn. Get resources for teaching in the digital age. Expert-tested. Teacher-approved. LINK
Children’s Book Database at Miami University This database is a collection of over 5800 picture book abstracts searchable by topics, concepts, and skills for building content area reading across all academic subjects for children, preschool to grade three.  LINK
Read Kiddo Read  Started by James Patterson, this site gives suggestions for choosing the perfect book.   LINK
Provided by the California Department of Education for students in grades prekindergarten through twelve.  LINK
Which book comes when in your favorite series? Mid-Continent Public Library's database contains over 36,000 books in 4,900 series titles.  LINK
Los Angeles Public Library     Recommended Reading lists from the Los Angeles Public Library
Try these read-alike suggestions from the Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California   LINK
Young Reader Medal    An annual award given to books in five categories selected and voted by California schoolchildren.   LINK
The Caldecott Medal is presented each year to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.  LINK
The Newbery Medal is presented each year to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.  LINK

VISITING BOOK AUTHORS

The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Central-Coastal California Region provides programs and services for Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties.   LINK
AUTHORS
Students laugh, sing, occasionally dance, and come away with a love of books that inspires them to write and illustrate their own. If you’d like to see this effect at your school, library, or conference, check out Bruce Hale.   LINK
I'm children's book author Alexis O'Neill. I love playing with words and creating fiction and nonfiction stories. I especially love doing school visits where I fire kids up about reading and teach them how to research, write and revise their writing.   LINK
Eugene Yelchin is a Russian-born American author, illustrator, painter, and conceptual artist currently based in Los Angeles, California    LINK
Salina Yoon  I am an author, illustrator and format designer of nearly two hundred innovative novelty books for younger children, specializing in formats that are unique and interactive.   LINK
Patricia Newman writes middle-grade nonfiction that inspires kids to seek connections between science, literacy, and the environment. During author visits, she demonstrates how her writing skills give a voice to our beleaguered environment and helps kids find their voice.  LINK
I am author and illustrator Mary Ann Fraser. I create fiction and non-fiction books for children of all ages and love sharing my passion for reading, writing, and the creative process with students and adults alike.  When I'm not in my studio or visiting schools and libraries, I am  painting murals, gardening, herding turtles, playing the hammered dulcimer, or hiking.  LINK
I'm Children's Book Author/Poet Joan Bransfield Graham. While I'm working on a brand new website, I hope you will visit me at The Children's Authors Network where you'll find lots of information, Teacher Idea Sheets to go with my books, and much more.   LINK
Amada Irma Perez  Students of all ages in kindergarten through university will be entertained with Amada Irma’s stories in a multimedia presentation.  They will also learn important writing skills and writers’ craft techniques.  They will leave thinking about their own dreams and goals.   LINK
ILLUSTRATORS
Carol Heyer   I have written/illustrated twenty-eight children’s picture books, among them HUMPHREY’S FIRST CHRISTMAS, and ONCE UPON A COOL MOTORCYCLE DUDE, winner of eight state awards.   LINK


Joe Cepeda