Athens-based Literacyhead aims to instill a passion for literacy and the arts

Literacyhead, an Athens-based online journal committed to instilling in children a passion for literacy and the arts, recently launched its premier issue.

The journal aims to partner with teachers to help develop lessons for kids that are creative, engaging and will give them a love for reading and writing. Literacyhead offers book recommendations, graphics of literacy data, art for writing prompts and helpful graphic organizers.

The creators of Literacyhead wanted to create a source to assist teachers in helping children make connections between books and art. The site invites teachers to use their resources as a springboard for ideas and discussions, but welcomes them to tailor the materials provided to fit the needs of their own classrooms.

Sections to be included in the weekly journal include:

• The Art of Teaching and Writing: This section will present an artist whose work helps illustrate the journal’s theme of the week, including selected works to help assist teachers plan literacy lessons.

• Artful Read Aloud: This section will be based around a featured book and will include three parts that help children connect visual images to the “big idea” of the presented work.

• Coaching Matters: A resource for literacy coaches, this section will provide suggestions and ideas to expand children’s literacy strategies.

• Ten Titles: A weekly list of 10 children’s books that expand on the theme of the current issue.

• Write StARTs: Presents pieces of art from various artists to support writing specific to the weekly theme of the journal.

• The Art of Living: For adults, this section will recommend books, movies and reviews intended to fuel and nurture the creativity of grown-ups.

• Tools: Graphic organizers and visual aids to assist teachers.

• Visual Vocabulary: This section will feature five words from the week’s selected text along with images that illustrate the meaning of each word.

• Teaching Comics: A regular cartoon feature that will help students explore the various aspects of the writing process.

Those interested in Literacyhead are welcome to check out its Web site for more information, www.literacyhead.com. Subscriptions can be purchased for $15 for three months (12 issues), $20 for six months (26 issues) or $30 for a year (52 issues). Another option is to purchase each issue individually for $3. Those interested can also sign up for the journal’s mailing list.